globalization
... (MAI) was a significant example of a global initiative designed to free Tics and others from controls and restrictions. At the individual level, people (in wealthier nations especially) can use credit cards which are valid for purchases, services and cash provision around the globe. They can also order goods directly from around the globe, using Internet links. In these ways, global markets have become largely 'cashless' systems. 1.4 The Globalisation of employment practices There are three aspects to this. First, as TNCs expand their activities, many people in different countries find themselves working for foreign corporations, often making goods for foreign markets. This is particularly the case in low-wage countries in Asia, Africa and Central America. Second, hundreds of thousands of workers (many largely unskilled) have migrated to industrialised countries in search of employment. This is particularly the case in Europe and the USA. Third, among more 'elite' workers, there has been a different global practice developing. Highly educated and highly skilled people move frequently around the world, seeking career advancement with TNCs, governments and international institutions such as the UNO. Thus, many professionals, academics and executives become 'global citizens' more than citizens of any one nation. 1.5 Globalisation and the nation-state In a number of ways, forces of globalisation have weakened the individual nation-state. Powerful TNCs have been able to exert strong pressure on economically weaker nations, demanding favourable policies and arrangements in return for capital investment. As well, various international organisations have been able to exert pressure on individual nations. These include the UNO, the International Labour Organisation, the International Court of Justice, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as non-government organisations (NGOs) such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International and WWF. The regional economic agreements described above have weakened the power of individual states, as has membership of international security agreements such as NATO. Further, 'national identity' has been weakened by the emergence of 'global workers' and 'global citizens' described above. As Giddens claims, 'in circumstances of accelerating globalisation, the nation-state has become "too small for the big problems of life, and too big for the small problems of life"' (1991, p. 65). However, amid the globalising forces described above, there have been strident examples of parochialism and local assertion of identity, as in the new 'Balkanisation' of the former USSR and Jugoslavia. 1.6 Globalisation and culture Along with the weakening of the nation-state have come challenges to national cultural identity. Stuart Hall claims that 'with the processes of globalisation, that form of relationship between a national cultural identity and a nation-state is now beginning ... to disappear' (1991:22). This cultural change has resulted largely from technological and economic developments described above. Countries around the world have been saturated by media messages and products from dominant (usually Western, mainly US) cultures. Some theorists describe this process as the 'Americanisation' of culture around the world, as US cultural products and images are taken up in a homogenised global culture (Featherstone 1990). However, the homogenisation proceeds alongside some fragmentation, as US cultural influences are sometimes transformed in local settings (such as ethnic 'fast food’), and as there is an increasing resurgence of some local, ethnic cultural practices and products (such as music and dance from Africa, the Caribbean and Ireland). In some cases, that resurgence itself becomes global in its reach (for example, the Riverdance phenomenon). 1.7 Globalisation, issues and action Increasingly, people are realising that ecological and social issues are not confined within national borders. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster impacted on many nations, and such issues as global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, Indonesian forest fires, and fisheries depletion transcend national borders. Our Common Future, the 1987 report of the UN Commission on Environment and Development, portrayed vividly the global reach of ecological impacts. Similarly, issues of human rights abuse and the plight of refugees are global in scale. As TNCs expand, consumers around the globe become enmeshed in questions of working conditions and environments in countries other than their own. Giddens pointed to the complex intersection of globalisation and people's daily lives, admitting that 'my decision to buy a certain item of clothing has implications not only for the international division of labour but for the earth's ecosystems' (1994, p. 5). In the face of such global issues, international responses have been advocated - including statements on human rights (the UNO), agreements on environmental targets (Rio de Janiero 1992; Kyoto 1996) and the declaration of World Heritage sites. Action has come at a global level as well, through such organizations as Green peace, Amnesty International and various agencies of the UNO dealing with children, labour, refugees and health. Globalisation is frequently discussed from the following viewpoints: 1. Globalisation leads to increased growth and higher incomes. The results are a higher standard of living, better education and greater social security; this argument is primarily cited for the less developed national economies. 2. International competition generates new, higher-quality products, and thus new markets - primarily in the highly industrialised national economies. This permits cutting back in heavily-subsidised sectors such as agriculture. On the other hand, this makes it possible to cope more quickly with the structural changes in the economy which lead to the decline of markets or industries. 3. In a globalised economy, enterprises tend to operate in networks. This can be seen in particular in organisation, where enterprises may join together or even form virtual companies without losing their independence. They concentrate on their core functions. Outsourcing increases and the associated specialisation results in an ever greater division of tasks in the work environment. 4. Approaches for measuring the effects of globalisation In the context of foreign trade, globalisation first blossomed around the turn of the twentieth century. However, examined from the viewpoint of the modern information and communications technologies, this assumes a new status - as was discussed at the beginning - in particular for politics or global economic development. The effects of globalisation will be discussed in general from the following five viewpoints (1) Economy (2) Finance (3) Labour (4) Social conditions (5) Education In reality, there is a close relationship between the individual areas. I will attempt to examine the main emphases of the individual areas in more detail from the viewpoints relevant for official statistics. 4.1. Economy Both the developing and industrialised countries hope that globalisation will have a positive effect on their overall economic development. Such effects include above all economic growth (as measured, for instance, by gross domestic product (GDP)), an increase in the value added, a general increase in productivity, and lastly the stability of the level of development that has been achieved. When the individual areas of the economy are examined, globalisation equates to, among other things, an intensification of the exchange of goods. The consequence could be an improved supply - in a qualitative and quantitative respect - of goods to the population at both regional and international levels. In a broader sense, production procedures utilising the cross-border division of labour can increase productivity. This in turn can provide a positive impetus for investments and influence the investment behaviour of transnational players. 4.2. Finance The liberalisation of the finance and capital markets and the rapid acceptance of ICT by these sectors were important prerequisites for the growth in cross-border activity in the financial service sector. One indicator of the amount of globalisation in this area could be the number of foreign financial institutions. In addition to the opening up of new markets and the development of new financial products that were important for the development of globalisation, trade concessions were achieved for all trading partners through, for instance, new forms of financing for foreign trade (including risk limitation). Thanks to the increasing competition among financial service-providers, it is possible to obtain credit at relatively low interest rates. To judge to what extent and how intensely capital is interlocked internationally, total foreign capital can first be taken into account; the movements of foreign capital into the domestic economy are, however, likely to be more meaningful. Numerous indicators can be calculated for both of these components in the form of gross and net calculations. If these are used for investment, it is also possible to accelerate the rate of progress in technology. 4.3. Labour ...