Carmen R. Stoian

Foreign Direct Investment in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe: an 'eclectic' approach to Greek investments

During the last decade Greece has emerged as one of the largest investors in the Central and Eastern and South Eastern European Countries (CESEEC). This is the first paper to empirically evaluate the determinants of this investment and of the entry mode decisions of Greek firms participating in the Athens Stock Exchange. The main aim of the paper is to investigate foreign direct investment determinants using Dunnings eclectic paradigm. Our results offer strong support to the eclectic framework and suggest that it is the interrelation of ownership and institutional locational advantages that can explain foreign investment activity.

Corporate social responsibility in Romania: trends, drivers, challenges and opportunities

Awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices is relatively new in emerging markets such as Romania. However, with the intensifying integration of markets and the increasing investment from multinational companies, supply of and demand for corporate socially responsible behaviour are increasing in these economies. We aim to investigate the trends, drivers, challenges and opportunities of implementing a corporate social responsible behaviour in Romania. We use qualitative analysis based on company case studies and an extensive research of policy documents and newspaper articles. We find that CSR behaviour is driven both by multinationals and local companies, with civil society and legislation playing an increasing role in Romania at present.

The Benefits and Limitations of European Union Membership as a Security Mechanism

Abstract With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the post‐1945 ‘pax Sovietica’ led not to the ‘end of history’, but rather to an ‘awakening of history’. The wider Europe that emerged in 1989 is facing changing security concerns, which affect both the new democracies and the European Union. Internal security has become increasingly important and has been affected by external security concerns. In particular, threats other than military ones have emerged, leading to the rethinking of the institutional framework entrusted with the safeguarding of security in Europe. EU membership appears to be an effective tool for ensuring European security. This paper highlights the new internal and external political and economic security concerns in transition economies in order to evaluate the benefits and limitations of EU enlargement as a way of addressing these changing security concerns. Several countries, particularly Poland and Romania, are used to exemplify the EU’s role in enhancing security in the applicant countries. The article concludes with policy recommendations for dealing with the limitations of EU membership, and for using the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as a tool for ensuring security beyond the EU enlargement.