The goal of this presentation is to analyze the role of the state in the development of the automotive industry in Slovakia, which represents an excellent example of a peripheral country that has been integrated into European automotive production networks since the early 1990s. Driven by FDI inflows of €2.4bn in the automotive industry between 1990 and 2012, the annual assembly of passenger cars increased from less than 3,000 units in 1993 to 980,000 units in 2013. Slovakia became the 19th largest producer of automobiles in the world in 2012 and the largest producer of passenger cars per capita. FDI-driven export-oriented expansion of the automotive industry contributed to rapid economic growth, especially between 2000 and 2007. Slovakia recorded the fastest GDP growth per capita in the OECD during 2001-2011 and it significantly narrowed the income gap relative to the more developed half of the OECD countries from more than 60% to almost 40%. What are the main reasons for this rapid production increase in a country with a very limited tradition of vehicle manufacturing before 1990? In this presentation, I will consider the role of the state in the rapid growth of the automotive industry in Slovakia after 1990 as an example of an integrated peripheral market of the global automotive industry. read more
