From Triad to Dispersion: The (Almost) Irresistible Rise of Foreign Direct Investment in New Countries

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is far from being a new phenomenon; its spectacular rise
and dispersion are. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, there were researchers who already noted the presence of multinational enterprises (MNEs)
and the need for economic theory to
explain their activities (for example [Dunning 1977] and [Vernon, 1971]). In Hungary,
András Blahó ([1980]) was among the first ones to note their importance in the world
economy in general and in the organization of international production in particular. He
built his observations in part on the findings of other Hungarian economists observing the
MNE phenomenon since the early 1960s (for example Mihály Simai [1962]). It is therefore no coincidence that Hungary became, after the political change of 1989–1990 and its
early on opening to FDI (see for example [Sass 2004]), one of the main regional centres
of research on FDI.