Manufacturing Reshoring: Threat and Opportunity for East Central Europe and Baltic Countries

This paper focuses on “reshoring” strategies, conceptualized as the relocation of production earlier off-shored, independently of its governance mode (out-sourcing vs. in-sourcing). More specifically, we investigate two different forms of this phenomenon: the repatriation of manufacturing activities in the firm’s home market (back-reshoring) or in a country located at a shorter distance from the headquarter (near-reshoring). We suggest that such phenomena may represent a significant “threat” (back-reshoring) or a “opportunity” (near-reshoring) for the economies of East Central Europe and Baltic Countries. Based on a wide-ranging literature review and findings derived from an extensive data collection, suggestions for policy makers and managers are provided.