1. Globalization
1. What is globalization
"Globalization" usually refers to "economic globalization". It is a concept that has been used more frequently by news media and academic circles in recent years, and it is also one of the concepts with more controversial definitions. .
Economic globalization is not a sudden event. It is a natural historical process of the development of human society, or an inevitable trend of capital expansion. Marx and Engels pointed out in the "Communist Manifesto": "The need to continuously expand product sales drives the bourgeoisie to travel around the world. It must settle everywhere, develop everywhere, and establish connections everywhere. The bourgeoisie has opened up The world market has made the production and consumption of all countries cosmopolitan... The past local and national self-sufficiency and seclusion have been replaced by all-round intercourse and all-round interdependence among all nations. ”
Today, although this globalization process is far from complete, and there are still individuals and groups who oppose globalization in the world, globalization is a reality that no one can avoid and must face up to. As the article "International Markets and Globalized Economy" published in the British "Financial Times" on January 8, 1990 said: "The strategic shift that the bosses of the world's largest companies are currently considering is globalization. In the 1990s, if Without estimating the strong development trend of internationalization, the prospects of industrial development cannot be determined.” Ruggiero, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, told the business community: “Economic globalization is a high-speed train driven by trade development. Rapidly developing technology is also a driving force. … Those who think they can stop globalization must tell us how they intend to stop economic and technological development. To stop globalization is to stop the rotation of the earth.” Various signs indicate that the world economy has reached a new turning point, and its direction of movement is globalization, eventually forming a unified global market.
Economic globalization is achieved through the mutual flow of various economic resources in the world market. Therefore, economic globalization mainly refers to the global and cross-international circulation of economic factors such as goods, services, capital, technology, and labor services. As the degree of circulation expands and deepens, the interdependence of the economies of various countries has gradually increased. Up to now, it has been very clear that economic globalization is a combination of a series of globalizations of economic factors, namely production globalization, trade globalization, financial globalization, investment globalization, human resources globalization, consumption globalization, etc. .
The speed and scale of the globalization of economic factors can be said to have reached an unprecedented level. The emergence of multinational corporations has not only realized the globalization of production organizations but also the globalization of organized production. By the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 60,000 transnational corporations, of which the largest 200 monopolized 1/4 of the world's economic activities. The total production of transnational corporations accounted for 1/3 of the global total. Their international trade, International investment and technology transfer costs account for 2/3 of the world. No wonder some people say that the 20th century was a century in which transnational corporations operated within nation-states, and the 21st century was a century in which nation-states survived within the networks of transnational corporations. Therefore, it can be said that multinational corporations are the main driving force in the great turning point of the world economy; there is no doubt that the huge progress in science and technology, especially the rapid development of high and new technologies, has also greatly accelerated the process of economic globalization. At the same time, with the internationalization of technology development and the formation of the global technology market, the industrialization and globalization of technology development have also become a major trend.
2． What is internationalization and integration
When people talk about globalization issues, they often use similar words such as "internationalization" and "integration". Moreover, scholars have different interpretations of these words, which is a common phenomenon in the development process of many new fields.
"Internationalization" and "globalization" are often used interchangeably in many situations, without even distinguishing between them.
If a distinction must be made, it can be said that "internationalization" represents the initial stage of the economic globalization process, while "globalization" focuses on the goals, results, or its mature stage of the process. Since today's globalization cannot be said to have reached a mature stage, it does not hinder much to express it in terms of internationalization. The scientific definition of these two concepts awaits the birth of globalization economics. ‘
“Integration” also has some similar concepts, such as “international economic integration”, “regional economic integration” and so on. Some foreign scholars call "international economic integration" also called "regionalization" and define it as: "the institutional combination of independent national economies into larger economic groups or conglomerates, such as the European economy "Regional economic integration" refers to countries that are geographically close to each other and adopt more open policies to form an integrated group (organization). These concepts actually refer to the fact that since the 1980s, especially since the end of the Cold War, some countries have formed some kind of reciprocal coalition of countries in order to reduce trade barriers. Among them, in addition to the European Economic Community, those with greater influence include the North American Free Trade Area, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Central American Economic Community, the Gulf Cooperation Organization, the Maghreb Union, etc.
"Integration" or "regional economic integration" is a natural development stage in the process of economic globalization. It is the inevitable result of increasingly frequent economic exchanges between neighboring countries. The original intentions of establishing regional organizations may vary, but regional economic development will increase the risk resistance of each region's economy, reduce the cost of commodity circulation within the region, and accelerate the development of the regional economy. If it can develop healthily, it may become a pillar of the global economy. Stabilizing ingredients.
2. Characteristics and manifestations of globalization
Driven by the wave of economic globalization, previous economic models and economic phenomena are changing rapidly, and it is manifested in The characteristics are multi-angle. Here are only a few aspects that are closely related to this topic:
1. Transnational operations of enterprises and transnational production of goods
In the past years, it was natural that a certain product was manufactured exclusively by a certain enterprise. For example, Wang Mazi knives and scissors must be made by the craftsmen of Wang Mazi knife and scissors shop, Honda engines are produced by Honda Corporation of Japan, etc. In other words, the products are exclusive to a certain company in a certain country. The development of economic globalization has made this concept increasingly unclear. Although the goods circulating in today's international market are branded as produced (manufactured) by a certain factory, a certain place or a certain country due to management needs, they are actually no longer exclusively produced, or even products made in a certain country. The well-known Boeing jetliner is nominally manufactured by the American Boeing Company; in fact, the companies involved in production include 1,500 large companies and 15,000 small companies in 6 countries. Another example is the European "Airbus" aircraft. In addition to France, companies involved in the development and production of the aircraft include airlines from Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and other countries. The final assembly is only in Toulouse, France. It is made in France. Parts are less than 40%. This is not only the case for large-scale equipment with complex structures, but also for many small products. The concept of origin or country of production of such products no longer means much. It can be said that these are de facto "global products" - a masterpiece of economic globalization.
"Global products" are the result of transnational production of commodities. The reason why transnational production of commodities has developed so rapidly and successfully is mainly due to the transnational operations of enterprises and the development of transnational corporations. The global expansion of capital is the driving force for the multinational operations of enterprises and the development of multinational companies. Achieving the optimal allocation of production factors on a global scale during the entire production process and producing globally competitive products is why multinational operations and the organizational form of multinational companies have strong competitiveness and vitality. important reasons.
The entire production process of a product is decomposed into several stages or links. According to the previous production model, these stages or links are the division of production within the enterprise. However, in multinational enterprises, it has become an international division of labor on a global scale. Some steps (such as parts processing) are performed in countries with low labor costs, some (such as development and design) are performed in locations with highly qualified experts, and some (such as final assembly) are performed near major sales markets. Therefore, it can be said that "global products" are the result of the optimal integration of global resources.
2． The large transnational flow of goods and resources
The socialized production of modern industry based on division of labor and collaboration has promoted the internationalization of production and exchange, creating international markets all over the world, from GATF to the WTO. It is to make this market larger, more frictionless and freer, so as to make international trade more convenient, goods flow faster and transaction costs lower, so that consumers can benefit from it, and companies around the world can be provided with a platform to display their talents. The vast space will further stimulate larger-scale flows of goods, capital and people, energizing the economy there. This is the huge role of the invisible hand of the market economy.
Today, the scale of commodity and resource circulation in the international market has reached an unimaginable level. In 1995 alone, the world merchandise trade volume reached 5 trillion US dollars, which is equivalent to the average purchase of 1,000 US dollars per person. Imported goods. Annual growth in world trade has generally been in the double digits and has consistently outpaced output growth. This means that an increasing part of the world's products are involved in international trade, and many countries have become significantly more dependent on foreign trade, consciously or unconsciously embracing the global economy.
Today, the flow of people around the world is taking place every moment, and its scale is larger than any great migration of ethnic groups, whether in China or abroad. Since the 1970s, various industrialized countries have been attracting more and more foreign workers, with the United States and Canada bearing the brunt. By the 1980s, Western Europe also began to recruit a large number of foreign workers,32 including 3 million from the United Kingdom and France, and 3 million from the Middle East Petroleum Corporation. The number of workers in the sending country has increased tenfold in the past ten years. The tide of migrant workers in China's eastern coastal cities is measured in the hundreds of millions.
Today, the amount of capital flows (international investment) worldwide is almost astronomical. In 1995 alone, the total world foreign exchange transactions reached 500 trillion US dollars, equivalent to 100 times the volume of merchandise trade that year.
3. Worldwide technology exchange
Today's world has gotten rid of the past tradition of strictly controlling technology outflow, and technology has also entered the market in the form of commodities. In the world's technology market, technology exchanges are very active through the legal sale and purchase of technology patents, technology franchises, provision of paid technical services, copyright transactions, purchase of complete sets of equipment and production lines, etc. This extensive flow of technology has significantly shortened the promotion and application cycle of technological achievements, and technological innovation and technology transfer have created greater benefits. Take Japan as an example. From 1950 to 1970, Japan only spent US$6 billion and introduced 2,600 technologies, creating the miracle of becoming the world's second largest economic power. According to expert analysis, if you do not introduce foreign technology but develop it yourself, it will require about three times the investment and more than 10 times the time.
The high-speed and large-scale flow of information around the world is almost unlimited by geography, and the world has indeed become a global village. The role of information in economic, technological and even social development is more important than ever. The development speed of information networks and information technology exceeds that of any industry today. It is predicted that the annual sales of the integrated circuit industry alone will reach US$1 trillion by 2012, equivalent to China's GDP in 2000. 60% of the growth in the total national economic output of developed countries is related to integrated circuits.
The above three aspects describe only the main characteristics of economic globalization, from which we can discover the superiority of this economic model in promoting the rational allocation of resources, its majestic momentum and exciting prospects.
At the same time, the Electric Power Association found that the high-speed and safe operation of this world-scale economic train is indeed a big problem. If this international market does not have unified rules that everyone abides by, and the commodities and various resources in circulation do not have reliable quality and a high degree of trust, the consequences will be unimaginable.