Political factors and corruption and its impact on FDI: case study of the Slovak Republic

Foreign direct investment has been one of the main means of transferring and spreading economic progress throughout the world for at least a few decades. Its importance has risen by the technological development and globalization, especially in the second half of the 20th century. Technology and physical factors have become more mobile than ever. Therefore, the influence of country-specific factors such as domestic characteristics of the economy, level of corruption, or political factors on the movement of FDI has risen higher than ever before. The aim of the thesis is to point out whether non-economic factors, such as political factors or corruption, influence the decision to undertake FDI, or not. The thesis is based on the case-study of the Slovak Republic, specifically its automotive industry. The first part of the thesis introduces the main concepts and theories concerning with FDI and portrays its possible influencing factors. The second empirical part of the thesis illustrates the case of the Slovak Republic and its investment environment, specifically in the case of major automotive FDIs of the last two decades