International investment and divestment of European grocery retailers in developing countries The case of Carrefour in Algeria

This article analyses the modalities and logics of investment and divestment of French mass distribution retailer Carrefour in Algeria, and seeks to draw lessons that can be generalised to emerging countries. The Carrefour case is fairly unusual, in that this retailer has experienced establishment, withdrawal and then re-establishment over a very short period of time. A detailed analysis of this process makes it possible to validate or invalidate the various reasons given in the literature as initial justification for the company’s withdrawal.