ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is to review some of the main effects of FDI inflows and of the presence of the subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs) on Hungarian economic development in the last decade. The chapter summarizes some of the key findings of our research on the macro-and microeconomic effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) (Hamar 2000; Hamar and Nagy 2001). It focuses on the impact of MNCs on development and on industrial and trade restructuring, and represents a first attempt to draw a map of industrial networks in Hungary. Its primary aim is to try to answer the question of whether the rapidly increasing presence of MNCs did, and will, increase the gap between indigenous and foreign-owned firms in Hungary.
