FDI-related meritocratic elite and income inequality in post-communist EU countries

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to shed more light on the foreign direct investment (FDI) - income inequality nexus in the post-communist EU countries. Special attention is paid to the emergence of a new meritocratic elite related to foreign capital that tends to replace the old elite inherited from the transition period at the top end of the income distribution.Design/methodology/approachThe macroeconomic model of the relationship between income inequality and FDI is estimated by using the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique. The sample includes 10 post-communist EU member states during the period 1993 to 2020.FindingsThe results suggest that the concentration of the highest level of human capital in foreign-owned enterprises, in the institutional environment under which foreign-owned enterprises are less numerous and pay a higher wage than domestic ones, contributes to the change of the effect of FDI and human capital on income distribution from an initial decrease to a later increase in income inequality.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the existing literature by exploring the distributive impacts of sectoral reallocation of FDI inflows from manufacturing to service sectors from the perspective of heterodox economics. It specifically examines how this shift has facilitated the emergence of a new meritocratic elite associated with foreign capital, which in turn diminishes the overall anti-inequality effect of FDI in the post-communist new EU countries.