International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR) Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2015, PP 13-24 ISSN 2349-0330 (Print) & ISSN 2349-0349 (Online) www.arcjournals.org ©ARC Page 13 The Development of Foreign Investments and Transnational Corporations in the Context of Special Economic Zones. The Cross-Sectional Analysis on the Example of Poland Agnieszka Rzepka, Ph.D Faculty of management, Department of Economics and Management of Economy Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland agarz@wp.pl Monika Bujak, M.A Faculty of Sociology and History University of Rzeszow, Rzeszów, Poland monika.bujak@o2.pl Abstract: Socio-economic changes in Poland that followed the political transformation caused our country to open its doors to foreign capital. The reasons this conditions were inequalities in the level of development of particular regions and structural unemployment at a large scale. The tool that could have cured this situation and smooth away many problems were special economic zones (SEZ), which could have been treated as a supporting tool for the domestic and foreign investments. Special Economic Zones constitute a tool that allows to attract investors. It is an important and effective negotiating instrument that drives the economy forward. Milliards of zlotys, thousands of workplaces, polish and foreign, it is generally a balance of two decades of functioning of Special Economic Zones in Poland. Special zones, in which the entrepreneurs may conduct their business on preferential rules and make use of income tax exemptions generated as a result of their business activity in the zone, are spread across the whole Poland. According to the latest report of the Ministry of Economy of May 2015, Economic Zones in Poland cover the territory of 18 134 hectares. The first of the zones were created in the 90s and their purpose was to attract investors to Poland, increase the number of worksites and reindustrialize unprofitable land that did not survive the system-wide changes. This article shows the history of Special Economic Zones, the benefits they bring and barriers that prevent their development in Poland. The authoresses of this article attempt is to answer the following questions: a) What factors attract potential investors to Poland? b) What is the situation of Special Economic Zones at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 and how they developed in Poland so far? Keywords: SEZ, Transnational Corporation, FDI. 1. INTRODUCTION The Act of 20 October 1994 on special economic zones as amended gave the legal basis for creating them. The legislator defined in the aforementioned act SEZ as a separate, uninhabited part of the country’s territory where business activity may be conducted under preferential conditions defined in the Act. The special economic zone may be examined in the context of an enclave in which the countrywide regulations on business activity are not legally binding. In contrast, administrative and legal conditions are of an obligatory nature and their purpose is to refund the invested capital in a relatively short period of time. The managing body of the economic zone gives permission for activity on its territory. Conducting business activity in the administrative area of the zone without having permission carry with it serious consequences, such as no benefits in the form of income tax exemption [Hnatyszyn – Dzikowska A, M 2005:33-34]. The purpose of creating a special economic zone is to strive for economic development of a given territory through the development of particular fields of economic activity, new technologies, an