Industry and its Surroundings – Multiplier Effects and Embeddedness of Companies

Research of industrial enterprises concerning their impact on the surroundings through multiplier effects is becoming more and more important due to changes in the organisation of production processes. They mainly result from the increasing technological advancement of products and the need to achieve the expected financial effect, which is possible only through large-scale production. The result of these components is a continuous increase in the specialisation of both companies and individual industrial plants. These processes are reflected in contemporary models of industrialisation, which show that companies operate on the basis of more and more complex value-added chains. This increases the indirect impact of enterprises on the development of the surroundings. The article aims to present the mechanism of functioning of multiplier effects and indicate factors that affect different sizes, as well as the scale of their range. It also presents the evolution of the idea of multiplier effects on the ground of macroeconomics and shows the contribution of Polish researchers to this trend of knowledge. It should be noted that the research to date in this area is not often undertaken both on scientific grounds and in the field of broadly understood economic consulting for the benefit of local government units, which results mainly from the lack of data. The need to obtain detailed data, particularly financial data, within the company chain is a crucial barrier.