Restructuring of the Polish Passenger Car Industry through Foreign Direct Investment

A U.S.-based geographer discusses the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Polish passenger car industry. The paper illustrates the magnitude of enterprise restructuring and changes in a significant economic sector. Using the case study approach, the author focuses on three of the largest foreign-owned passenger car makers in Poland: Fiat Auto Poland, Daewoo-FSO, and Opel Polska. He then considers FDI in the rest of the Polish automobile industry, noting inter alia Poland's proximity to West European markets and the country's low-cost labor. The case studies, based in part on recent interviews, discuss investment policies, enterprise restructuring, production trends, and effects of FDI in the supplier bases of car makers. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D20, F21, L62. 6 figures, 1 table, 76 references.     

RÉSEAUX ÉLECTRONIQUES ET ESPACES JURIDIQUES: EXPÉRIMENTATION EN NORD-PAS DE CALAIS

La région administrative du Nord-Pas de Calais mène dans le cadre d'un programme de développement européen une politique volontaire en matiére de NTIC. Ces expérimentations ont conduit l'auteur à l'étude des rapports sociaux réticulaires, donné sociologique qui permet d'inférer des difficultés juridiques pour l'expansion régionale, sur son territoire comme dans ses rapports avec ses tuteurs. Les expériences en cours ont pour effet un déplacement de et dans l'espace social, induisant une réorganisation juridique.
As part of a European-wide expansion program, the administration of the Nord-Pas de Calais region has initiated a voluntary policy regarding new technologies in information and communication. These tests have led the author to analyze social relationships occurring on networks. This social interaction allows one to infer the legal difficulties of regional expansion within the territory and within relationships with tutelary authorities. The tests currently in progress lead to shifting of, and within, the social framework, bringing about legal reorganization.     

Globalizing China: The Rise of Mainland Firms in the Global Economy

Two economic geographers survey the changing trends of China's outward foreign direct investment. Based on materials derived from original field work as well as published studies, they shed light on the major mechanisms through which mainland China's leading firms have successfully ventured abroad, as evidenced by proposed or realized acquisitions of significant corporate entities in the United States, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia. The authors argue for a political-economy approach to understanding "globalizing China," a complex phenomenon whereby the Chinese state is strategically and intricately enmeshed with the corporate interests of its leading business firms. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F23, L21, L22, M16. 3 figures, 3 tables, 128 references.