Japanese and Korean Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern Europe

The purpose of this research is to scrutinize the strategies and characteristics of Asian foreign direct investment (hereafter, FDI) in Central and Eastern Europe (hereafter, CEE). We compare Japanese FDI with Korean FDI in terms of investment size, timing, sectoral distribution, spatial behavior, investment motivations and their effects on industrial restructuring. Japanese and Korean firms alike aspire to redefine their global and regional production networks in order to sustain and increase their market shares in an enlarged Europe. The dynamic process of geographical and organizational configuration of Asian FDI has been pronounced particularly in the two manufacturing industries, such as the automobile and electronics industries. It is also found with a case study approach that Asian FDI has both positive and negative effects on the restructuring and sustainable growth of the ex-Soviet type economies.