Foreign direct investment in Hungary – the post-communist privatisation story re-considered

Mihályi, P. (2001) Foreign direct investment in Hungary – the post-communist privatisation story re-considered. Acta Oeconomica, 51 (1). pp. 107-129. ISSN 0001-6373

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Abstract

This paper explores the theoretical possibility of re-interpreting the conventional wisdom of the transition economy literature on privatisation. Around 1989/90 the emphasis had been put on de-etatization and good corporate governance and little attention was paid to the necessity of integrating the Eastern economies into the network of transnational corporations (TNCs). Today, it is clear that this is the name of game. Without TNCs, privatisation simply does not produce the expected results. Based on the experience of Hungary, this paper describes an alternative model where the key policy variable is the rise of manufacturing exports. It is argued that for resource-poor transition economies privatisation to foreign strategic investors is the single most important question of the ownership revolution. Once this policy is advanced, the rise in exports can help to underpin macroeconomic stability. In other words divesting the manufacturing sector to TNCs is the beginning of a virtuous circle, where large and well publicized sell-offs help to attract portfolio investors and greenfield investors as well.

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