Globalization and Regionalization

The objective of the course is to provide participants with a critical understanding of two phenomena that are shaping economies, societies, politics and international relations: globalization and regionalization (G&R).

1. Introduction & concepts. What is globalization and regionalization? Causes of globalization. Free trade and protectionism. Bretton Woods system. Washington Consensus. Anti-globalization movement and protests against globalization. When did globalization begin? (5 hrs.)

2. Measuring globalization. Global Connectedness Index. The intensity of global connections through trade in goods and services, flows of capital, people and information. Globalization or regionalization of regions? The degree of the globalization of countries. Goods and services: global, regional and local. (5 hrs.)

3. International flows of capital as a globalizing factor. Types of capital flows. Reasons for international investment. Foreign assets and liabilities. International financial centres. International investment positions of key creditor and debtor countries (2.5 hrs.)

4. Foreign direct investment (FDI): a different type of international capital flow. Why do capital inflows matter for emerging economies? Why and how FDI is different from other capital flows? The role of FDI in capital flows. The impact of FDI on a host country: an example of Poland. Transnational corporations (TNCs) and globalization. The role of TNCs in the global economy. Do TNCs have more power than Governments? What does it mean that TNCs are a key driver of globalization? (5 hrs.)

5. International trade as a factor of globalization. Why do countries trade? A growing importance of trade. What explains different types of trade: inter-industry trade and intra-industry trade. Traditional international division of labour: why it is not beneficial for developing countries? How do international division of labour and trade look today? (2.5 hrs)

6. The emergence and growth of Global Value Chains (GVCs). What is a value chain? What is a GVC? Processes that led to the emergence of GVCs: fragmentation of production, delocalization, outsourcing and offshoring. Changing strategies of TNCs. Reasons for offshoring. Offshoring of goods and services. Examples of GVCs. The role of TNCs in GVCs. Implications of GVCs: relocation of industry and jobs to emerging countries. A new type of intra-industry trade: trade in intermediate goods and services. Trade in tasks. The role of foreign affiliates in exports of emerging economies. Reshoring. Upgrading in value chains. (5 hrs.)

7. Inequality and poverty in the global economy. How do we measure inequality and poverty? Inequality between and within countries. The extent of poverty in the world, regions and countries. Rise and fall of economic powers in the global world: the rise of China. Does globalization cause inequality and poverty? (2.5 hrs.).

8. The role of state and markets in the global economy. The role of State and market in the market economy. Anti-globalists thesis: the falling state. Is the role of State diminished by globalization? The test of the role of the State. Changing roles of the Government. (2.5 hrs.)

1. Blinder, Alan S. (2016). “Upside, Downside U.S. policy should carry the ball for globalization by turning trade’s gross losers into net winners”, in IMF, Finance & Development, December 2016 (p. 33).

2. The Economist, October 1st 2016, Leader: “Why they are wrong. Globalisation's critics say it benefits only the elite. In fact, a less open world would hurt the poor most of all” (p. 9).

3. Ghemawat, Pankaj (2007). Why the World isn’t Flat? Foreign Policy (7 pages).

4. Ghemawat, Pankaj and Steven A. Altman (2016). Defining and Measuring Globalization, chapter 1 (10 pages) in The Laws of Globalization and Business Applications, Cambridge University Press.

5. Huwart, J.Y. and L. Verdier (2013), “A global or semi-global village” chapter 4 (pp. 49-66) in Economic Globalisation: Origins and Consequences, OECD Insights, OECD Publishing.

6. Jaumotte Florence, Ksenia Koloskova, and Sweta Saxena (2016). „A Spoonful of Sugar. High- and low-skill immigration both raise incomes and confer broad benefits on advanced economies”, IMF, Finance & Development, December 2016 (pp. 30-32).

7. Kose, M. Ayhan and Ezgi O. Ozturk (2014). “A World of Change. Taking stock of the past half century” in IMF, Finance & Development, September 2014 (pp. 6-11).

8. Krugman, Paul (2016). “Leave Zombies Be. The stalled march toward trade liberalization is just as well”, in IMF, Finance & Development, December 2016 (p. 11).

9. Mallaby, Sebastian (2016). “Globalization resets. The retrenchment in cross-border capital flows and trade may be less dire than it seems” in IMF, Finance & Development, December 2016 (pp. 6-10).

10. Narula, Rajneesh, “Multnational enterprises” (pp. 806-812), an entry in Reinert, Kenneth A. and Ramkishen S. Rajan (eds.) (2009). The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

11. Obstfeld, Maurice (2016). “Get on Track with Trade. Trade raises productivity but may hurt some unless policies redistribute the benefits”, in IMF, Finance & Development, December 2016 (pp. 12-16).

12. Stiglitz, Joseph (2002). “The Promise of Global Institutions”, ch. I (pp. 3-23) in Globalization and its discontents, Penguin Books.

13. Stiglitz, Joseph (2006). “Another World is Possible”, ch. I (pp. 4-24) in Making Globalization Work, Penguin Books.

14. Wolf, Martin (2014). “Shaping Globalization” in IMF, Finance & Development, September 2014 (pp. 22-25).

MOST OF THE COMPULSORY READINGS ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE INTERNET. THEIR WEB ADDRESSES WILL BE PROVIDED TO THE COURSE’S WEBSITE IN MOODLE IN A DOCUMENT “READINGS WITH ADDRESSES”. SOME WILL BE POSTED DIRECTLY TO THE WEBSITE.

Website: G&R Winter 2017-2018, http://m.vistula.edu.pl/course/view.php?id=722

Students have in-depth knowledge on the building and dynamics of international structures of economic relations. Knows and characterizes institutional forms of international economic relations.

Specifically, students completing the course will acquire in-depth knowledge about processes of G&R: their causes, manifestations, mechanisms, interactions and effects, as well as controversies surrounding globalization (S2A_W02).

Sudents have in-depth knowledge in the area of theories of international relations.

Specifically, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of mechanisms of the global economy. Students will acquire an in-depth theoretical background allowing to interpret a globalization phenomenon in an objective way (S2A_W07).

Students can observe, explain and interpret the social, political and economic phenomena taking place in the international scene ( S2A_U01)

Students will be evaluated and graded on the basis of: (1) attendance; (2) contribution to class discussions; (3) class tests; and (3) the final test. The final test will take place at the last session. The details of the terms of grading are posted in Moodle on the site of the course. Students are required to sign up for the course in Moodle. All materials and information related to the course will be available from the course’s site in Moodle. Details and login will be given at the first session.