The Possible Effects of Foreign Direct Investments on the Southeastern European Countries in the Context of the EU Enlargement

This article is an attempt to contribute to the analysis of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows to the Southeastern countries by examining, on a macroeconomic level, the empirical evidence for attracting capital flows. Since the beginning of the century the interest of foreign investors towards the Southeastern European countries increased and respectively this event provoked discussions concerning the continuity of this process as well as factors influencing the decisions of the foreign investors. Indeed in 2003 the FDI inflows in SEECs constitute 73.03% of the FDI attracted by Central European countries (CECs) and 39.096% of the FDI inflows in Eastern Europe. Using a recent data about the FDI inflows in the SEECs, some factors have been demonstrated related to the host countries. The latter can be seen as reflecting the Dunning theory of determine location-specific advantages. The data and the macroeconomic evidence enable to examine how the FDI activities may change the economic environment in one specific country.