Globalisation Flashcards
what is globalisation
a process by which the economies of the world become more integrated by the free flow across national boundaries of goods and services, investment, finance and labour
how to measure globalisation
- international trade of goods and services (trade)
- International integration of capital markets (flows of savings and investments)
- International labour markets (migration)
Trade
- trade between 2 countries is an extension of trade within a country
- international trade affects both firms and countries
- due to trade, countries such as the UK can import coffee and bananas and export Rolls-Royce
- countries can become richer as a result of an open trading environment e.g china
what is merchandise trade?
trade is tangible products that are physically shipped across borders
common measures of globalisation
- imports/exports or total trade as a share of GDP
- Reduction in trade costs (price gaps) between countries
Globalisation before 1870-1914
highly integrated, large trade and rapid growth
Globalisation after WWII
- Reduction of trade costs e.g freight costs, of goods and services between countries
- Decline in man-made barriers to trade (e.g tariffs and quotas). Instead replaced by multilateral agreements e.g WTO
- Information and communication technologies revolution
Deglobalisation
increasing trade costs during the depression
- partly due to tariffs and quotas on imports
International trade of goods and services
trade used to be standardised
- now, raw materials shipped back and forth between countries during the manufacturing process
- this new feature of world trade and production is referred to as offshoring or outsourcing
- offshoring is the relocation of part of a firms activities outsourcing national boundaries in which it operates
- we can expect increased trade in services in the future
WTO report 2019 on services
- services account for the majority of trade in many developed economies
and are growing rapidly in developing economies
- although trade has increased among countries, there is a widening gap between imports and exports
- the world is closed and trade must balance
Integration of capital markets
- countries lend to and borrow from each other to finance investment
- the sources and uses of foreign exchange are recorded in the balance of payments (BOP)
Balance of payments
includes:
- Foreign portfolio investment - buying foreign stocks or bonds
- foreign direct investment (FDI) - ownership of foreign physical assets
BOP = current account + capital and financial account
Current account (CA)
consists of:
exports - imports + net earnings from assets abroad
- CA deficit: if country is borrowing, ie receiving net capital flow from countries
- CA surplus: country is lending (net capital outflow)
Measuring globalisation: International Labour markets
- fewer advances in labour market integration than goods or financial market integration due to immigration barriers
- wages still differ across countries due to migration costs
- international trade in goods and services acts as a substitute for migration and allows workers to improve their living standards through working in export industries even when they cannot migrate to earn higher incomes
Why does trade occur?
- Differences across countries
- Economies of scale
- Economies of agglomeration
- Low coordination or communication costs
- Proximity of countries to another
Differences across countries
- in productivity of labour and technologies
- in total amount of resources (labour, labour skills, physical capital, land)
- differences in costs of offshoring
Economies of scale
larger scale of production more efficient
Economies of agglomeration
cost reductions from locating close to other firms in similar industries
Proximity of countries to another
- distance matters and can also be impediment to trade as transportation costs effect costs of imports/exports
Size of economies
- are directly related to the volume of imports and exports
- larger economies produce more goods and services, have more to sell in the export market so they attract large shares of countries spending
- larger economies generate more income from the goods sold so are able to buy more imports
Absolute advantage
country has absolute advantage over another in the production of a good if it can produce it with fewer resources and when a country has the best technology for producing a good
Comparative advantage
country has a comparative advantage in producing a good if the opportunity cost of producing the good in that country is lower than it is in other countries
Ricardo’s comparative advantage and free trade
Portugal has absolute advantage in both cloth and wine over England
Portugal has comparative advantage in production of wine due to its climate
England as comparative in cloth
trade can occur
gain from trade in exporting goods they have comparative advantage in
illustrates a benefit from balanced international trade without having tariffs