Equity Investments vs. Debt Investments – What Drives OFDI in Polish Industry

Polish economy witnessed enormous changes over the past 25 years. Systematic economic growth, increasing market openness, legal stabilization and integration with EU have substantially improved Poland’s global competitive position. That is reflected, among others, in intensified flows of long-term capital in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). What is worth stressing, the last decade (regardless the economic crisis) brought a significant rise of investments made by Polish companies abroad (Outward FDI). It should be mentioned however, that the FDI flows are usually analyzed (in both theoretical and empirical literature) as if they consist only of equity investments, when in fact they consist also of intracompany loans. As the latter may not be driven by the same factors as equity flows, the real structure of FDI flows should be taken into consideration while evaluating the investment potential of companies. The paper examines selected issues concerning international expansion of Polish companies in the form of foreign direct investment. It provides theoretical background of the problem, explores the reasons for expansion and presents the structure of foreign direct investment by Polish industrial companies in the period 2003-2012 with regard to the equity and debt components of the flows. The study is based on the data provided by the National Bank of Poland (NBP).