INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT PATHS OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The purpose of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to determine the timing and factors that have influenced the movement of each of the four CE countries through their IDP stages. Secondly, it aims at identifying differences and similarities between the individual countries' IDP trajectories and at drawing conclusions which might prove to be useful for other countries in the region. The data sets used in this study have been derived from UNCTAD's World Investment Reports and Handbook of Statistics. The period covered by the authors' analysis spans the entire period of the four countries' transition (with the exception of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, for which data series do not include the years 1990-92), up to 2006, the last year for which the relevant data was available. The paper sets out by presenting the IDP model and reviewing empirical studies applying, or at least relating to, the IDP model in CEE. The main body of the paper contains a comparative analysis of IDP trajectories of the four countries under study. Here, analysis focuses on three key issues: the passing from IDP stage 1 to stage 2; the effects of the EU accession on the countries' IDP trajectories and the movement towards IDP stage 3. The concluding section summarizes the main findings, pinpoints their limitations and identifies future research avenues.