The electronics industry in central and eastern Europe: an emerging production location in the alignment of networks perspective

During the socialist period, central and eastern Europe (CEE) countries were relatively backward in terms of production and especially in the diffusion of electronics technologies. However, after ten years of post-socialist transformation and integration with the European Union (EU) economies, central Europe has emerged as an important new location for this industry.1 In 1999, the overall value of electronics production in CEE was $26 bn, of which $10.7 bn was in exports.