CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Dufaux, Stefanie Jasmin |
|---|---|
| Title | The Endeavour to Maintain Full Employment: Do FDI Inflows Stimulate Labor Market Developments in Central Europe? |
| Summary | The present study intends to create a better understanding of the relationship between foreign direct investment inflows into Central Europe and their effects on labor markets. All countries of the region have attracted huge amounts of FDI during their transition in the hope for economic development. During the last 20 years not only the amount of FDI inflows but also its structure has significantly changed. While several studies investigate single effects of FDI on labor in the region, there is a lack of analysis of effects throughout the development of FDI attraction patterns. This thesis therefore analyses the development of FDI attraction in Central Europe over time. Subsequently, its focus turns towards FDI effects on the labor market, concentrating on the three variables of employment, labor productivity and trade union power. These two sets of research are brought together in order to infer policy implications from it. During the analysis a special focus is taken on the cases of Hungary, as a first mover and Slovakia, as a late mover in FDI attraction. As a result the thesis finds that at the first stage of transition foreign owned affiliates work more efficiently and show thus better conditions for job maintenance and spillovers, usually achieved through training. Working conditions at this stage are improved by foreign investors and cooperation with trade unions seems to take place. This study, however, observes a transformation over time, due to a changing structure of inward FDI patterns. At a later stage, FDI, especially focused on export-oriented activities, may still contribute to employment, but spillover effects into the local economy require the presence of absorptive capacities, while trade unions experience increased rejection by foreign investors. For policy makers this means, that they need to adapt to these changes in order to gain benefits on the labor market. |
| Supervisor | Kemmerling, Achim |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/dufaux_stefanie-jasmin.pdf |
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