Press and informal institutions as FDI barriers: what changed in Slovenia between 1992 and 2018?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the last few decades, institutional theory has gained importance in research into the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). However, the role of informal institutions especially remains an under-exploited theme. With regard to the theoretical framework, we first summarise known findings about FDI barriers, institutions, and their role in the foreign investors’ decision-making processes. In the second part, we present results of our empirical analysis of press clippings from one of the leading Slovenian dailies for the selected years, 1992 and 2018. In Slovenia, the year 1992 was the first peaceful year after independence was gained and the year that privatisation legislation was adopted. In 2018 a great deal of public attention was focused on several incoming FDI projects. We propose conclusions concerning the change and influence of the press and selected informal institutions as FDI determinants in Slovenia between 1992 and 2018. The main conclusion is that there was a significant change during this period, and we try to explain this observation. The originality of the present research is the use of a combination of theoretical findings with empirical analysis, and the authors’ personal experiences of the two different periods of time in Slovenia.