摘要：This paper deals with the analysis of the economic effects of Fiat investment on the development of automotive industry in Serbia. The main objective of the research is to determine why the expected local suppliers base was not created, and whether it was mainly influenced by Fiat. The research is based on the concept of clusters as effective instruments that enable the integration of local suppliers into supply chain of global automotive manufacturers, as well as on the assumption that the strength of clusters is primarily determined by the presence of large, powerful enterprises. The empirical research was conducted using econometric analysis (stochastic frontier analysis) and statistical t-tests on panel data consisting of 40 enterprises operating in the Serbian automotive sector. The aim was to analyze whether the presence of large enterprises increases the cluster performances in Serbian automotive industry. The empirical research results showed that large companies, on average, decrease cluster performances thus pointing out to the conclusion that the absence of large and powerful global companies in the automotive cluster of Serbia, i.e. the absence of Fiat, has significantly reduced the possibility of creation of local suppliers base in the Serbian automotive sector. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 47009: Evropske integracije i društveno-ekonomske promene privrede Srbije na putu ka EU and Grant no. 179015: Izazovi i perspektive strukturnih promena u Srbiji: Strateški pravci ekonomskog razvoja i usklađivanje sa zahtevima EU]
关键词：automotive industry; Fiat; local suppliers base; clusters; large enterprises
