Competitiveness of CEE Economies and Businesses : Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities

This book presents peer-reviewed, state-of-the-art conceptual and empirical papers devoted to changes in the international competitive position of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, its countries and businesses. While the unprecedented scale of transformation in the CEE region has provided a distinct research setting for international business and economics scholars for more than two decades, there have also been recent discussions about the extent to which the region continues to have a unique business environment. The region's economies have reached different levels of market development and modern business practice adoption, with some of them now frequently classified as advanced economies. Consequently, the same level of heterogeneity among CEE countries can also be observed at the sector and business level. The contributions in this book highlight possible sources of competitive advantage for CEE countries and firms, in light of recent intensive debates about the danger of the middle-income trap and the potential solutions to it. Foreword 6 Contents 10 About the Editors and Authors 12 Introduction 18 Part I: Country-Level Developments 21 The Competitiveness of EU Member States from Central and Eastern Europe in 2007-2014 22 Introduction 22 What Is Competitiveness? 23 Competitiveness of CEE Countries in 2007-2014: Macroeconomic Perspective 24 Competitive Positions in International Relations: Leaders and Laggards in CEE 30 Summary and Conclusions 39 References 41 Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth 43 Introduction 43 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses 45 Methodology and Data 48 Empirical Analysis 49 Conclusion 58 References 60 Facilitating Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI): The Perspective of Support Providers in Poland in the Aftermath of 2008... 63 Introduction 64 Literature Review: OFDI Policy as a Topic Within the Institutional Approach 65 Methodology of the Study 67 Results of the Empirical Study 68 Facts About Polish OFDI 68 Policy Facilitating OFDI in Poland 72 Supporting OFDI in Poland: Results of Experts ́ Survey 75 Conclusions 78 References 80 Attracting FDI to the New EU Member States 83 Introduction 83 FDI Definition 84 Investment Attractiveness and Its Determinants 86 Investment Attractiveness Assessment Based on Selected International Rankings 93 Examining Relationships Between Selected Determinants of Investment Attractiveness and FDI Inflow to the New EU Member States 98 Conclusions 102 References 102 Policies to Promote Eco-innovation: Results for Selected CEE Countries and Germany 106 Introduction 106 Overall Innovation Performance of CEE Countries 107 Eco-innovation Performance of CEE Countries 108 Relationship Between Innovation Performance and Eco-innovation Performance 109 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development 111 Defining Eco-innovation 111 Determinants of Eco-innovation 112 Hypotheses Development 116 Public Financial Support as an Eco-innovation Driver 117 Environmental Regulations as Eco-innovation Drivers 119 Sample Description, Variables Operationalisation, Methods Applied 119 Results of an Analysis 123 Discussion and Conclusions 127 References 129 CEE Countries as a Business Process Outsourcing Destination 132 Introduction 132 The Essence of Outsourcing 133 Definition of Business Process Outsourcing 135 Methodology 136 Global BPO Destinations 137 Key Challenges in CEE Region 142 Conclusion 144 References 144 Part II: Firm-Level Developments 147 Contrasting Methods: An Explorative Investigation on Firm-Level Export Competitiveness Based on Qualitative and Quantitative R... 148 Introduction 149 The Qualitative Lens: In Search of Export Excellence - The EEF Sample and the Assessed Propositions 151 The Quantitative Lens: In Search of Enterprise Performance - The SEP Dataset 154 The Plotting Exercise: The EEFs on the SEP Landscape 157 Conclusions 159 References 162 Emerging CEE Multinationals in the Electronics Industry 164 Introduction 164 Theoretical Background and Literature Review 165 Methodology 168 Industry Background 169 CEE Outward FDI in the Electronics Industry 171 CEE Multinationals in the Electronics Industry 172 Videoton 179 CEE and Emerging Electronics Multinationals 180 Conclusion and Further Research 181 References 186 Human Capital and HRM as a Source of Competitive Advantage and Effectiveness: Evidence from Poland 189 Introduction 189 High Performance Work Systems 191 Competency-Based Human Resources Management 193 Diversity Management 195 Measurement of Human Capital 199 Conclusions 207 References 208 Examination of Central and Eastern European Professional Football Clubs ́ Sport Success, Financial Position and Business Strate... 211 Introduction 211 Literature Review 213 Methodology 216 Results and Discussion 216 Regional Comparison 216 Sport Results of CEE Region ́s Clubs 217 Efficiency of Youth Players ́ Academies and Investigation of the Transfer Markets in CEE 218 Summary of the Financial Results and Trends of Central and Eastern European Football 219 Conclusions 222 References 222 Internet Resources of the Collected Dataset 224 Local Heroes in Hungary 225 Introduction 225 Literature Review 226 Materials and Methods 227 Discussion 228 Conclusion 236 References 237 Front Matter....Pages i-xix Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Competitiveness of EU Member States from Central and Eastern Europe in 2007–2014....Pages 3-23 Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth....Pages 25-44 Facilitating Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI): The Perspective of Support Providers in Poland in the Aftermath of 2008+ Economic Crisis....Pages 45-64 Attracting FDI to the New EU Member States....Pages 65-87 Policies to Promote Eco-innovation: Results for Selected CEE Countries and Germany....Pages 89-114 CEE Countries as a Business Process Outsourcing Destination....Pages 115-129 Front Matter....Pages 131-131 Contrasting Methods: An Explorative Investigation on Firm-Level Export Competitiveness Based on Qualitative and Quantitative Research Findings....Pages 133-148 Emerging CEE Multinationals in the Electronics Industry....Pages 149-173 Human Capital and HRM as a Source of Competitive Advantage and Effectiveness: Evidence from Poland....Pages 175-196 Examination of Central and Eastern European Professional Football Clubs’ Sport Success, Financial Position and Business Strategy in International Environment....Pages 197-210 Local Heroes in Hungary....Pages 211-223