Description
Book SynopsisExplores the intersections of two momentous changes in the late twentieth century: the fall of Communism and the rise of globalization. This book presents a sociological treatment of the process of foreign direct investment (FDI). It demonstrates how both investors and hosts rely on social networks to make decisions about investment.
Trade Review"While the book is a must read for scholars of postsocialism, it will also be of interest to economic sociologists and scholars and students of globalization, capital mobility and foreign investment, economic change, and economic development."--Christy M. Glass, Labour "Nina Bandelj has produced an outstanding piece of work on the postsocialist transformation in Eastern and Central Europe... The theoretical arguments are sophisticated and nuanced, and the empirical research behind them is outstanding. I commend the book to anyone interested in the structure of markets, the processes underlying foreign direct investment, and the processes of globalization more generally. It will be essential reading not only to those interested in postsocialist transitions but also to economic sociologists in general and to anyone interested in the social construction of markets."--Doug Guthrie, Administrative Science Quarterly "Nina Bandelj's first book is powerful and persuasive. Its strength comes from the author's personal involvement with the subject matter... The book contributes significantly to the literature on postsocialist transformation and builds upon well-known themes that have been developed since the 1990s to analyze the deep changes of the current decade... Definitely, this is a must read for both graduate students who are approaching the study of economic geography, economic sociology, globalization, and Eastern European studies and established scholars who are working on postsocialist transformation."--Christian Sellar, Economic Geography
Table of ContentsList of Tables ix List of Figures xi Acknowledgments xiii Prologue xvii CHAPTER 1: Social Foundations of the Economy 1 The Argument 2 A Social-Constructivist Perspective on Economic Organization and Action 8 The Empirical Case: Foreign Direct Investment in Postsocialist Europe 16 CHAPTER 2: From Socialism to Postsocialism 29 Socialism 30 Challenges of the Transformation: Shock Therapy versus Gradualism 43 The Context of Transformation 46 Conclusion 64 CHAPTER 3: Institutionalization of FDI in Postsocialism 65 FDI as Instituted Process 66 Legitimization of FDI Practice 70 FDI Trends since 1989 88 Explaining FDI Inflows across Countries over Time 91 How Postsocialist States Create Markets 99 Conclusion 101 CHAPTER 4: Cross-Country Patterns in FDI Flows 103 From Country Characteristics to Relations between Countries 104 Social Relations as Determinants of FDI Flows 111 Embeddedness and Globalization 126 Conclusion 130 CHAPTER 5: Embeddedness of Organizational FDI Attempts 131 Invested Transactions: The Intricacies of FDI Attempts 131 What Determines FDI Transactions? 143 Network Embeddedness 145 Cultural Embeddedness 149 Political Embeddedness 155 Macro-Institutional Embeddedness 159 Embeddedness: Structures-Power-Culture Configurations 162 Conclusion 166 CHAPTER 6: Uncertainty and the Practice of FDI Transactions 168 Rethinking Instrumental Rational Action 169 Uncertainty 174 Practical Action Model 177 Substantive Varieties of Rationality 179 Procedural Varieties of Action 181 Logic of Decision-Making Practice: Routines, Emotions, Creativity 189 Conclusion 194 CHAPTER 7: Embedded Economies 196 Creation of Markets: From One Kind of Embeddedness to Another 196 Operation of Markets: Structures-Power-Culture Configurations 200 Varieties of Postsocialist Capitalism 206 Conclusion 218 Epilogue 221 Appendix on Method and Data Sources 223 Notes 243 References 255 Index 291
