GLOBAL / INTERNATIONAL TRADE HOMEWORK # 1

Globalization
Globalization (or globalisation) describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, and trade. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, the spread of technology, and military presence.

Globalization
However, globalization is usually recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, sociocultural, political, and biological factors. The term can also refer to the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, or popular culture through acculturation. An aspect of the world which has gone through the process can be said to be globalized.

World Trade Organization

the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

World Trade Organization

The result is assurance. Consumers and producers know that they can enjoy secure supplies and greater choice of the finished products, components, raw materials and services that they use. Producers and exporters know that foreign markets will remain open to them. Trade friction is channeled into the WTO's dispute settlement process where the focus is on interpreting agreements and commitments, and how to ensure that countries' trade policies conform with them. That way, the risk of disputes spilling over into political or military conflict is reduced. By lowering trade barriers, the WTO s system also breaks down other barriers between peoples and nations.

World Trade Organization

Multilateral Trading System or WTO s agreements are the legal ground-rules for international commerce. Essentially, they are contracts, guaranteeing member countries important trade rights. They also bind governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits to everybody s benefit. The agreements were negotiated and signed by governments. But their purpose is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

World Trade Organization

The goal is to improve the welfare of the peoples of the member countries

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the intergovernmental organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of payments. It is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing international exchange rates and facilitating development through the enforcement of liberalizing economic policies on other countries as a condition for loans, restructuring or aid. It also offers loans with varying levels of conditionality, mainly to poorer countries.

International Monetary Fund

an organization of 187 countries (as of July 2010), working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty". Goal: to stabilize exchange rates and assist the reconstruction of the world's international payment system.

United Nations
The United Nations Organization (UNO) or simply the United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace.

United Nations
There are currently 192 member states, including every sovereign state in the world but the Vatican City. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. UN's most visible public figure is the Secretary-General, currently Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who attained the post in 2007. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. UN s Six Official Languages:
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) or foreign investment refers to long term participation by country A into country B. It usually involves participation in management, joint-venture, transfer of technology and expertise. TwoTypes of FDI:
inward foreign direct investment outward foreign direct investment resulting in a net FDI inflow (positive or negative) and "stock of foreign direct investment", which is the cumulative number for a given period.

Direct investment excludes investment through purchase of shares.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The foreign direct investor may acquire voting power of an enterprise in an economy through any of the following methods:
By incorporating a wholly owned subsidiary or company By acquiring shares in an associated enterprise Through a merger or an acquisition of an unrelated enterprise Participating in an equity joint venture with another investor or enterprise

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Foreign direct investment incentives may take the following forms:

Low Corporate Tax and Income Tax Rates Tax Holidays Other Types of Tax Concessions Preferential Tariffs Special Economic Zones Epz - Export Processing Zones Bonded Warehouses Maquiladoras Investment Financial Subsidies Soft Loan or Loan Guarantees Free Land or Land Subsidies Relocation & Expatriation Subsidies Job Training & Employment Subsidies Infrastructure Subsidies R&D Support Derogation from Regulations (Usually for Very Large Projects)

Culture
"Culture" is defined as patterns of human activity and the symbols that give these activities significance. Culture is what people eat, how they dress, the beliefs they hold, and the activities they practice. Globalization has joined different cultures and made it into something different. Culinary culture has become extensively globalized. For example, Japanese noodles, Swedish meatballs, Indian curry, French cheese, and American burgers and fries have become popular outside their countries of origin. Two American companies, McDonald's and Starbucks, are often cited as examples of globalization, with over 31,000 and 18,000 locations operating worldwide, respectively.

Culture
Another common practice brought about by globalization is the usage of Chinese characters in tattoos. These tattoos are popular with today's youth despite the lack of social acceptance of tattoos in China. Also, there is a lack of comprehension in the meaning of Chinese characters that people get, making this an example of cultural appropriation. The internet breaks down cultural boundaries across the world by enabling easy, near-instantaneous communication between people anywhere in a variety of digital forms and media. The Internet is associated with the process of cultural globalization because it allows interaction and communication between people with very different lifestyles and from very different cultures. Photo sharing websites allow interaction even where language would otherwise be a barrier.

Culture
Globalization has various aspects which affect the world in several different ways:
Industrial Financial Economic Job Market Health Policy Political Informational Language Competition Ecological Cultural Social Technical Legal/Ethical Religious

Culture
Economic Liberalization

Jobs
Income Inequality Brain Drains Sweatshops

Natural Resources
Air Forests Minerals Food

Health Global Market

Expansion Financial Interdependency Drug and Illicit Goods Trade

Social Structure
Social structure is a term used in the social sciences to refer to patterned social arrangements which form the society as a whole, and which determine, to some varying degree, the actions of the individuals socialized into that structure. The meaning of "social structure" differs between various fields of sociology. The notion of social structure as relationships between different entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship emphasizes the idea that society is grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings or purposes. This approach has been important in the academic literature with the rise of various forms of structuralism. It is important in the modern study of organizations, because an organization's structure may determine its flexibility, capacity to change, and many other factors. Therefore, structure is an important issue for management.

Social Structure
Social structure may be seen to influence important social systems including the economic system, legal system, political system, cultural system, and others. Family, religion, law, economy and class are all social structures. The "social system" is the parent system of those various systems that are embedded in it. Society: self contained, self sufficient population united by social relationships, bounded from other populations by geographic locations. Stratification: unequal distribution of valued goods or holdings in a population (i.e. class, status, resources, grades, wealth, positional goods, etc.) Network - pattern of relationships in a population of actors Social Structure Variables: Pattern of relationships, size of institution, income distribution, and concurrency of social relationships