Dr. Adnan Seric

KCG External Research Fellow
Research Manager
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Email: A.Seric@unido.org

Research Interests:

  • Industrial Policy and Economic Development
  • Global Production Networks
  • Foreign Indirect Investments in Developing Countries
  • Institutional Development

FGI 2021 on Global Production Networks for Sustainability on Dec. 6, 2021: Open for Registration

30th November 2021
KCG Secretary
The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted global production networks. It has brought to the forefront a sense of urgency for governments and internationally operating enterprises to re-evaluate their approaches towards ensuring resilience and sustainability in their supply chains. At the same time it offers a unique opportunity to re-think established approaches, to embrace sustainability as a core value creator, and to link long-term recovery strategies to the guiding principles and objectives of the UN Agenda 2030[...]

UNIDO-IfW-KCG Joint Article about Risk, Resilience and Recalibration in Global Value Chains

22nd December 2020
KCG Secretary
Current global value chains (GVCs) are highly efficient, specialized and interconnected, but they are also highly vulnerable to global risks. The high vulnerability to global risks was made clear particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic that caused supply-side disruptions in the first quarter of 2020, as China and other Asian economies were hit by the outbreak of the virus which later spread globally, leading to business closures around the world[...]

UNIDO Published an Opinion Piece on GVC Impact of COVID-19 in Cooperation with KCG

17th April 2020
KCG Secretary
The outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 damages the global health and challenges the world economy. One key aspect here is the global value chains which have been extensively developed since decades. Experts from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Kiel Centre for Globalization (KCG) at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy[...]

The 2019 Forum on Globalization and Industrialization Successfully Took Place in Vienna

5th December 2019
KCG Secretary
As part of a multi-year cooperation between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and KCG, the 2019 Forum on Globalization and Industrialization (FGI) “The Future of Global Value Chains (GVCs): How the Fourth Industrial Revolution is Changing Global Production Networks” took place on November 19, 2019 at the UNIDO Headquarters in Vienna. The 2019 FGI brought together around 100 policymakers[...]

KCG Research: Active Engagement of MNEs Matters for Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility in Africa

5th November 2019
KCG Secretary
KCG Logo
Economic research has provided evidence showing that developing countries’ integration into global value chains is highly advantageous for encouraging their economic and social development over time. Events in practice such as Rana Plaza Collapse in 2013 showed, however, that the benefits of globalization may be realized (partially) at the cost of labour welfare and environmental sustainability on site. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) from economically more advanced countries have been often criticized for focusing on maximizing their profits only and thus ignoring their social responsibility while investing in and/or doing business with firms in the developing countries[...]

KCG Researchers Participated in the Global Solutions Summit 2019

18th April 2019
KCG Secretary
The Global Solutions Summit 2019 with its overarching theme “Recoupling Social and Economic Progress towards a Global Paradigm Change” was held by the Global Solutions Initiative on March 18-19, 2019 at ESMT in Berlin. The multi-stakeholder event gathered 1600 experts from more than 100 countries together to explore and discuss policy recommendations on issues such as trade and investment, multilateralism, social cohesion, climate change and sustainable development[…]

KCG Researchers Joined the HSU-IfW-Workshop in Development and Environmental Economics

10th December 2018
KCG Secretary
KCG PhD researchers Finn Ole Semrau and Frauke Steglich participated in the first joint workshop in Development and Environmental Economics co-organized by the Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg (HSU) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). The HSU-IfW-Workshop took place on November 22-23, 2018 at HSU in Hamburg, Germany. It aimed at bringing together researchers from both institutions to discuss research in economics in general and in development and environmental economics in particular[…]

KCG Researcher Gave a Presentation at the Mainz FDI Workshop

23rd November 2018
KCG Secretary
KCG PhD Researcher Frauke Steglich joined the fourth Mainz Workshop on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Multinational Corporations on November 15-16 in Mainz, Germany. The workshop aimed at better understanding the role of FDI and multinationals in the world economy and its interactions with politics and institutions from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Prof. Dr. Carolina Villegas-Sanchez from the ESADE Business School Barcelona gave the keynote speech of the workshop[…]

KCG Researchers Contributed to a New UNIDO Report on Global Value Chains with Focus on Asia

16th August 2018
KCG Secretary
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) recently published a new report “Global Value Chains (GVCs) and Industrial Development – Lessons from China, South-East and South Asia” to provide evidence on the evolution of global and regional value chains in Asia. From the Asian lessons policy suggestions are derived to support firms’ and countries’ participation in GVCs and encourage their upgrading over time[…]

External Research Fellows Join the KCG

27th July 2017
KCG Secretary
KCG Logo

Nine excellent researchers from different universities and research organizations join the KCG as External Research Fellows: Prof. Alexander Wright Cappelen Ph.D. (Norwegian School of Economics, Norway), Prof. Sourafel Girma Ph.D. (University of Nottingham, UK), Prof. Dr. Stephan Kroll (Colorado State University, US), Dr. Michael Lee (University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand), Dr. Birgit Meyer (University of Vienna, Austria), Prof. Dr. Philipp M. Richter (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany), Adnan Seric Ph.D. (UNIDO, Austria), Prof. Ulrich Wagner Ph.D. (University of Mannheim, […]

New KCG Study on South-South FDI in Africa

26th May 2017
KCG Secretary
Foreign direct investment (FDI) was traditionally dominated by firms from developed countries. These countries were also popular FDI destination countries for a long while. Over the past decade, however, more and more developing economies became increasingly intensively integrated in the FDI engagement worldwide – as sourcing as well as destination countries. Driven by the expectation that determinants and effects of FDI from developing economies to developing countries (South-South FDI) may differ from those of traditional FDI both within developed countries (North-North FDI) and from developed countries to developing countries (North-South FDI), there has been an increasing amount of Studies on South-South FDI over time. One of the main research regions for such a specific form of FDI is East/South-East Asia. In contrast, empirical analyses on South-South FDI in Africa are very limited. This may be partially attributable to the lack of reliable representative datasets for the analysis.[…]

KCG Working Paper No. 3: South-South FDI: Is It Really Different?

26th May 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Robert Gold, Holger Görg, Aoife Hanley and Adnan Seric

We compare the performance of Northern and Southern multinationals in Sub-Saharan Africa, and contrast it with local firms in the host country. Employing unique firm level data for 19 Sub-Saharan African countries, we show that firms receiving FDI outperform domestic ones, while the origin of the foreign investor is of minor importance. We use four different definitions of “South” to compare Northern and Southern FDI. Overall, we do not find strong differences in terms of firm productivity growth between Northern and Southern FDI, irrespective of how the latter is defined. We also find that employment growth is generally higher for firms receiving FDI from other African investors as compared to Northern FDI, and they also receive more technology transfer from their parent company abroad.

KCG Policy Paper No.2: How to Attract Quality FDI?

14th February 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Theodore H. Moran, Holger Görg, Adnan Seric and Christiane Krieger‐Boden

Foreign direct investment in developing countries has got a bad reputation in some popular discussions where it is set tantamount to first world’s postcolonial exploitation of the raw materials and cheap labour from the third world, associated with pictures of leaking oil fields and collapsing factories. While this does happen, data show that FDI[…]

Quality FDI Matters for Economic Development and Growth

16th November 2016
KCG Secretary
quality fdi matters / Photo: © unido flickr
Updated on 16th Nov., 2016

“The Vienna Investment Conference: Quality FDI, Development and Growth” which was co-organized by UNIDO as well as Holger Görg and his team at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy took place in mid-September in Vienna, Austria. At the conference, the Director General of UNIDO Yong Li emphasized that “Quality FDI is a key driver for growth of domestic enterprises and improvement of the overall investment climate, provided the right policies and incentives are […]

KCG Policy Paper No. 1: Quality FDI and Supply-Chains in Manufacturing: Overcoming Obstacles and Supporting Development

16th November 2016
KCG Secretary
Authors: Theodore H. Moran, Holger Görg and Adnan Seric

This paper aims to identify the obstacles to attracting “quality” foreign direct investment (FDI) in middle-skill manufacturing activities, so as to inform an action-agenda for policies that will help developing and emerging market economies to link into global supply chains while building backward linkages deep into their own economies. The evidence reviewed here shows positive benefits from external advice […]


When do Multinational Companies Consider Corporate Social Responsibility? A Multi-Country Study in Sub-Saharan Africa

10th November 2016
KCG Secretary
Authors: Holger Görg, Aoife Hanley, Stefan Hoffmann and Adnan Šerić (Business & Society Review, 2017, Vol. 122(2), 191-220)

While African countries are becoming more and more relevant as host countries for suppliers of multinational companies little is known about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this region. To fill this gap, the present paper explores CSR considerations of foreign affiliates of multinational companies when choosing local African suppliers. The paper suggests a model of three types of determinants, namely firm characteristics, exports[…]


Linkages with Multinationals and Domestic Firm Performance: The Role of Assistance for Local Firms

10th November 2016
KCG Secretary
Authors: Holger Görg and Adnan Šerić (European Journal of Development Research, 2016, Vol. 28(4), 605-624)

This paper uses firm level data for 19 African countries to look at the link between domestic firms’ business relationship with multinationals and their performance in terms of innovation and productivity. Quite uniquely, we also evaluate the importance of support received by the domestic firm, either from the government or the multinational business partner, for this link. Overall, our data analysis shows that for the average domestic firm, supplying to a foreign multinational in the country is positively associated with product innovation. Buying from a multinational is positively associated with labour productivity. These results are independent of any type of support from the government or multinationals […]


KCG Working Paper No. 1: When Do Multinational Companies Consider Corporate Social Responsibility?

1st November 2016
KCG Secretary
Authors:
Holger Görg, Aoife Hanley, Stefan Hoffmann and Adnan Seric

While African countries are becoming more and more relevant as host countries for suppliers of multinational companies little is known about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this region.To fill this gap, the present paper explores CSR considerations of foreign affiliates of multinational companies when choosing local African suppliers.[…]