Economic globalization
It is the increasing economic integration and interdependence of national, regional, and local economies across the world through an intensification of cross-border movement of goods, services, technologies and capital.
[3] While economic globalization has been in expanding since the emergence of trans-national trade, it has grown at an increased rate due to improvements in the efficiency of long-distance transportation, advances in telecommunication, the importance of information rather than physical capital in the modern economy, and by developments in science and technology.
By the time the World Trade Organization was established in 1994 as the baton was passed from the GATT,[12] it had grown to 128 countries, including Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Labor-intensive production migrated to areas with lower labor costs,[17] especially China,[18] later followed by other functions as skill levels increased.
[19] The World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 and associated 1999 Seattle WTO protests were a significant step on the road to economic globalization.
[20] The People's Republic of China (2001) and the last remnants of ex-Soviet bloc countries like Ukraine (2008) and Russia (2012) were admitted much later to the WTO process after painful structural reforms.
The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, which entered into force on 1 July 2018, is an effort to harmonize tax regimes in order to prevent multi-national firms from taking advantage of loopholes like Ireland's Green Jersey BEPS tool.
[5] Examples include: The United Nations, The World Bank and on a regional level The North Atlantic Treaty Organization among others.
Innovations in communications and transportation technology, as well as greater economic openness and less government intervention have made a shift away from internalization more feasible.
In some cases, this has resulted in disproportionately high representation of some ethnic groups in certain industries, especially if economy success encourages more people to move from the source country.
China, India, and Bangladesh, some of the newly industrialised nations in the world, have greatly narrowed inequality due to their economic expansion.
[23] The global supply chain consists of complex interconnected networks that allow companies to produce handle and distribute various goods and services to the public worldwide.
A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer.
Supply chain activities involve the transformation of natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer.
[26] Globalization is sometimes perceived as a cause of a phenomenon called the "race to the bottom" that implies that to minimize cost and increase delivery speed, businesses tend to locate operations in countries with the least stringent environmental and labor regulations.
"[29] It is common for the work lifestyle to bring forth adverse health conditions or even death due to weak safety measure policies.
After the tragic collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh where over 800 deaths occurred the country has since then made efforts in boosting up their safety policies to better accommodate workers.
Marina Prieto-Carrón shows in her research in Central America that women in sweatshops are not even supplied with toilet paper in the bathroom every day.
The reason it costs corporations more is because people can not work to their full potential in poor conditions, affecting the global marketplace.
[32] Furthermore, when corporations decide to change manufacturing rates or locations in industries that employ more women, they are often left with no job nor assistance.
A 2008 paper published by Global Financial Integrity estimated capital flight to be leaving developing countries at the rate of "$850 billion to $1 trillion a year.
Borrowers typically face higher loan costs and collateral requirements, compared to periods of ample liquidity, and unsecured debt is nearly impossible to obtain.
[44] Certain demographic changes in the developing world after active economic liberalization and international integration resulted in rising welfare and hence, reduced inequality.
According to Martin Wolf, in the developing world as a whole, life expectancy rose by four months each year after 1970 and infant mortality rate declined from 107 per thousand in 1970 to 58 in 2000 due to improvements in standards of living and health conditions.
Economic development spurred by international investment or trade can increase local income inequality as workers with more education and skills can find higher-paying work.
The 2020 study finds that economic globalization has decreased security of global supply chains with most countries exhibiting greater exposure to resource risks via international trade – mainly from remote production sources – and that diversifying trading partners is unlikely to help nations and sectors to reduce these or to improve their resource self-sufficiency.
[52] Sovereign states have theoretically unlimited powers to enact tax laws affecting their territories, unless limited by previous international treaties.
[55] If such hidden offshore assets are considered, many countries with governments nominally in debt would be net creditor nations.
[71] As these populations are exposed to the English language, computers, western music, and North American culture, changes are being noted in shrinking family size, immigration to larger cities, more casual dating practices, and gender roles are transformed.
Other media news companies such as Qatar's Al Jazeera network offer a different point of view, but reach and influence fewer people.
