Global Connections: Trade In The Contemporary World Flashcards
What national statistics of international trade are used to measure patterns of trade?
- Values of exports and imports
- % share of world exports or imports
Give 4 international organisations that regulate trade and provide data
- WTO (World Trade Organisation)
- UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)
- IMF (International Monetary Fund)
- OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
What does WTO do?
- Deals with roles of trade between nations
- Bilateral trade agreements - once signed are ratified
- The goal to ensure trade floes smoothly and freely as possible
What does UNCTAD do?
- Due to the globalisation of trade helping lift people out of poverty , challenges still remain
Therefore, UNCTAD helps LIDCs access the benefits of the globalised economy. Helps deal with the potential drawbacks
-Offer technical assistance
What does IMF do?
- Further international monetary co-operation
- Encourage growth of trade and economic growth
- Discovering proxies that would harm prosperity
What does OECD?
- Works to build better policies for better lives
- goal to shape policies that foster prosperity and equality for all
What international BODIES monitor major trade for products of merchandise, services and capital?
- International Sugar Association - Sugar
- Organisation of petroleum exporting countries - Oil
- International Bar Association - Law and Justice
Why are global patterns of trade uneven?
Dominated by ACs and EDCs as they have more political and economic stability.
What three are three types of trade does international trade consist of?
Merchandise - Products and goods
Services - Tradeable activities
Capital - Accumulated wealth used to make more wealth (ei assets or stocks)
What are two types of merchandise?
Primary products - raw material (ores, metals, oil)
Secondary products - manufactured goods (Cars, medicine etc)
What are 4 factors that show spatial variation in trade?
- Direction of flow (Exported vs imported)
- Volume of trade
- Composition of trade (Merchandise/Services/Capital)
- Value of trade (how much a country profits)
What are 5 economic factors that influence patterns of international trade?
-Infrastructure (ei ports, airports, trains etc)
-Technology
-Transport (Boats, planes, trains, cars etc)
-FDI
-Cost of production of product.
What are 4 social factors that influence patterns of international trade?
-Demographic factors (age, migration affecting labour etc)
-Stage in demographic transition
-Female employment
-Levels of education
What are 5 political factors that influence patterns of international trade?
-Super-national organisations
-Regional trading blocs
-National government policies
-Trade agreements
-Tariff/non-tariff borders.
What are 4 environmental factors that influence patterns of international trade?
-Distribution of natural resources (ei oil, metals and ores)
-Climate, soils, water security (affecting food products etc)
-Deep-water ports
-Natural hazards
Why is trade becoming more complex?
Outsourcing
What is outsourcing?
Is a cost-cutting strategy where a company has a comparative advantage over another company and produces goods in another country (usually LIDCs) for cheaper workforce when they could do it at home.
What are 4 factors that influence the uneven distribution of services?
- Highly skilled workforce in ACs
- Strength and reliability of financial institutions
- Ability to supply commercial services
- Level of government and private investment
What are tangible items?
Are a type of capital such as commodities, minerals, land, real estate (Ownership of physical items)
What are intangible items?
Are a type of capital such as currency, stocks, and bonds traded on financial markets (Ownership of non physical items)
What is the relationship between flows of merchandise and services and flows of capital?
Capital flows in the opposite direction to merchandise and services as it is something the sender receives.
Why are flows of capital increasing since the 21st century?
More LIDCs are being integrated into the global trading system
TNCs invest money into the global supply chain
How does India encourage the inward investment of FDI?
- Treaties have been signed by India and Singapore to help countries to avoid high taxation.
- India promotes the building of infrastructure such as ports and airports to help investing companies have relaxed restrictions for oil refining, telecommunications and retail so it assists India’s development.
- India raised inward investment ceiling allowing companies to invest more helping the telecommunications sector grow
- The reserve bank of India facilitate transactions for mergers, takeovers and new investment
- Reduce taxes.
What is inter-regional trade?
Trade between regions (ei UK and USA)
What is intra-regional trade?
Trade within regions (Ei countries within Europe)
What is comparative advantage?
The principle that countries benefit from specialising in an economic activity in which they are relatively more efficiently or skilled at producing that another country (ei UK and cars).
What is the relationship between patterns of international trade and socio-economic development?
-Close relationship
-Measured by value of exports and HDI
-Chinas HDI is lower than would be expected for such high exports
-But overall high exports = high HDI
-Close relationship between percentage of world trade and QoL for example.
BUT NOT ALWAYS
What initiative did WTO launch in 2005 to help developing countries expand their trade?
Aid for Trade Initiative
What conference was the Aid for trade Initiative reinforced at?
Bali Ministerial Conference 2013. Systems were set up to allow LIDCs to integrate into the global multilateral trading system.
How does international trade promote stability?
- International trade contributes to stability and peace especially if countries are under the WTOs most favoured nation principles.
- Encourages co-operation via multilateral trade
- Some bilateral trade agreements extend beyond trade to assist with political issues such as strengthening democratic processes and human rights.
How does international trade promote economic growth?
- Allows for further FDI, growth of GDP and production growth
- Employment opportunities, incomes raised, poverty levels reduced
- Positive multiplier effect, enhanced at an international scale.
How does international trade promote development?
- Remove tariffs which can help countries grow which reduces poverty, and increases social factors such as health, education and infrastructure.
- MNC (Multi-national cooperation) have corporate responsibilities as they have to follow the global compact to stop the de investing of FDI into countries.
- Memberships if trade and political unions with a common purpose to help economic development.
How does the flow of people influence international trade?
-Is important for the circulation of ideas and information from the people
-High skill workforce leaving LIDCs to go to ACs for better employment causes BRAIN DRAIN
-Also share ideas and information with colleagues in their native countries
-If migrants return to their place of origin they can disseminate their skills they acquired.
How does the flow of technology influence international trade?
Technology is important to international trade as it can reduce costs and speed up movement of products. Can do this by:
1. Border controls with electronic messaging, data storage, retrieval systems, helps speed up customs.
2. Online trading currency platforms, exporting is now simpler, cheaper and quicker.
3. Cloud - used to track productivity, improve security and reduce thefts of data.
4. Mobile phones, allows for mobile transfers of capital.