The Changing Patterns of Foreign Direct Investment in EU Accession Countries: Insights from a New Survey

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been maturing as the region prepared to join the European Union (EU). Since the beginning of transition the pattern of FDI has evolved, reflecting new business strategies pursued in anticipation of EU membership. Based on first results from a questionnaire survey conducted in 2003 in Hungary, Lithuania and Poland, we portray the recent patterns and developments in foreign investment, the motives for investment, and managers' assessment of the local business environment. Some questions have been replicated from a study conducted in the emerging economies of Egypt, India, South Africa, and Vietnam, which allows us to benchmark FDI patterns in CEE against other emerging economies in different parts of the world. We find that find fewer changes over the period of the 1990s then we expected, but some interesting differences across the three countries in our study, and between CEE and other emerging economies.