Globalisation- History and Development
Globalisation- History and Development
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Cambridge Journal of Economics
COMMENTARY
This section is designed for the discussion and debate of current economic problems. Contribut
new issues or comment on issues already raised are welcome.
Deepak Nayyar*
Introduction
Globalisation means different things to different people. What is more, the word
isation is used in two ways, which is a source of some confusion. It is used in a positiv
to describe a process of integration into the world economy. It is used in a normative
prescribe a strategy of development based on rapid integration with the world econo
Even its characterisation, however, is by no means uniform. It can be described, sim
an expansion of economic activities across national boundaries. There are three econ
manifestations of this phenomenon—international trade, international investment
international finance—which also constitute its cutting edge. But there is much m
globalisation. It is about the expansion of economic transactions and the organisatio
economic activities across the political boundaries of nation states. More precisely, it
defined as a process associated with increasing economic openness, growing ec
interdependence and deepening economic integration in the world economy.
©) The
The Author
Author 2006.
2006.! Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society.
All rights reserved.
Economic openness is not simply confined to trade flows, investment flows and
flows. It also extends to flows of services, technology, information and ideas acro
boundaries. But the cross-border movement of people is closely regulated an
restricted. Economic interdependence is asymmetrical. There is a high degree of i
dence among countries in the industrialised world. There is considerable dep
developing countries on the industrialised countries. There is much less interde
among countries in the developing world. It is important to note that a situ
interdependence is one where the benefits of linking and costs of delinking are
same for both partners; where such benefits and costs are unequal between par
implies a situation of dependence. Economic integration straddles national boun
liberalisation has diluted the significance of borders in economic transactions. It
an integration of markets (for goods, services, technology, financial assets and ev
on the demand side, and, in part, an integration of production (horizontal and
the supply side.
The world economy has experienced progressive international economic in
since 1950. However, there has been a marked acceleration in this process of glo
during the last quarter of the twentieth century. There is a common presumptio
present situation, when globalisation is changing the character of the world eco
altogether new and represents a fundamental departure from the past. Bu
sumption is not correct. Globalisation is not new. In fact, there was a simil
globalisation which began a century earlier, circa 1870, and gathered mome
1914, when it came to an abrupt end. In many ways, the world economy in
twenty-first century resembles the world economy in the late nineteenth century
is much that we can learn from history, for there is the past in our present (Na
This essay seeks to explore the theme of globalisation and development in
perspective. In doing so, it analyses the implications of globalisation for develop
retrospect and prospect. The structure of the paper is as follows. Section 1
a picture of globalisation during the late nineteenth century. Section 2 ou
contours of globalisation during the late twentieth century. Section 3 exam
parallels, the similarities and the differences between these two epochs of glob
Section 4 discusses the implications of globalisation for the Third World then, ar
it led to uneven development in the past. Section 5 considers the consequ
globalisation for the Third World now, concluding that it has been associat
exclusion of poor countries and poor people from the process of developm
present. The story of globalisation during the long twentieth century, it turns o
conform to the fairy tale of development, convergence and prosperity. For mu
Third World, it is about underdevelopment, divergence and exclusion.
The period from 1870 to 1914 was the age of laissez faire. The movement of goods, capital
and labour across national boundaries was almost unhindered. Government intervention
in economic activity was minimal. There were, of course, differences among countries. In
general, however, these attributes were more clearly discernible in the Third World than in
the Atlantic economies. The openness of economies that characterised this era was
associated with a rapid expansion in trade, investment and finance across borders.
There was a rapid expansion of international trade from 1870 to 1913. It is estimated
that, during this period, the growth in world trade at 3.9% per annum was much faster than
For a discussion on the advent of free trade in the Third World, see Williamson (2002).
portfolio investment was even more rapid. Consequently, by 1914, the stock of lon
foreign investment in the world reached $44bn, of which S30bn, about two-thirds,
portfolio investment (UNCTAD, 1994, pp. 120-1). It is not surprising that, in this a
imperialism, Western Europe was the primary source of foreign capital. In 1914, Br
Germany and France together accounted for $33bn from a total of $44bn (Bair
Kozul-Wright, 1996). For the world as a whole, in 1914, about half of total foreign
investment went to Asia, Latin America and Africa, while the remaining half, in almost
equal parts, went to Europe and North America. The latter half was concentrated in
a small group of newly industrialising countries in North America and Europe, for some of
which it constituted as much as 50% of gross domestic investment (Panic, 1992, p. 101).
The stock of foreign investment in developing countries, direct and portfolio, rose from
$5.3bn in 1870 to $11.4bn in 1900 and $22.7bn in 1914 (Maddison, 1989, p. 30). Such
foreign investment was probably equal to about one-third of the GDP of developing
countries at the turn of the century (Maddison, 1989, pp. 30, 113). Imperialism exercised
an important influence. Between 1870 and 1914, the share of British foreign investment
going to Europe and the US dropped from 52% to 26% of the total, whereas the share of
Latin America and the British colonies rose from 33% to 55% of the total (Kenwood and
Lougheed, 1994, p. 30). And income from foreign investments constituted around 10% of
British national income (Foreman-Peck, 1983, p. 133).
The late nineteenth and early twentieth century witnessed a significant integration of
international financial markets to provide a channel for portfolio investment flows. The
cross-national ownership of securities, including government bonds, reached very high
levels during this period. In 1913, for example, foreign securities constituted 59% of all
securities traded in London. Similarly, in 1908, the corresponding proportion was 53% in
Paris (Morgenstern, 1959). It is worth noting that there was a correlation between interest
rates, exchange rates and stock prices in the leading markets. There was also an established
market for government bonds.1 In 1920, for instance, Moody's rated bonds were issued by
50 governments.2 International bank lending was substantial. Both governments and
private investors floated long-term bonds directly in the financial markets of London, Paris
and New York. Merchant banks or investment banks were the intermediaries in facilitating
these capital flows from private individuals and financial institutions, in the developed
countries of Europe, in search of long-term investments, on the one hand, to firms or
governments mostly in the newly industrialising countries or the underdeveloped countries
which issued long-term liabilities, on the other (Kregel 1994). This was so much the case
that, during the period 1880-1913, the principal capital exporter in the world economy,
Britain, ran an average current account surplus in its balance of payments, which was the
equivalent of 5% of its GDP (Keynes, 1919; Panic, 1992). And, in some years, this was as
much as 8 % of GDP. In fact, by 1914, such capital flows were in the range of 5 % of GDP in
most capital exporting countries (Bairoch and Kozul-Wright, 1996, p. 11).
The essential attribute of globalisation, then and now, is an increase in the degree of
openness in most countries. The three important dimensions of this phenomenon now, as
much as then, are international trade, investment and finance.
1 In 1914, as much as 70% of outstanding British and French long-term foreign investments consisted of
government bonds and railway bonds (Bloomfield, 1968, p. 4).
2 Cf., A survey of the world economy, The Economist, London, 7 October 1995.
1 The data on world exports cited in this paragraph, as also the data on world GDP used to calculate the
proportions, are obtained from the UNCTAD Handbook of International Trade and Development Statistics and
Handbook of Statistics, various issues. The data on GDP for country-groups are obtained from World Bank,
World Development Indicators, 2003.
2 For data on stocks and flows of foreign direct investment in the world economy, cited here, see United
Nations, Transnational Corporations and World Development, 1978, and UNCTAD, World Investment Reports
1994 and 2002.
3 UNCTAD, World Investment Report 1994, p. 130, and World Investment Report 2002, p. 328
4 UNCTAD, World Investment Report 1994, p. 130, and World Investment Report 2002, p. 319
5 The data on foreign direct investment as a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, cited in this
paragraph, are obtained from UNCTAD World Investment Report 1994, pp. 421-6, and World Investment Report
2002, pp. 319-20.
6 These statistics on the average daily turnover in foreign exchange markets are based on the Bank of
International Settlements, Survey of Foreign Exchange Activity, Basle, various issues, conducted by central
banks and reported by BIS. The surveys are triennial. The data relate to average daily turnover in the global
foreign exchange market during April each year, including spot transactions, outright forwards and foreign
exchange swaps. The figures are adjusted for double-counting and estimated-gaps in reporting. The latest
survey reports that this average daily turnover dropped to $ 1190bn in April 2001. For the purpose of
comparison in this paragraph, the values of world exports and world GDP have been converted into an
average daily figure.
numbers would help situate these magnitudes in perspective. In 1997, for example,
GDP was $82bn per day, while world exports were $ 15bn per day, compared with g
foreign exchange transactions of $1490bn per day in April 1998, while the fo
exchange reserves of all central banks put together were $1550bn in 1997.
The expansion of international banking is also phenomenal. As a proportion of wo
output, net international bank loans rose from 0.7% in 1964 to 8.0% in 1980 and 13.
2000. As a proportion of world trade, net international bank loans rose from 7.5% i
to 42.6% in 1980 and 66.9% in 2000. As a proportion of world gross fixed cap
formation, net international bank loans rose from 6.2% in 1964 to 51.1% in 1980 and
62.8% in 2000.1 It is worth noting that the gross size of the international banking market,
which includes claims on (or liabilities to) banks, was more than double that of net
international bank lending. Cross-border inter-bank liabilities rose from a modest $ 455bn
in 1970 to $5560bn in 1990 and $8998bn in 2000.2
The international market for financial assets experienced a similar growth starting
somewhat later. The evidence is incomplete but revealing. Between 1980 and 1993, gross
sales and purchases of bonds and equities transacted between domestic and foreign
residents rose from less than 10% of GDP in the US, Germany and Japan to 135% of GDP
in the US, 170% of GDP in Germany and 80% of GDP in Japan. In the UK, the value of
such transactions was more than ten times that of the GDP in 1993. Similarly, between
1980 and 1993, the share of foreign bonds and equities in pension-fund assets rose from
10% to 20% in the UK, from 0.7% to 6% in the US, and from 0.5% to 9% in Japan.3 Yet
another dimension of transactions in the international market for financial assets provides
evidence on subsequent years. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions rose from $75bn in
1987 to $151bn in 1990 and $1144bn in 2000. The pace of expansion was about the same
as that of foreign direct investment inflows in the industrialised countries but somewhat
slower in the developing countries and the transition economies. The value of such cross
border mergers and acquisitions, which was about 0.5% of world GDP during the late
1980s, rose to 3.6% of world GDP in 2000.4
Government debt has also become tradable in the global market for financial assets.
Available evidence suggests that there is a growing international market for government
bonds. Between 1980 and 1992, the proportion of government bonds held by foreigners
rose from less than 1% to 43% in France, from 9% to 17% in the UK, from 10% to 27% in
Germany, while it remained steady at about 20% in the US.5
Between 1993 and 2000, the value of outstanding international bonds, as a proportion
of GDP, rose from 8% to 23% in the world economy, from 8% to 26% in the industrialised
countries and from 2% to 7% in the developing countries.6 But all international bonds do
not constitute government debt, for the global bond market is made up of public debt and
1 For data on 1964 and 1980, UNCTAD, World Investment Report 1994, p. 128. The proportions for 2000
are calculated. The statistics on international bank loans are obtained from BIS Quarterly Review, June 2003.
The data on world GDP, world exports and world gross fixed capital formation are obtained from UNCTAD
statistics.
2 Inter-bank claims/liabilities increased faster during the 1990s, so that, by 2000, gross international
lending by banks was three times net international lending by banks.
3 The proportions cited so far in this paragraph, are estimated from data compiled by BIS and IMF, and
are reported in 'A Survey of the World Economy', The Economist, London, 7 October 1995.
4 The data on cross-border mergers and acquisitions cited in this paragraph are obtained from UNCTAD,
World Investment Report 2002, p. 341. See also UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2000, pp. 106-23.
5 See 'A Survey of the World Economy', The Economist, London, 7 October 1995.
6 The data cited here are from Observatoire de la Finance and UNITAR, Economic and Financial
Globalisation: What the Numbers Say, New York and Geneva, 2003, p. 145.
private debt. Evidence from another source suggests that, in 2000, public sector debt
(including debt issued by state and local governments and government-sponsored enter
prises) constituted 21% of international bonds in the world as a whole, 19% of
international bonds in the industrialised countries and 35% of international bonds in
the rest of the world.1 On the basis of these proportions, it would be reasonable to infer
that, at the end of 2000, the size of the international market for government debt was the
equivalent of 4.8% of GDP in the world economy, 5% of GDP in the industrialised
countries and 2.5% of GDP in the developing countries.
The preceding discussion shows that the world economy experienced a rapid internation
alisation of trade, investment and finance during the last quarter of the twentieth century,
which continues apace. It also shows that there was a similar internationalisation of trade,
investment and finance during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, which continued
until 1914. It would seem that the long twentieth century witnessed two phases of
globalisation. A comparison of these two phases reveals striking parallels. It also suggests
that there are both similarities and differences between these two phases of globalisation.
The similarities are in the underlying factors, which made globalisation possible then and
now. The differences are in the form, the nature and the depth of globalisation then and now.
first half of the 1990s.1 This proportion rose sharply and surpassed its 1913 level only
late 1990s. The significance of foreign investment in the developing world is also
comparable. In 1914, the stock of foreign investment in the developing countries, direct
and portfolio, at 1980 prices, was $179bn, which was almost double the stock of foreign
direct investment in developing countries, in 1980, at $96bn.2 At the beginning of the
century, in 1900, foreign investment in developing countries, direct and portfolio, was
equal to about one-third of the GDP of developing countries.3 At the end of the century, in
2000, the stock of foreign direct investment in developing countries was about 30% of their
GDP. 4
There was a significant integration of international financial markets in the early
twentieth century which is, in some respects, comparable with the late twentieth century.
The only missing dimension then, as compared with now, was international transactions in
foreign exchange which were determined entirely by trade flows and capital flows, given the
regime of fixed exchange rates under the gold standard. The cross-national ownership of
securities, including government bonds, was similar. In 1920, Moody's rated bonds issued
by 50 governments. As late as 1985, only 15 governments were borrowing in the capital
market of the US. The number reached 50, once again, in the 1990s. In relative terms, net
international capital flows were perhaps larger at the beginning than at the end of the
twentieth century. During the period 1880 to 1913, Britain ran an average current account
surplus which was the equivalent of 5% of GDP (Panic, 1992). In contrast, since 1950, the
current account surplus of the US to begin with, or Germany or Japan in subsequent years,
did not exceed 3% of GDP.
1 The latter was not simultaneous. The US, Canada, Germany and Switzerland removed restrictions on
capital movements in 1973, Britain in 1979, Japan in 1980, while France and Italy made the transition as late
as 1990.
2 Freight costs began to decline from the mid-nineteenth century but the spectacular downturn came after
1870 (Lewis, 1977).
3 See Williamson (2002). Around this time, there was another innovation, refrigeration, which had major
trade implications. In 1876, Australian meat and New Zealand butter were also being exported in large
quantities to Europe.
4 See Lewis (1978) and Chandler (1990).
5 For a detailed discussion on the relationship between forms of industrial organisation and globalisation,
see Oman (1994).
1 For a succinct and perceptive historical analysis of this period, see Hobsbawm (1987).
2 For an analysis of, and evidence on, international trade flows during this period, see Maizels (
1 In 1914, the total foreign investment of $44bn was distributed as follows: $14bn in Europe, $10.5bn in
the US, $8.5bn in Latin America, and $1 lbn in Asia and Africa. See UNCTAD, World Investment Report
1994, p. 158. For data on 2000, see UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2002, pp. 310-13. The percentages do
not add up to 100, as Central and Eastern Europe accounted for the remaining 2%.
2 UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2002, pp. 303-6. Once again, Central and Eastern Europe accounted
for the remaining 2%.
3 Cf. UNCTAD, World Investment Report, online database.
4 For a comparison of the destination of such financial flows, during the two phases, see Kregel (1994).
avenues for long-term investment in search of profit. During the second phase
globalisation since the early 1970s, financial flows are constituted mostly by short
capital movements, sensitive to exchange rates and interest rates, in search of capital
The intermediaries, too, are different. In the late nineteenth century, banks were th
intermediaries between lenders and borrowers in the form of bonds with very
maturities. In the current phase, institutional investors such as pension funds and
funds are more important than banks; the latter continue to act as intermediaries bu
borrow short to lend long, thus resulting in a maturity mismatch. Consequent
financial instruments need to be far more sophisticated and diversified than earlier.
late nineteenth century, there were mostly long-term bonds with sovereign guaran
provided by the imperial powers or the government in borrowing countries. In the
twentieth century, there has been an enormous amount of financial innovation throu
introduction of derivatives (futures, swaps and options). These derivatives (which a
not entirely new to the world and are reported to have existed in the seventee
eighteenth centuries: options in the Amsterdam stock exchange and futures in the
rice market) are a means of managing the financial risks associated with intern
investment. This is essential now because, unlike the earlier phase of globalisation,
a maturity mismatch, and there is no effective securitisation provided by nation s
International financial markets have simply developed the instruments to meet the n
the times. It is paradoxical that such derivatives, which have been introduced to co
risk may, in fact, increase the risk associated with international financial flows by in
the volatility of short-term capital movements.
The fundamental difference between two phases of globalisation is in the sph
labour flows. In the late nineteenth century, there were no restrictions on the mobi
people across national boundaries. Passports were seldom needed. Immigrants w
granted citizenship with ease. Between 1870 and 1914, international labour migratio
enormous. During this period, about 50 million people left Europe, of whom two-th
went to the US while the remaining one-third went to Canada, Australia, New Zeala
South Africa, Argentina and Brazil (Lewis, 1977, p. 14). This mass emigration
Europe amounted to one-eighth its population in 1900. For some countries such as B
Italy, Spain and Portugal, such migration constituted 20-40% of their population (St
1994). But that was not all. Beginning somewhat earlier, following the abolition of
in the British Empire, about 50 million people left India and China to work as inden
labour on mines, plantations and construction in Latin America, the Caribbean, Sou
Africa, Southeast Asia and other distant lands (Tinker, 1974; Lewis, 1978). The
destinations were mostly British, Dutch, French and German colonies. In the second half
of the twentieth century, there was a limited amount of international labour migration from
the developing countries to the industrialised world during the period 1950-70. This was
largely attributable to the post-war labour shortages in Europe and the post-colonial ties
embedded in a common language (Nayyar, 1994). Since then, however, international
migration has been significantly reduced because of draconian immigration laws and
restrictive consular practices.1 The only significant evidence of labour mobility during the
last quarter of the twentieth century is the temporary migration of workers to Europe, the
Middle East and East Asia. But the advent of globalisation is conducive to new forms of
labour mobility (Nayyar, 2002). The present phase of globalisation has also found
substitutes for labour mobility in the form of the trade flows and investment flows. For one
For an analysis of, and evidence on, international migration in historical perspective, see Nayyar (2002).
thing, industrialised countries now import manufactured goods that embody scarce
labour: the share of developing countries in world manufactured exports rose from 5.5% in
1970 to 26.9% in 2000, while the share of manufactured exports in total exports of
developing countries rose from 18.7 in 1970 to 64.6% in 2000.1 For another, industrialised
countries export capital which employs scarce labour abroad to provide such goods. In
1992, for example, total employment in transnational corporations was 73 million, of
which 44 million were employed in the home countries, while 17 million were employed in
affiliates in industrialised countries and 12 million were employed in affiliates in developing
countries; the share of developing countries in such employment rose from one-tenth in
1985 to one-sixth in 1992 (UNCTAD, 1994, p. 175).
The first phase of globalisation in the late nineteenth century was characterised by an
integration of markets through an exchange of goods that was facilitated by the movement
of capital and labour across national boundaries. The second phase of globalisation is
characterised by an integration of production with linkages that are wider and deeper,
except for the near absence of migration. It is reflected not only in the movement of goods,
services, capital, technology, information and ideas, but also in the organisation of
economic activities across national boundaries. This is associated with a more complex—
part horizontal and part vertical—division of labour between the industrialised countries
and a few developing countries in the world economy.
The ideologues believe that globalisation led to rapid industrialisation and economic
convergence in the world economy during the late nineteenth century. In their view, the
promise of the emerging global capitalist system was wasted for more than half a century, to
begin with by three decades of conflict and autarchy that followed the First World War and
subsequently, for another three decades, by the socialist path and a statist world view. The
return of globalisation in the late twentieth century is thus seen as the road to salvation.
The conclusion drawn is that globalisation now, as much as then, promises economic
prosperity for countries that join the system and economic deprivation for countries that do
not (Sachs and Warner, 1995).
This perspective extends beyond the ideologues. Some economic historians juxtapose
the past with the present. An analysis of the past provides the foundations for prescriptions
about the present. The argument runs as follows. The integration of markets through an
exchange of goods led to commodity-price convergence in the world economy during the
first epoch of globalisation. This commodity-price convergence, in turn, led to a factor
price convergence.2 It is believed that, ultimately, this process was associated with
a convergence of growth and income among the participating countries. It is worth
exploring whether this convergence hypothesis is borne out by the experience of the world
economy during the late nineteenth century.
1 These percentages have been calculated from data in UNCTAD Handbook of International Trade and
Development Statistics and Handbook of Statistics, various issues.
2 See, for example, Williamson (1996, 2002). Orthodox trade theory provides the analytical foundations
for this argument. The factor-price equalisation theorem emerged as a corollary of the Heckscher-Ohlin
formulation of comparative advantage. Samuelson (1948) considered a situation in which there is free trade
but there is no factor-mobility. The Heckscher-Ohlin assumptions about production conditions ensure
a unique relationship between the factor-price ratio and the commodity-price ratio. In this world, free trade
equalises commodity prices. If complete specialisation is ruled out, commodity-price equalisation necessarily
leads to factor-price equalisation.
1 For example, the difference in wheat prices between Liverpool and Chicago came down from
1870 to just 18% in 1895 and 16% in 1912. Similarly, the price spread on Egyptian cotton,
Liverpool and Alexandria, plunged from more than 40% in the 1860s to 5% in the 1890s. The story
or less the same for the raw cotton price spread between Liverpool and Bombay or the jute pric
between London and Calcutta. There were similar reductions in price gaps between London and m
South America or Southeast Asia. See Williamson (2002).
2 This is accepted even by Williamson (2002), who is the principal exponent of the hypothesis abou
convergence during the late nineteenth century.
3 In Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden, on an average, the wage-rental ratio rose by 50% b
1875-79 and 1890-94 and by 27% between 1890-94 and 1910-14. In contrast, between 1870-74 an
14, the wage-rental ratio fell by 69%, on average, in the US and Australia. See Williamson (2002
4 During the period 1870-1900, as a proportion of the real wage in Britain, real wages rose from
85% in Denmark, from 73% to 89% in Ireland, from 42% to 82% in Sweden, and from 42% t
Norway. Indeed, by 1913, wages in these countries almost caught up with wages in Britain and signi
narrowed the gap with the US. Williamson (1996, pp. 284-5).
The obvious question is: what explains the observed factor-price convergence in the
Atlantic economies? The answer is to be found in migration, which is simply assumed away
in the factor-price equalisation theorem. Emigration from Europe had a profound impact
on the labour market in these countries, for it lowered unemployment and raised the real
wage. Immigration into the US, in effect, augmented the labour force to exercise
a profound influence on the labour market, for it dampened real wages and employment
opportunities.1 It has been estimated that, between 1870 and 1910, mass migration
explains seven-tenths of the real wage convergence between the Atlantic economies
(Williamson 1996, p. 295). It is clear that, in the absence of mass migration across the
Atlantic, real wages would have been much lower in the Old World and much higher in the
New World.
The story about growth, it turns out, does not quite conform to the fairy tale of
acceleration and convergence. The growth was uneven over time and across space. For one
thing, growth did not accelerate. The average growth rate of 1.4% per annum for the world
economy between 1890 and 1913 was somewhat faster than that achieved in the preceding
two decades but was not significantly different from that achieved in the subsequent three
decades. It is also worth noting that during the period 1867-69 to 1889-91, GNP per
capita in Europe increased by a mere 0.2% per annum, compared with 1.1% per annum
during the preceding 25 years and 1.5% per annum during the following 25 years (Bairoch,
1989, p. 246). For another, growth did not converge. Growth rates in the developing world
were significantly lower than growth rates in the developed world, so that there was
a widening of the gap. In developing countries, the growth in GNP per capita did increase
from —0.2% per annum during 1830-1870 to 0.1% per annum during 1870-90 and 0.6%
per annum during 1890-1913. In developed countries during the same periods, the
corresponding rates were 0.6%, 1% per annum and 1.7% per annum respectively.2
It is clear that there was no convergence of growth, let alone income, across countries in
the world economy during the age of globalisation from 1870 to 1914. This era was
characterised by uneven development. Industrialisation and growth was concentrated in
a very small group of countries. In 1860, Britain, the US, France and Germany accounted
for two-fifths of industrial production in the world. By 1913, their share was more than
two-thirds of a much larger total. Similarly, in 1913, as much as 60% of world trade was
among the industrialised countries. The same economies also absorbed a disproportion
ately large share of the international capital flows for they were at the core of the gold
standard (Bairoch and Kozul-Wright, 1996). There was, in fact, a small group of
industrialising economies which experienced rapid growth and income convergence to
catch up with Britain and France. Much of it was attributable to the inclusion of the US.
Indeed, most of the gains from international economic integration of this era accrued to
the imperial countries which exported capital and imported commodities. There were
a few countries like the US and Canada—new lands with temperate climates and white
' This was, perhaps, an important factor underlying the political economy of immigration restrictions in
the US. In fact, the era of open immigration in the US came to an abrupt end with the final passage of the
Literacy Test in February 1917. For a discussion on this issue, see Nayyar (2002).
2 See Bairoch (1993). The belief that trade liberalisation was conducive to growth during this era is not
borne out by the available evidence. In continental Europe, the story was the opposite, as intensified
protectionism was associated with faster economic growth. It is significant that, during the period 1889
1913, GNP growth in Britain, which remained faithful to free trade, at 0.9% per annum, was slower than that
in continental Europe at 1.5% per annum. Indeed, the US, which did not practise free trade, experienced the
most rapid economic growth during this era, so that, by 1913, it had overtaken Britain not only in industrial
production but also in per capita income. See Bairoch (1989) and Bairoch and Kozul-Wright (1996).
1 See Bairoch and Kozul-Wright (1996), who show how globalisation led to uneven development in the
world economy during the period 1870-1913, not simply between the colonisers and the colonised but also
within Europe.
2 Inequality remained unchanged in countries such as Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands that
were leaders and already industrialised. Inequality fell only in a few resource-poor labour-abundant agrarian
economies in the Old World of Europe such as Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. For a detailed
discussion, see Williamson (1997).
3 For evidence on tariffs during this era, see Maddison (1989) and Bairoch (1982).
1 The quarter century that followed the Second World War was a period of unprecedented prosperity for
the world economy. It has, therefore, been described as the golden age of capitalism. See, for example, Marglin
and Schor (1990) as also Maddison (1982). The age of globalisation, however, is not a phrase that has been
used in the literature to describe the world economy during the last quarter of the twentieth century. It was
suggested in an earlier paper by the author (Nayyar, 2003), as this periodisation facilitates comparison. The
discussion that follows, in part, draws upon the argument developed in that paper. For an analysis of the
implications of globalisation for development during the last quarter of the twentieth century, see also Nayyar
(2001).
rate of growth of world GDP per capita was 2.1% per annum during the 1970s,
annum during the 1980s and 1% per annum during the 1990s.1 This growth
volatile compared with the past, particularly in the developing world.2 The grow
unevenly distributed across countries. Between 1985 and 2000, the growth
capita was negative in 23 developing countries, 0.2% per annum in 14 dev
countries, 1.2% per annum in 20 developing countries, 2.2% per annum in 12 de
countries, and more than 5% per annum in just 16 developing countries. Over t
period, growth in GDP per capita was negative in 17 transition countries an
annum in 22 industrialised countries.3
Available evidence suggests a divergence, rather than convergence, in levels o
between countries and between people. Economic inequalities have increased
twentieth century as the income gap between rich and poor countries, between t
the poor in the world's population, as also between rich and poor people within
has widened. The ratio of GDP per capita in the richest country to GDP per cap
poorest country of the world rose from 35:1 in 1950 to 42:1 in 1970 and 62
The ratio of GDP per capita in the 20 richest countries to GDP per capita in the
countries of the world rose from 54:1 during 1960-62 to 121:1 during 2000-
income gap between people has also widened over time. The ratio of the average
capita in the richest quintile of the world's population to the poorest quintile in
population rose from 31:1 in 1965 to 60:1 in 1990 and 74:1 in 1997.6
Income distribution within countries also worsened. This is borne out by
trends in the distribution of income, during the period from the 1960s to the
73 countries comprising developed, developing and transitional economies. It sh
income inequality increased in 48 countries, which account for 59% of the
and 78% of the PPP-GDP in the sample of 73 countries. Income inequality remai
same in 16 countries which account for 36% of the population and 13% of the P
in the sample of 73 countries. Income inequality decreased in only nine countri
account for 5% of the population and 9% of the PPP-GDP in the sample of 73 co
(Cornia and Kiiski, 2001). The increase in income inequality was striking
industrialised countries. Between 1975 and 2000, the share of the richest 1
income rose from 8% to 17% in the US, from 8.8% to 13.3% in Canada and
to 13% in the UK (Atkinson, 2003).
The incidence of poverty increased in most countries of Latin America, the C
and Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s and the 1990s. Much of Eastern E
1 These figures are calculated from data on annual growth in world GDP per capita, drawn
Bank, World Development Indicators 2003, as the arithmetic mean of annual growth rates for e
2 For evidence on the volatility of growth in the world economy during the period 197 5-200
Bank, World Development Indicators 2003. For evidence on the volatility of growth in developin
during the period 1980-2000, as compared with the period 1960-80, see UNCTAD, Trade and
Report 2003, p. 59.
These growth rates are calculated from the basic data compiled by the World Bank, World D
Indicators 2003, for 124 countries (which accounted for 92% of the estimated world population
which consistent information is available over time. The growth rates for transition economies
period 1991-2001.
4 Calculated from Maddison (1995, Appendix D, pp. 194-206), which provides data on levels
capita.
5 Between 1960-62 and 2000-2002, in constant 1995 US dollars, GDP per capita in the 20 richest
countries rose from 11,417 to 32,339, while GDP per capita in the poorest 20 countries barely increased from
212 to 267 (World Bank, World Development Indicators 2003).
6 For 1965 and 1990, these ratios are obtained from UNCTAD, Trade and Development Report 1997, p. 81.
For 1997, the ratio is obtained from UNDP, Human Development Report 1999, p. 3.
1 For supporting evidence, see World Bank, World Development Report and Global Economic Prospects,
several issues.
2 Cf., OECD, Economic Outlook and Employment Outlook, Paris, 1998.
3 For evidence in support of this proposition, see UNCTAD (1997). In addition, see Wood (1994) and
Wood (1997). Stewart (2003) also suggests that trade liberalisation (associated with globalisation) provides
an explanation for rising inequality, and cites supporting evidence.
4 Some evidence on the increase in profit shares in industrialised countries and the decrease in wage shares
in developing countries is reported in UNCTAD (1997). Stewart (2003) develops a similar argument that
globalisation may have led to an increase in inequality through an increase in returns to capital as compared
with labour.
emergence of a new rentier class. And the inevitable concentration in the ownershi
financial assets has probably contributed to a worsening of income distribution.1 G
competition has driven large international firms to consolidate market power t
mergers and acquisitions which has made market structures more oligopolistic
competitive. The competition for export markets and foreign investment, betw
countries, has intensified, in what is termed 'a race to the bottom', leading to an un
distribution of gains from trade and investment.
It must also be recognised that the spread of globalisation is uneven. The exclusion
people and of countries, from the process, is a fact of life. Consider some evidence, fo
on international trade, international investment and international finance, which con
the cutting edge of globalisation.2 Industrialised countries accounted for 64% of
exports, while developing countries accounted for 32% and transitional economies f
remaining 4%. Industrialised countries accounted for 82% of foreign direct investm
inflows in the world economy, whereas developing countries accounted for 16
transitional economies for the remaining 2%. Industrialised countries accounted for
cross-border mergers and acquisitions in terms of purchases, whereas developing co
accounted for just 4% and transitional economies accounted for a mere 1%.
This sharp divide between rich and poor countries is no surprise but the spr
globalisation is just as uneven within the developing world. There are no more than a
developing countries which are an integral part of the process of globalisation: Arg
Brazil and Mexico in Latin America; China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kor
Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand in Asia. During the 1990s, these cou
accounted for 70% of total exports from the developing world and 75% of manufac
exports from the developing world, absorbed almost 72% of foreign direct investm
flows to the developing world and received about 90% of foreign portfolio investmen
to the developing world.3 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia are simply
the picture, apart from many countries in Latin America, South Asia and the Asia P
which are left out altogether. The exclusion of the least developed countries, everywh
the world, is almost complete.
The exclusion of poor countries and poor people extends beyond trade, investment
finance, in so far as their access to globalisation, in terms of communication and techn
is exceedingly limited. Indeed, the excluded are barely connected with the globalised w
For example, in 2000, the distribution of access to the Internet was most unequal: o
Internet users in the world, 75.8% were in the industrialised countries, 18.4% were in
just 4.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and a mere 1.2% in Africa.4 Similarly
1999, the access to telecommunications systems was most unequal: there were 1
telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in the OECD countries compared with 25 tel
lines per 100 inhabitants in the rest of the world. The difference was much greater i
1 See Observatoire de la France and UNITAR, Economie and Financial Globalization: What the Numbers
Say, New York and Geneva, 2003, p. 23
3 The paragraphs that follow draw upon earlier work by the author. For a more detailed discussion, see
Nayyar (2003).
Globalisation has introduced a new dimension to the exclusion of people from dev
ment. Exclusion is no longer simply about the inability to satisfy basic human needs in te
food, clothing, shelter, health care and education for large numbers of people. It is much
complicated. For the consumption patterns and lifestyles of the rich associated
globalisation have powerful demonstration effects. People everywhere, even the poo
the excluded, are exposed to these consumption possibility frontiers because the ele
media has spread the consumerist message far and wide. This creates both expectati
aspirations. But the simple fact of life is that those who do not have the incomes cann
goods and services in the market. Thus, when the paradise of consumerism is unatt
which is the case for common people, it only creates frustration or alienation. The reac
people who experience such exclusion differs. Some seek short cuts to the consu
paradise through drugs, crime or violence. Some seek refuge in ethnic identities, cu
chauvinism or religious fundamentalism. Such assertion of traditional or indigenous v
often the only thing that poor people can assert, for it brings an identity and meaning t
lives. Outcomes do not always take these extreme forms. But globalisation inevitably t
erode social stability.1 Thus, economic integration with the world outside may accen
social tensions or provoke social fragmentation within countries.
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