Why are spillovers through backward linkages from multinational corporations in the Czech motor industry still limited?

This article uses the AMADEUS firm-level database and annual reports of companies to study spillovers through backward linkages from multinational corporations onto indigenous suppliers in the Czech motor industry. We use financial and non-financial indicators of foreign-owned and indigenous suppliers to define quantitative indicators to evaluate the quantity and quality of backward linkages. We suggest that the impact of MNCs on the quantity of backward linkages is mixed: in our sample Czech-owned suppliers represent half of the companies but they contribute only little to the total turnover of the suppliers. The new position of follow-source suppliers in the motor industry value chain explains the fragile position of indigenous suppliers in small emerging economies. The presence of numerous foreign-owned affiliates belonging to global MNCs, with whom the manufacturers are engaged in relational linkages on a world scale, also explains the absence of interest of the MNCs in relational linkages with the indigenous supply base.