Bolesław Domański

Industrial Upgrading Through Foreign Direct Investment in Central European Automotive Manufacturing

This article draws on the global value-chain approach to investigate industrial upgrading in the automotive industry of four Central European (CE) countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. We review post-1990 production trends and the associated changes in the geography of automobile production in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) based on inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI).To evaluate industrial upgrading, we examine the changes in the international trade of CE countries with automotive products classified in three value-added classes between 1996 and 2006, and we consider the increasing location of automotive design in CE by foreign investors.We classify CE automobile assembly plants into four types based upon the role of local design, local content, and their links with domestic economies. Based on the results of the analysis, we consider the effects of FDI and industrial upgrading on the role of CE in the European automotive production system.

Industrial Change and Foreign Direct Investment in the Postsocialist Economy The Case of Poland

This article examines the immense changes in Polish industry since 1990 and the impact of foreign direct investment. It is shown that, contrary to some general views about Central and East European transition, the postsocialist transformation processes have contributed to the enhanced competitiveness of Polish industry and to narrowing the gap between Poland and the European Union. The analysis includes basic indicators of economic performance, changes in branch structure, international relations (especially exports) and the labour market. Discussion of the role of transnational corporations is based on detailed empirical research which covered 2,020 foreign-owned factories. The regional differentiation of foreign investment is outlined, the disparities between developed and underdeveloped regions as well as metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in particular. Special emphasis is put on principal factors affecting the location of new foreign factories. This is analysed within the broader context of phenomena underlying economic growth or decline in Polish regions and towns during the postsocialist era.

West and East in ‘New Europe’: The Pitfalls of Paternalism and a Claimant Attitude:

The author discusses dangers which stem from the old West-East divide of Europe. On the one hand, there may be a deterministic interpretation of Central and Eastern Europe as political, economic and cultural periphery, which leads to paternalistic attitudes and belief in one-way transfers of knowledge and decisions. This may legitimize unequal treatment and exclusionary political action on the part of Western Europe. On the other hand, the people of Central and Eastern Europe may tend to adopt what can be termed a ‘claimant’ attitude towards the West. The ideology of ‘catching-up’ and a sense of having being wronged in the past reinforce acceptance of the role of recipients of external influences and of wealth generated in the West, as well as the image of the European Union as a bureaucratic institution, to which claims are directed. This may entail passive behaviour on the part of Central and Eastern European societies and lack of solidarity with ‘the outsiders’ remaining outside the new EU boundaries. Together these can lead us to discard the idea of European solidarity, coherence and trust. Instead, there is a need to recognize the capacity for action and foster social mobilization in Central and Eastern Europe, so that its peoples can contribute their values and activities to Europe as a whole.

The crisis and beyond: the dynamics and restructuring of automotive industry in Poland

The paper considers the effects of the crisis on the restructuring of automotive industry in Poland and its possible impact on the long-term prospects of the sector in the country. The dynamics of Polish automotive exports and the performance of various automotive suppliers located in Poland, depending on their size, ownership, position in supply chain and labour costs, are explored. This is followed by the analysis of foreign and domestic company strategies as well as the regional effects of the changes in the industry. The factors behind the upgrading processes, new plant locations and delocalisation are discussed.

Editorial: The Changing Face Of the European Periphery in the Automotive Industry

The automotive sector is often presented as a ‘globalized industry’: the governance of the valuechain is largely internationalized with a key role for global players (Freyssenet and Lung, 2000) who are dominant in both motor vehicle production (OEM) and component manufacturing (OES). As a matter of fact, the internationalization of the auto industry rather reflects a process of regionalization. Despite some cars being sold on a global scale, the contemporary development of the sector is largely based on regional markets, the products being differentiated between poles of the triad (North America, Europe, Japan) and even emerging markets, and on a regional division of labour within and between automotive firms in design, manufacture and sales of these regional products (Carrillo et al., 2004).

Polski przemysł na tle przemysłu Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej

Przemysl jest tą dziedziną polskiej gospodarki, ktorą szok transformacji gospodarczej po 1989 roku dotknąl w szczegolnie gleboki sposob. Priorytetowa rola tego dzialu w okresie wcześniejszym, widoczna m.in. w jego uprzywilejowaniu w nakladach inwestycyjnych oraz przewaga duzych zakladow i kapitalochlonnośc produkcji, uczynily go mniej podatnym na dostosowanie sie do nowych warunkow gospodarki rynkowej. Znajduje to wyraz w generalnie wolniejszym rozwoju przemyslu niz wielu uslug w Polsce i w innych krajach Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej, co nie jest jednak rownoznaczne z mniejszą skalą zmian. Warto w tej sytuacji przyjrzec sie przemianom przemyslu Polski w ostatnich kilkunastu latach na tle analogicznych zmian w innych krajach postsocjalistycznych. Jest to szczegolnie uzasadnione wobec faktu, ze wokol rozwoju polskiego przemyslu w ostatnich latach naroslo wiele mitow. Celem niniejszego opracowania jest porownanie procesu rozwoju oraz wspolczesnych cech przemyslu Polski ze zmianami i cechami przemyslu innych krajow Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej. W pierwszej cześci analizowane są tendencje zmian w wielkości produkcji przemyslowej od 1989 do 2001 roku i dyskutowane czynniki warunkujące owe zmiany. Nastepnie rozwazane są kolejno cechy strukturalne i jakościowe, takie jak struktura branzowa, wydajnośc pracy oraz zdolności eksportowe przemyslu. Blizszą uwage poświecono inwestycjom zagranicznym. Dane statystyczne, na ktorych oparta jest analiza, pochodzą z publikacji OECD, Banku Światowego, Eurostatu, Wiener Institut fur Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche oraz statystyk poszczegolnych krajow. Odrebnym, pominietym w niniejszym artykule zagadnieniem jest regionalne i lokalne zroznicowanie procesow zmian przemyslu Polski....

Zagraniczne inwestycje przemysłowe a obszary metropolitalne w Polsce

Szybki rozwoj gospodarczy Polski w latach 90. byl procesem silnie zroznicowanym regionalnie i lokalnie. Zlozylo sie na to przestrzenne zroznicowanie zarowno w zakresie rozwoju endogenicznego, jak i egzogenicznego. Jednym z elementow tego ostatniego staly sie zagraniczne inwestycje bezpośrednie. Uwaza sie, ze szczegolne korzyści wzrostu gospodarczego kraju odnoszą wielkie miasta i ich otoczenie czyli obszary metropolitalne. W artykule niniejszym autor pokazuje w jakim stopniu i dlaczego w obszarach tych skupiają sie zagraniczne inwestycje w dzialalnośc przemyslową.

Przekształcenia terenów poprzemysłowych w województwach śląskim i małopolskim – prawidłowości i uwarunkowania

Szybkie przemiany gospodarcze zachodzące w latach 1990-tych oraz dziedzictwo ekstensywnie wykorzystanych terenow fabrycznych z okresu socjalizmu lezą u podstaw pojawienia sie w polskich miastach rozleglych terenow poprzemyslowych. Skala tego zjawiska jest szczegolnie duza w okregach i ośrodkach przemyslowych, w ktorych znaczący udzial mialy branze tradycyjne. Kurczenie sie owych branz wobec zalamania sie popytu na ich produkty (gornictwo weglowe) lub konkurencji wyrobow zagranicznych (przemysl wlokienniczy, hutnictwo zelaza), wprowadzanie nowych technologii oraz likwidacja zakladow lub wydzialow szczegolnie uciązliwych dla środowiska (np. koksowni, stalowni martenowskich) prowadzą do opuszczania starych obiektow i budowli. Procesy takie obserwowane są na duzą skale w wojewodztwie śląskim, a takze w Krakowie i niektorych innych miastach wojewodztwa malopolskiego.

The development of low-emission public urban transport in Poland

Abstract The aim of the paper is to identify the main factors and mechanisms behind the development of low-emission public transport vehicles in Polish cities. This innovation is primarily connected with growing environmental requirements for transport, with the EU environmental and transport policies being the key factors. However, strategies of local governments and municipal transport companies as well as the organization of urban transport - which differs significantly between cities - also play an important role. Three basic types of approach towards low-emission buses can be observed in Polish cities: tests of electric and hybrid vehicles, purchases of small quantities of buses in order to implement new solutions, and finally attempts to replace the majority or even the entire transport fleet with low-emission vehicles. It should be emphasised that an important element which affects the development of low emission public urban transport in Poland is the fact that the country has become one of the main bus producers in Europe - a fact which is a result of both large-scale foreign investments and the success of Polish manufacturers.

European semi-periphery under environmental pressure: the case of urban public bus transportation and private bus-makers in Poland

The authors explore the factors shaping the adoption of low-emission vehicles in urban public transportation in Poland. The country has leapfrogged to a position among European leaders in the manufacturing of hybrid and electric buses within 20 years due to foreign investors (Volvo) and domestic enterprises (Solaris). At the same time, the adoption of new powertrain technologies in urban public transportation has lagged behind Western Europe. Contrary to the hypothesis there is no hierarchical diffusion of hybrid and electric vehicles from major cities to medium-sized and smaller towns in Poland. EU regulations provide a general legal framework for environmentally-friendly public transportation; however, they do not determine the adoption rates of particular low-emissions technologies. The actual pattern of use of hybrid and electric vehicles in urban public transportation in Poland seems to depend on local factors in the main, including institutional arrangements, social and personal characteristics.