ABSTRACT

For several years now, a discussion has been held in the international research literature on the importance of foreign capital in local and regional development. Various advantages and disadvantages are indicated resulting from the location of foreign companies in a specific area. Even though foreign researchers frequently emphasize a number of disadvantages deriving from the impact of external entities and point to relatively little integration of foreign investors with the local environment and little use of local resources, some Polish researchers who undertake this task indicate a relatively beneficial impact on local development, which depends on a variety of features of an investment location. The purpose of the chapter is to make a contribution to the discussion, which has been going on for a while and to show, using the example of non-metropolitan rural areas of Poland, the impact of large foreign economic entities 1 on the local community in comparison to the impact of Polish companies.