Regional Determinants of FDI Distribution in Poland

In this paper we examine the location determinants of the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Poland, at a regional level. Using survey data from an online questionnaire in February 2005 and a multinomial logit model incorporating the investorís specific characteristics, we show that knowledge-seeking factors alongside market and agglomeration factors, act as the main drivers for the inflow of FDI to the Mazowieckie region (including Warsaw), while efficiency and geographical factors encourage FDI to the other areas of Poland. Some implications are drawn for FDI attraction policy in Poland.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64429/1/wp943.pd

Regional Determinants of FDI Distribution in Poland

In this paper we examine the location determinants of the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Poland, at a regional level. Using survey data from an online questionnaire in February 2005 and a multinomial logit model incorporating the investor’s specific characteristics, we show that knowledge-seeking factors alongside market and agglomeration factors, act as the main drivers for the inflow of FDI to the Mazowieckie region (including Warsaw), while efficiency and geographical factors encourage FDI to the other areas of Poland. Some implications are drawn for FDI attraction policy in Poland.location choice, transition economies, foreign direct investment

Establishing Data Collection Procedures Equivalence in International Business Research

Following a number of earlier studies on data equivalence in cross-cultural international business research, this article uses a content analysis of articles published in four leading international business journals from 2000 to 2009, to uncover the equivalence in current state of data collection procedures used by researchers in mail surveys. The results show that, despite repeated calls and the existence of a well established theoretical framework for mail survey data collection by Don Dillman (1978, 1999), international business scholars have not been inspired to adopt and report the data collection procedures adequately in their work. We hope this work will draw due attention to the aspect in international business research.International business research · Mail survey · Data collection procedure · Equivalence and Content analysis

Two-dimensional contact mechanics problems involving inhomogeneously elastic solids split into three distinct layers

This paper investigates the frictionless two-dimensional contact problem of an inhomogeneously elastic material under a rigid punch. The inhomogeneous solid is deemed to comprise three distinct regions which represent a homogeneously elastic coating and substrate joined together by a functionally graded transition layer (interlayer) whose shear modulus depends exponentially on the vertical coordinate. We propose closed form solutions for the horizontal and vertical displacements of the solid which are analytic if the contact pressure is known exactly. These solutions are further used to derive a fast and efficient iterative algorithm from which the contact footprint resulting from the rigid stamp problem may be computed. A selection of numerical results are then presented using this method and it is found that our model compares well with those of other authors in the two particular limiting cases considered here. We then investigate the effects of material inhomogeneity and coating thickness on the cylindrical stamp problem and it is found that the maximum principal stress is highly dependent on the thickness and mechanical properties of the layer. In particular, it is found that the maximum principal stress that occurs in a material with a hard coating may be reduced by increasing the thickness of the transition layer whilst lower stresses are achieved in materials with soft coatings by decreasing interlayer thickness

Establishing Data Collection Procedures Equivalence

Following a number of earlier studies on data equivalence in cross-cultural international business research, this article uses a content analysis of articles published in four leading international business journals from 2000 to 2009, to uncover the equivalence in current state of data collection procedures used by researchers in mail surveys. The results show that, despite repeated calls and the existence of a well established theoretical framework for mail survey data collection by Don Dillman (1978, 1999), international business scholars have not been inspired to adopt and report the data collection procedures adequately in their work. We hope this work will draw due attention to the aspect in international business research.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133028/1/wp1013.pd

Predicting the deflection and sub-surface stress field within two-dimensional inhomogeneously elastic bonded layered solids under pressure

This paper describes a Fourier series based solution method for the displacements and sub-surface stresses within a graded elastic layered solid under pressure. The solid is assumed to be in a state of plane strain and thus the derived solution is valid for two-dimensional problems. Whilst this method provides a fully analytic solution when the contact pressure is known exactly, it may also be used when the contact pressure is only known numerically (see Section 4). The solution given in this paper is generic and easily utilised to solve real problems as it requires only known physical characteristics of the solid under study and an applied surface pressure. The solid consists of two distinct regions which are considered to be perfectly bonded. These comprise a graded elastic coating whose shear modulus varies exponentially with the depth coordinate and a homogeneously elastic substrate. As the stresses and displacements induced by the applied pressure decay very quickly outside of the contact region, the contact problem need only be solved in a small piece of the solid as the remainder is unaffected. It is found that accurate results are obtained when the contact problem is solved over a region of the solid 10 times larger than the contact region. This method as a result is computationally cheap to use as the number of Fourier modes needed to accurately capture the solution is small

Analysing the effects of sliding, adhesive contact on the deformation and stresses induced within a multi-layered elastic solid

This paper presents a mathematical model of sliding, adhering contact between a rigid parabolic indenter and a multi-layered elastic solid, which is assumed to comprise of a homogeneous coating bonded through a functionally-graded transitional layer to a homogeneous substrate. The adhesive forces in this investigation are modelled using Lennard-Jones potential and an iterative algorithm is proposed that solves for the contact pressure, surface displacement and sub-surface stresses resultant within the layered solid. The effects of surface adhesion and different material properties such as varying coating/transition layer thickness and coating hardness on the solution of the contact problem are subsequently investigated in detail. The numerical approach presented in this paper demonstrates the significance of having a suitable mathematical representation for the traction distribution along the sliding, adhering contact. It is found that under weakly adhering conditions, the assumption of only Coulombic traction suffices to determine the displacements and subsurface stresses within the multi-layered solid. However, it is noted that stress concentrations within the material begin to propagate through all three layers of the elastic solid with increased surface adhesion, which could potentially induce plasticity and lead to material ploughing under sliding. The proposed model allows us to further investigate and improve our understanding of the combined effects of traction and boundary adhesion in sliding contacts, which can be used to inform the design of materials needed in such conditions

On the two-dimensional solution of both adhesive and non-adhesive contact problems involving functionally graded materials

This paper presents a semi-analytical algorithm for the determination of the contact half width and surface pressure which results from both adhesive and non-adhesive contact problems involving functionally graded materials (FGM). The inhomogeneously elastic solid comprises a graded elastic coating whose shear modulus depends exponentially on the vertical coordinate and a homogeneously elastic substrate. The solid is assumed to be in a state of plane strain and thus a two-dimensional analysis is performed within this work. Using the work of Chidlow et al. (2011a) as a starting point, we derive a pair of integral equations which may be used to determine approximations to the contact pressure when either the surface deflection or the deflection gradient is known over the contact region. As these integral equations are non-singular, we use Galerkin's method to approximate the contact pressure and it is found that relatively small trial spaces allow accurate computation of the pressure. Information about the prescribed load is then used to formulate an iterative algorithm to determine the contact half width. A selection of numerical results are presented using this method and it is found that the solutions computed here compare favourably with those of other authors. A further investigation is then conducted into the solution of adhesive contact problems using the assumptions of Maugis (1992) and Johnson and Greenwood (2008) to inform the nature of the adhesive stresses outside of the contact. It is found that both JKR-like and DMT-like behaviour can be observed in contact problems involving FGMs