Cathedrals in the desert? : Transnationals, corporate strategy and locality in Wroclaw

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the strategy and restructuring of transnational corporations, patterns of foreign direct investment and the transformation of the regions of East and Central Europe. Different views of the impact of foreign direct investment are interrogated by taking a case study approach which focuses on 12 significant brownfield and greenfield investments in the Wroc ^ aw region of Poland. The paper examines the relationship between their mode of entry and institutional engagement. Economic impacts are explored through looking at both the internal restructuring of firms and the wider linkages created in the local region. The paper concludes that, whilst the internal impact on individual firms has been marked, local linkages are not significant. Questions are raised about the effects of competition on indigenous firms. It is suggested that FDI has created 'cathedrals in the desert'. The paper argues that, rather than creating core or dynamic regions, FDI simply produces regions that contain a larger than average number of firms which have been made competitive