Great Problems, Great Minds Seminar Series: Revisiting Foreign Direct Investment in Less Developed Countries and Peripheral Regions

Join the Social Sciences Colloquium at the Department of Social Sciences for this Great Problems, Great Minds seminar series event featuring guest speaker Petr Pavlinek, a professor in the Department of Geography and Geology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska Omaha, who will give a presentation on “Revisiting Foreign Direct Investment in Less Developed Countries and Peripheral Regions.” This seminar will take place on Wednesday, February 7, from 5–6:15 p.m. over Zoom.

Abstract

This seminar focuses on the regional development effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in less developed countries and peripheral regions. In terms of FDI in less developed countries, this presentation argues two main points. First, the empirical evidence points strongly toward the very uneven and limited development effects of FDI. Second, mainstream and heterodox perspectives come to contrasting conclusions about the potential developmental effects of FDI. In terms of peripheral regions of more developed countries, this talk suggests three main points. First, FDI has a greater potential to benefit core regions than peripheral regions in the long run. Second, despite different conceptual approaches to FDI in economic geography, the empirical research points to similar conclusions about the long-term effects of FDI in peripheral regions. Third, geographers need to maintain a strong interest in examining the effects of FDI in peripheral regions in the overall context of uneven development and a rapidly changing world economy.

Bio

Petr Pavlinek’s research and publications focus on the regional development effects of foreign direct investment, especially in less developed countries and regions, with a particular interest in the development and restructuring of the automotive industry. Regionally, he has focused on Europe, and especially on East-Central Europe. He has published four books. His fifth book, titled Europe’s Auto Industry: Global Production Networks and Spatial Change, will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2024. Pavlinek has also published more than sixty research articles and book chapters on various topics related to the automotive industry, FDI, and regional economic development. His latest article published in Economic Geography in December 2023, has introduced the concept of geopolitical decoupling in global production networks and focused on the development of the automotive industry in Iran. Funding for his research has come from the United States Department of State, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Czech Science Foundation, the European Commission, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic, and the International Research and Exchanges Board. Pavlinek has earned a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in natural sciences from Charles University.

“Revisiting Foreign Direct Investment in Less Developed Countries and Peripheral Regions” is part of the Great Problems, Great Minds seminar series which explores the major problems facing humanity as we move into the heart of the twenty-first century. To see the full schedule and videos from previous events, visit the seminar series page. For more information, contact Associate Professor of Social Sciences Hao Huang at hhuang48@iit.edu.

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