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A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
II. GLOBALIZATION AND ITS
IMPACT
II.1 Views and perceptions
Common ground Africa Arab world Asia Latin America and the Caribbean Transition countries of Europe and Central Asia Western Europe and North America Business, labour and civil society
II.2 Globalization: Its nature and impact
Introduction Key characteristics of globalization The institutional context The impact of globalization
12 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
II.1 Views and perceptions
Common ground Africa Arab world Asia Latin America and the Caribbean Transition countries of Europe and Central Asia Western Europe and North America Business, labour and civil society
Globalization from a wide range of perspectives
- A key priority for the Commission was to see globalization from a wide range of perspectives, in regions throughout the world: how it had affected people’s lives; what hopes, fears and concerns it had aroused; and what action people believe should be taken to expand its opportunities and reduce its insecurities.
- To achieve this, we launched a wide-ranging programme of dialogues and con- sultations at national, regional and global levels. Participants included over 2000 decision-makers and social actors involved in globalization issues, among them government ministers and administrators, local politicians and parliamentarians, national leaders of workers’ and employers’ associations, representatives of civil society and religious leaders, organizations of women and indigenous peoples, academics and journalists. 2 The dialogues were designed to be interactive and participants exchanged ideas both among themselves and with Commissioners. Views and perceptions
- Although the participants were not intended to be representative of public opinion as a whole, these dialogues have helped us to see globalization through the eyes of people. 3 There was broad recognition of the benefits of globalization, but a clearly critical strand of opinion ran through the dialogues. We present this brief summary, not because we agree with everything that was said – indeed there were divergent or contradictory views among different participants – but because they help us understand the questions that are being posed, the concerns that are being expressed, the interests at stake, and the values and goals to which people sub-
(^2) Altogether some 26 national and regional dialogues were held. In addition to regional consultations for Africa, the Arab States, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, national dialogues and con- sultations were held in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Fin- land, Germany, India, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United States, and Uruguay. Nine special consultations were organized to hear the views of international business, labour, and civil society groups. More details are given in an annex to the Report. To supplement this information, we have also considered the results of some opinion polls carried out by other organizations. (^3) Full reports of the dialogues are available at: www.ilo.org/wcsdg/consulta/index.htm
14 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
global economy. These were biased in favour of the rich and powerful and neglected the social impact of economic policies. The adverse effects were some- times strikingly similar in different parts of the world. For instance, the damage done by agricultural subsidies was illustrated by identical complaints in the Brazil and Tanzania dialogues: that the import of European powdered milk was crowding out demand for their domestic milk, while at the same time introducing an inferior product.
- However, fair rules do not automatically lead to a fair result. Efforts were needed to help those in a weaker position to “jump on the bandwagon of devel- opment”. The current agenda was considered to be too focused on trade and investment, and not enough on human rights and the environment, partly due to a “democratic deficit” at the international level.
- There was widespread agreement on the need for a renewed role for the State, built on the rule of law and democratic institutions, and working in partnership with other social actors. While the concept of an all-embracing State has been dis- credited, globalization had weakened the State too much. In order to respond effectively to globalization the State needed to be able to develop national capacities, regulate economic activity, promote equity and fairness, provide essen- tial public services and participate effectively in international negotiations.
Need for investment in education and skills
- A recurring theme was that to take advantage of the opportunities of global- ization, people and countries had to invest in education, skills and technological capabilities across the board. Education systems needed reform and illiteracy had to be tackled. Migration and regional integration
- Migration was another widespread concern, for countries of in-migration and out-migration alike. In many low-income countries there was criticism of the bar- riers to broad-based migration to industrialized countries, and concern about the “brain drain”, which undermined efforts to build national capabilities. Migrants from all regions, particularly women, were often driven into an illegal economy in countries of destination, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. A fairer frame- work for the movement of people was essential, and in the European regional dialogue it was argued that “any policy of restriction should be linked to a policy of trade liberalization and development cooperation”.
- In all parts of the world regional integration was seen as a route towards a fairer, more inclusive globalization. Countries are better able to manage the social and economic challenges of globalization by working together. That calls for better integration of social and economic policies in the process of regional integration, as has been the aim in the European Union (EU), the Southern African Develop- ment Community (SADC) and the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), among others.
- There were repeated expressions of support for the United Nations and the multilateral system as the best means of responding to the challenges of globalization.
“If globalization is a river, we must build dams to generate power”
- One final area of common ground: most participants in the dialogues believed that solutions were possible, and many were already actively seeking or promoting them. Whatever the negatives of the present model of globalization, it was recog- nized that globalization is a reality, that it is necessary to adjust policy priorities to deal with it ( “the outside world can do without us; but we can’t do without it” ), and above all that answers can and must be found. A participant in the dialogue in Poland gave an analogy of a force which could be harnessed: “If globalization is a river, we must build dams to generate power”.
Views and perceptions 15
- Beyond the common concerns and beliefs, there was much diversity as well. Without pretending to capture the richness of the discussions, we highlight below a range of perspectives from different regions of the world.
Africa
- No one doubted that over the past 20 years of globalization, Africa has fared Africa fared worst far worse than other regions. However, the extent to which globalization was to blame for Africa’s problems remained a matter of debate. At best Africa felt bypassed, at worst abused and humiliated.
- At one extreme, a contributor to the Senegal dialogue likened it to “the re- colonization of our countries”. Globalization was unwanted, foreign and forced on Africa.
- Another contributor to the Senegal dialogue said the impact on African business was an “unequal combat which would lead to certain death”. According to a leader from civil society, Africa needed to “develop a culture of resistance” to globalization in order to avoid being reduced to the status of a “beggar economy”.
- Elsewhere, participants in the dialogue in Uganda recognized that global- ization could lead to greater democracy, education and employment. As the regional dialogue made clear, whatever the impact of globalization on the con- tinent, people did not believe that Africa could advance by isolating itself from the process.
Unfair rules, foreign debt, HIV/AIDS, poverty and migration major concerns
- The strong critical sentiment prevailing at the dialogues was explained by the long list of negatives which participants attributed to the current pattern of global- ization. High on the list was rich nations’ farm and tariff policies. Mali had no reason to respect the trade rules when one of its few competitive exports, cotton, was being undercut by subsidies. Western tariffs continued to discriminate against local processing of commodities, making producers hostage to the declining price of raw materials. The price of unprocessed coffee was the lowest in history, said a participant in the dialogue in Tanzania, but there had been no drop in the price of a cup of coffee in New York, Tokyo or Geneva.
- Frustration with the policies of the leading international organizations proved a common theme. African negotiators lacked the resources and information needed to promote their interests at the WTO. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were described as arrogant, ignorant of local conditions, and applying “one-size-fits-all” policies. They imposed tight fiscal policies which cut down funds for education and social spending. Little of the foreign investment which was promised to follow liberalization had materialized. Above all, the foreign debt overhang was crippling despite the efforts of even the best-run governments.
- HIV/AIDS, poverty and migration were high on the African agenda. Of special concern were the high costs of patented drugs for HIV/AIDS and other diseases. At the same time, migration and HIV/AIDS were draining Africa’s already meagre sup- ply of skilled workers.
- But Africans did not just blame others for their problems. They too felt responsible for failures to build trade, integrate with other economies and benefit from the positive aspects of globalization. They recognized that economic regression was often caused by poor governance as much as outside influences. Meanwhile, scarce fiscal resources were wasted on armaments and devastating
Views and perceptions 17
urban and intra-regional inequalities. Some multinational investment was exacer- bating environmental degradation and generated pressures for cheaper and more flexible labour in order to retain competitiveness. As consumers, people in China appreciated low prices and quality goods and services, but as workers they wished for better and more secure job opportunities.
- In India, the message was more mixed. There had been winners and losers. The lives of the educated and the rich had been enriched by globalization. The information technology (IT) sector was a particular beneficiary. But the benefits had not yet reached the majority, and new risks had cropped up for the losers – the socially deprived and the rural poor. Significant numbers of “non-perennial” poor, who had worked hard to escape poverty, were finding their gains reversed. Participants at the dialogue feared that globalization could erode values such as democracy and social justice. Power was shifting from elected local institutions to unaccountable transnational bodies. Western perceptions, which dominated global media, were not aligned with local perspectives; they encouraged consum- erism in the midst of extreme poverty and posed a threat to cultural and linguistic diversity.
- Elsewhere, as the Philippines dialogue emphasized, the experience of global- ization was often of “much talk of markets, but in reality very little access, much talk of jobs, but they were somewhere else, and much talk of a better life, but for others”. One major reason was the lack of a level playing field, as industrialized country protectionism denied to others the very route that they themselves had used to grow. China’s perceived success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) was also perceived as a threat, although participants in the Chinese dialogue rejected the notion that China was leading a “race to the bottom”. In the Philip- pines dialogue, indigenous peoples highlighted the increasing conflict between their communities and mining corporations because of the liberalization of mining investments.
Economic volatility
- The economic volatility of globalizing countries was a key issue at the regional dialogue. A Thai participant described the violent reversal of capital flows during the Asian crisis as a “punishment out of proportion to the sins committed”. Capital market reforms were needed but there had to be prudent sequencing of liberalization and adequate social protection. Japanese participants emphasized that regional cooperation in trade and finance could increase stability.
- A more liberal regime was also necessary to cope with the growing movement of people across national borders. Trafficking of women and children constituted one of the grossest abuses of human rights and required concerted action.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- The Latin American dialogues occurred at a time of crisis in the region as the economic problems of Argentina spilled over to its neighbours. Consequently, many were quite sceptical of the benefits of increased global trade and interaction.
- On the whole, however, the dialogues showed a more nuanced attitude. While globalization needed reform to take account of people’s needs, the region also needed reform to take advantage of globalization. The people and societies of the region should be at the centre of efforts to create a more “humane” globalization. The dialogue in Brazil highlighted the elimination of hunger, universal education and decent work as the key items in the new agenda, to counterbalance the aspects of trade, finance and technology which had been in the ascendant so far.
18 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
Globalization linked to spread of democracy
- The challenge of globalization had to be seized. On a positive note, it was asso- ciated with the spread of democracy in the region and with growing public aware- ness of issues such as gender inequality, human rights and sustainable develop- ment. The “smaller” global world of today was making the cross-fertilization and circulation of ideas much easier. As noted by the participants in the dialogue in Chile, it was helping to shape a new global ethic based on universal values and principles shared by people all over the world. The challenge now was how to put the emerging rights agenda into practice.
- For many, globalization was not delivering on its promises, and particularly not delivering decent work. 5 “Workers can hardly trust the current model of globalization when they see every day a growth of the informal economy, a decline in social protection and the imposition of an authoritarian workplace culture” , said a trade union leader. But even in a country as successful as Costa Rica the participants in the dialogue felt that the majority of citizens, regardless of their income level or social status, perceived more threats than opportunities in global- ization. Unstable global financial markets, in particular, had had disastrous social consequences in many countries, due both to inadequate government policies and to poor understanding of local conditions by the IMF and foreign banks. The mid- dle classes in Argentina and Uruguay had been hit particularly hard. Calls for renewed role for the State
- From many quarters came a call for a renewed role for the State. As the Prime Minister of Barbados said at the dialogue of Caribbean States, “we cannot leave people-focused development to the serendipity of market forces. Rather than retreat, the State must forge new smart partnerships with the private sector and the institutions of civil society”. This was echoed at the regional dialogue in Lima. It included more efficient public services but also a harmonious relationship between the private sector as generator of wealth and employment and the public sector as promoter of a competitive environment. Competitiveness needed to be enhanced by investment and human capital development, not by lowering wages or raising protective tariffs. Throughout this region, there was a particular need for policies to favour small and medium-sized enterprises and to oppose the informal- ization of the economy.
- Migration had become an important issue throughout the whole region, from Mexico – where one worker in five was living abroad – to Argentina, where many young people with skills were moving to countries from which their grandparents had migrated in search of prosperity.
- Much hope was placed on regional integration as a route to social and pol- itical goals. Integration within Mercosur in particular could be deepened. Wide- ranging regional institutions were already in place in the Caribbean, which needed to be strengthened. Regional solidarity could also be a means for the region as a whole to actively engage in the construction of globalization.
(^5) According to a survey by Latinobarómetro (Santiago, Chile) in 2002, over 40 per cent of people in Latin America rated unemployment, labour market instability or low wages as their most important problem. The same survey indicated that a majority of respondents considered that government economic policies are responsible for the problems, while 22 per cent blamed global- ization and 23 per cent the IMF (special tabulations from the regular Latinobarómetro survey. See www.latinobarometro.org).
20 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
addressed in the context of Europe’s ageing population and of the social cohesion which is at the heart of the European social system.
Response to the pressures of globalization on social policy
- Europe was constructing a social model which some believed could to a cer- tain extent be replicated elsewhere. The dialogue in Finland gave one example of how integrated economic and social policies and a partnership approach had been instrumental in building a modern and competitive information society. The con- struction of the EU itself was an expression of that same model and, at the same time, a response to the pressures of globalization. Though a unique historical pro- cess, it contained elements that could inspire better, more inclusive management of the global economy.
- The dialogues suggested that Europeans were in principle sympathetic to many developing country complaints about the pattern of globalization. It was acknowledged that the rules of globalization were set by the industrialized world and that if globalization was to become more inclusive the developing world should have a much bigger say. The importance of granting more development assistance to the poorest countries was generally recognized. The negative impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on the developing world was also recognized by some, but it was clear that there were political obstacles to reform.
- There is an enormous amount of information on the perceived impact of globalization in the United States, with sometimes contradictory findings. Some recent major surveys report generally strongly positive attitudes to globalization accompanied by concern about jobs. Recent academic research found objections among a significant group of American voters to further exposure to global- ization. 7 This study showed that perceptions of globalization were more positive the higher the level of education and skills.
- Some limited focus group consultations were also held in the United States in the course of the Commission’s work. Those consulted had little doubt that the world economy had changed radically over the past 20 years. Globalization was putting new pressures on companies to be more competitive, squeezing wages and leading to corporate mergers. Some domestic jobs had moved to other coun- tries, but in general the process was leading to greater wealth and well-being. The United States itself was seen as the main driver of globalization, and this was regarded positively. However, it was recognized that there were also adverse effects. These included impact on the environment and the marginalization of those countries in Africa and the Middle East that were unable or unwilling to participate.
Need for better governance at all levels
- Views were divided on whether globalization would continue or be impeded by rising nationalism. There was a need for international organizations, official and otherwise, to help guide the process. These included the IMF, the United Nations, the World Bank, the WTO, the ILO and other specialized agencies as well as business, trade unions, churches and NGOs. There was also a need for better governance at all levels.
(^7) Kenneth F. Scheve, and Matthew J. Slaughter: Globalization and the Perceptions of American Workers (Washington DC, Institute for International Economics, March 2001).
Views and perceptions 21
Business, labour and civil society
- In the Commission’s dialogues with business, chief executive officers did not see themselves as the main drivers of globalization. Business did not create global- ization, but reacted to it, they said. For some enterprises the task was especially dif- ficult. Businesses from poor countries and small enterprises everywhere found it hard to manage global competition without public support. For bigger firms, in the global environment “the key to effectiveness is in the management of diversity”
- of markets, suppliers and workforce.
- Business leaders also rejected the notion that they were imposing single models across their operations worldwide: “The more we become global, the more we operate locally” , said one participant. Business might even act as a two- way channel, transferring new technology to the South while at the same time bringing home awareness of the problems and concerns of developing countries.
- A key issue for the social dimension of globalization was to achieve a better spread of FDI. This meant creating stable and corruption-free environments that would encourage long-term business commitment.
Predictable rules and agreed framework of values
- Predictable rules and an agreed framework of values were essential for mar- kets to operate well. Governments had the overall responsibility to ensure that agreed rules were respected. But excessive regulatory zeal was undesirable when markets could correct many disturbances automatically. “We need more dialogue and change in behaviour; not more rules and regulations.” The importance of respect for values was underlined. Progressive business is strongly committed to voluntary social responsibility. Good corporate citizenship was increasingly important for business development.
- Yet the dialogue the Commission had with the World Economic Forum at Davos revealed that business confidence had been undermined by corporate scan- dals. There was concern about a possible backlash to globalization and its harmful effects. It was also felt that a dialogue with the World Social Forum could bring benefits to both sides.
- Participants in the Commission’s dialogue with trade unions considered that the economic base of developing countries was being progressively eroded by the policies of industrialized countries, the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the WTO. They were concerned by a continued emphasis on privatization of utilities such as water, electricity and health services that was exacerbating poverty. They were also concerned that the exploitation of women workers in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) had expanded dramatically. This included low wages, intimidation of workers trying to organize themselves, violence and sexual harassment.
Workers’ rights and labour standards must be protected
- It was especially important to ensure respect for workers’ rights and labour standards in the global economy. Trade union leaders thought the ILO could play a leading role, working in greater cooperation with other international organiza- tions, including the IFIs and the WTO, national governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations.
- Union leaders in industrialized countries maintained that dissatisfaction with corporate governance had reached a crisis point. It was “time to save corporations from themselves”. Deregulation and the emphasis on shareholder value had gone too far. Increased global competition encouraged employers to play “fast and loose with labour practices” , including the replacement of decent employ- ment with insecure informal, casual and contract work. For many corporations,
Views and perceptions 23
- Overall, we found much encouragement for our work from the programme of dialogues and consultations in different regions. While there are many dif- ferences of view, there is also a shared belief that globalization can and must serve the needs and aspirations of people and communities everywhere. To achieve that, correctives are urgently needed at the local, national and international levels. As one participant said, “We stand at a dramatic equilibrium between the best and the worst that could happen in the next decades”. The dialogues underlined how we, as a global community, share a common fate, and reminded us that this fate lies in our hands.
24 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
II.2 Globalization: Its nature and impact Introduction Key characteristics of globalization The institutional context The impact of globalization
Introduction
- Globalization is a complex phenomenon that has had far-reaching effects. Not surprisingly, therefore, the term “globalization” has acquired many emotive connotations and become a hotly contested issue in current political discourse. At one extreme, globalization is seen as an irresistible and benign force for delivering economic prosperity to people throughout the world. At the other, it is blamed as a source of all contemporary ills. 8 Key characteristics and enabling conditions
- Nevertheless, it is widely accepted that the key characteristics of global- ization have been the liberalization of international trade, the expansion of FDI, and the emergence of massive cross-border financial flows. This resulted in increased competition in global markets. It is also widely acknowledged that this has come about through the combined effect of two underlying factors: policy decisions to reduce national barriers to international economic transactions and the impact of new technology, especially in the sphere of information and com- munications. These developments created the enabling conditions for the onset of globalization. Globalization: Its nature and impact
- The effects of the new technology have also given a distinctive character to the current process of globalization, as compared to similar episodes in the past. The natural barriers of time and space have been vastly reduced. The cost of mov- ing information, people, goods and capital across the globe has fallen dramatically, while global communication is cheap and instantaneous and becoming ever more so. This has vastly expanded the feasibility of economic transactions across the world. Markets can now be global in scope and encompass an expanding range of goods and services.
(^8) The term globalization did not become popular until the 1990s. The final report of the Study Com- mission of the German Bundestag, Globalization of the World Economy: Challenges and Answers (14th legislative period, June 2002) notes that the number of times the word globalization was used in a major German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , increased from 34 in 1993 to 1,136 in 2001.
26 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
0
10
30
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50
70
South Asia Latin America
East Asia Sub-Saharan
Africa
Middle East and North Africa
Europe andCentral AsiaIndustrializedEconomies
60
20
(^66 )
41
31 32 25
14 14
29
(^21 )
13
30 (^26 )
18
28 21
24 24
15 9 10 8 9 5
Figure 2
Average unweighted tariff rates by region, 1980-1998 (in per cent)
1980-85 1986-90 1991-95 1996-
Source: World Bank, Global Economic Prospects 2001 (background presentation).
Figure 3 Source: Based on UNCTAD, Handbook of Statisticss 20022 (on CD-ROM).
Distribution of developing countries' manufactures exports, total for 1990s (in per cent)
China 13.2 %
Korea, Rep. of 11.7%
Taiwan, province of China 11.2%
Singapore 9.4%
Malaysia 5% Mexico 7%
Thailand 4%
China, Hong Kong SAR 3%
Brazil 2.8%
India 2.5%
Indonesia 2.4%
Turkey 1.8%
Remaining 176 developing countries and territories: 25.3%
Combined share of top 12 countries and territories: 74.67%
Globalization: Its nature and impact 27
Foreign Direct Investment
- During the early 1980s, FDI accelerated, both absolutely and as a percentage of GDP (figures 1 and 4). Since 1980, the policy environment worldwide has been far more conducive to the growth of FDI. Over the 1990s, the number of countries adopting significant liberalization measures towards FDI increased steadily (figure 5). Indeed, there are only a few countries that do not actively seek to attract FDI. However, many of these hopes have not been fulfilled. Despite the rapid growth of FDI flows to developing countries, investment remains highly concen- trated in about ten of these countries (figure 6).
- Apart from their increased volume, the nature of these investments has also changed. The information and communications technology (ICT) revolution, coupled with declining transport costs, made the growth of far-flung, multi- country based production of goods and services both technically and economically feasible. Production processes could be unbundled and located across the globe to exploit economic advantages arising from differences in costs, factor availabilities and the congeniality of the investment climate. Components and parts can easily be trans-shipped across the world and assembled at will. The communications revolution has made feasible the coordination and control of these dispersed pro- duction systems.
Financial flows
Rapid integration of financial markets
- The most dramatic element of globalization over the past two decades has been the rapid integration of financial markets. The Bretton Woods system, created after the Second World War, rested on the foundation of closed capital accounts and fixed exchange rates. Thus, in contrast to trade and FDI where gradual liberal- ization had been initiated, financial globalization was not even on the policy agenda at the time. The world lived with a system of separate national financial markets.
- This began to change in 1973 with the breakdown of the Bretton Woods sys- tem. But there was no immediate rush to capital account liberalization. This began in the industrialized countries only in the early 1980s, with a subsequent increase in capital flows among them.
- As has been pointed out, “the world monetary system underwent three revolutions all at once: deregulation, internationalization, and innovation.” 9 Finan- cial liberalization created the policy environment for expanded capital mobility. But the increase in capital flows was greatly boosted by the revolution in ICT. This made possible the improved and speedier knowledge of foreign markets, the development of “round the world and round the clock” financial transactions, and the emergence of new financial instruments, especially derivatives.
Emerging markets gained most from growth in North-South investments
- Since the late 1980s there has been a global trend towards financial liberal- ization. This ranged from relatively simple steps such as the unification of exchange rates and the removal of controls over the allocation of credit in the domestic market to full-blown liberalization of the financial sector that in- cluded the opening up of capital accounts. Within the developing world, the latter type of reform was initially confined to a group of middle-income countries with a
(^9) Philip Turner: “Capital Flows in the 1980s: A Survey of Major Trends”, BIS Economic Papers No. (Basle, Bank for International Settlements, April 1991).
Globalization: Its nature and impact 29
relatively greater range of institutions of financial intermediation that included bond and equity markets. The action in terms of the explosive growth in private financial flows from North to South was concentrated in these “emerging markets”.
- These flows consisted of elements such as investments in the equity markets of these countries by investment funds (a major part of which was on behalf of pension funds), bank lending to the corporate sector, and short-term speculative flows, especially into currency markets. Lending through the international bond market also increased in the 1990s in the wake of financial globalization (figure 7).
Technology
- The industrialized countries were the source of the technological revolution that facilitated globalization but that revolution has also had ripple effects on the rest of the global economy. At one level, the new technology changed inter- national comparative advantage by making knowledge an important factor of production. The knowledge-intensive and high-tech industries are the fastest- growing sectors in the global economy and successful economic development will eventually require that countries become able to enter and compete in these sec- tors. This implies that they will have to emphasize investments in education, train- ing and the diffusion of knowledge.
Distribution of FDI inflows to developing countries, total for 1990s (in per cent)
China 23.7%
Brazil 8.3%
Mexico 8.1%
China, Hong Kong SAR 7.5% Singapore 6.0%
Argentina 5.6%
Malaysia 4.0%
Bermuda 2.7%
Chile 2.7%
Thailand 2.2%
Korea, Rep of 2.1%
Venezuela 1.7%
Remaining 176 developing countries and territories: 25.3%
Combined share of top 12 countries and territories: 74.74%
Figure 6 Source: UNCTAD,^ Handbook of Statistics 2002^2 (on CD-ROM).
30 A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all
Serious North- South imbalances in access to knowledge and technology
- There have also been more direct impacts through the diffusion of these new technologies to developing countries. This has occurred principally, though not exclusively, through the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, as in the case of trade and FDI, there are serious North-South imbalances in access to knowledge and technology. Almost all the new technology originates in the North, where most research and development occurs. This is an important source of the dominance of MNEs in the global markets, and of their bargaining strength vis-à-vis developing country governments.
- The effects of this new technology have also spread well beyond the realm of the economic, expanded though this now is. The same technology that enabled rapid economic globalization has also been exploited for general use by govern- ments, civil society and individuals. With the spread of the Internet, e-mail, low- cost international phone services, mobile phones and electronic conferencing, the world has become more interconnected (figures 8 and 9). A vast and rapidly grow- ing stock of information, ranging from science to trivia, can now be accessed from any location in the world connected to the Internet. This can be transmitted and discussed just as easily. At the same time, satellite television and the electronic press have created a veritable global fourth estate.
Inter-relationships
- These changes in trade, FDI, financial flows and technological diffusion are increasingly part of a new systemic whole. An underlying common factor is that all these elements necessarily evolved in the context of increasing economic open- ness and the growing influence of global market forces. This is a profound change, affecting the role of the State and the behaviour of economic agents.
Outstanding international bonds, 1982- (all developing countries, US$ billions )
0
50
100
150
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300
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450
500
198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002
Outstanding non-guaranteed bonds
Outstanding public or publicly guaranteed bonds
Figure 7^ Source: World Bank,^ Global Development Financee^20033 (on CD-ROM).
