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Business and Economics > Globalization

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Cover IMF Working Papers
How Far Has Globalization Gone? A Tale of Two Regions
Rodolfo Campos, Samuel Pienknagura, and Jacopo Timini
We study the evolution of trade globalization in a set of countries in Latin America (mostly the largest ones) and Asia over the past 25 years. Relying on structural gravity models, we first estimate a proxy of trade globalization that captures the ease of trading internationally with respect to trading domestically. Results indicate that the evolution of trade globalization since the mid-1990s has been similar between the two regions, but very heterogeneous within them. Trade globalization has been particularly strong in agriculture, mining and manufacturing, but has lagged in services. The paper also documents that trade globalization has been particularly strong in agriculture, mining and manufacturing, but it lagged in services. Within region heterogeneity is associated to a set of trade policy instruments, including tariffs, non-tariff measures, WTO membership. and trade agreements. Next, we quantify the economic implications of the estimated globalization trends. Simulations of a multi-sector trade model point to heterogeneous long-term impacts of globalization on GDP—some countries exhibiting substantial gains and others experiencing large losses—, with no single sector playing a preponderant role.
Keywords:
Trade; Globalization; Structural gravity; Latin America; Asia; trade globalization; globalization trend; IMF working paper 23/255; model point; globalization process; Trade policy; Manufacturing; Agricultural sector; Tariffs; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Long Live Globalization: Geopolitical Shocks and International Trade
Mr. Serhan Cevik
Are we really witnessing the death of globalization? A multitude of shocks over the past three years has unsettled the conventional wisdom on economic integration and fueled widespread calls for protectionist and nationalist policies. Using an extensive dataset with more than 4 million observations, I develop an augmented gravity model of bilateral trade flows among 59,049 country-pairs over the period 1948–2021 and find that the much-debated geopolitical alignment between countries has contradictory and statistically insignificant effects on trade, depending on the level of economic development. Moreover, the economic magnitude of this effect is not as important as income or geographic distance and it diminishes significantly when extreme outliers are removed from the sample. The empirical analysis presented in this paper also confirms that the level of income in both origin and destination countries has a positive impact on trade, while the greater the distance between countries, the smaller the flow of bilateral trade due to higher trade costs. Cultural similarities and historical ties are also important in shaping trade flows, just like trade agreements that tend to lead to higher level of international trade.
Keywords:
Globalization; international trade; gravity model; geopolitics; trade globalization; trade pattern; statistics database; country pair; trade openness; Trade balance; Plurilateral trade; Gravity models; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Global
Cover Finance & Development
Finance and Development, June 2023
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
In this issue, we focus on the forces disrupting the established international trade order, such as Russia’s war on Ukraine and geopolitical fragmentation. We also look at how global trade is being reshaped by technology and policy priorities, such as climate change and equality.
Keywords:
commonwealth member; trade openness; policy choice; trade volume; commonwealth nation; Aging; Exports; Export restrictions; Global; Caribbean
Cover Selected Issues Papers
Structural Transitions to Electric Vehicle Production: Czech Republic
Stephen Ayerst and Neree C.G.M. Noumon
Sustaining the impressive convergence gains allowed by the Czech automotive sector has become challenging due to its comparatively lower value added, lower investments in research and development, and lower skills in the labor market. Using a structural model of global value chains, the paper examines policies to smooth the transition to the production of electric vehicles in Czechia. The analysis explores the impacts of increasing labor productivity, boosting production capabilities, and moving up the global value chain. These policies were found to have a relatively lower impact when they shift specialization towards lower value-added stages of production.
Keywords:
Automotive industry; Czech Republic; Convergence; Electric vehicles; Global value chains; Labor productivity; Structural Policy; electric vehicle production; production capability; model illustration; Czechia economy; Policy recommendation; Employment; Skilled labor; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Czech Republic: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper examines—through the lenses of a structural model of global value chains—policies that could smooth the transition to the production of electric vehicles in Czechia economy context. In particular, the paper analyzes the impacts of a broad set of policies related to increasing labor productivity, boosting production capabilities in the current set of specialties, and moving up the global value chain. Czechia automotive sector’s value-added share and skill intensity are comparatively lower in the regional context. IMF analysis investigates the potential impact of a transition to electric vehicles in Europe, through a combination of data and modeling techniques. The paper also introduces a stylized structural model of automotive global value chains that includes distinct production of electric and combustion vehicles. The model describes the inter-connectedness of trade and imbeds domestic capability features, including specialization along the global value chain. The model is also calibrated to capture key features of Czechia and Germany’s positions in global value chains, as well as key differences between electric and combustion vehicle production.
Keywords:
electric vehicle production in Czechia; model illustration; Czechia economy; I. model description; consumers from Czechia; Global value chains; Labor productivity; Employment; Skilled labor; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Geoeconomic Fragmentation and the Future of Multilateralism
Mr. Shekhar Aiyar, Mr. Jiaqian Chen, Mr. Christian H Ebeke, Mr. Roberto Garcia-Saltos, Tryggvi Gudmundsson, Ms. Anna Ilyina, Mr. Alvar Kangur, Tansaya Kunaratskul, Mr. Sergio L. Rodriguez, Michele Ruta, Tatjana Schulze, Gabriel Soderberg, and Mr. Juan P Trevino
After several decades of increasing global economic integration, the world is facing the risk of policy-driven geoeconomic fragmentation (GEF). This note explores the ramifications. It identifies multiple channels through which the benefits of globalization were earlier transmitted, and along which, conversely, the costs of GEF are likely to fall, including trade, migration, capital flows, technology diffusion and the provision of global public goods. It explores the consequences of GEF for the international monetary system and the global financial safety net. Finally, it suggests a pragmatic path forward for preserving the benefits of global integration and multilateralism
Keywords:
Geoeconomic fragmentation; globalization; global economic integration; geopolitical blocs; international monetary system; global financial safety net; multilateralism; costs of economic fragmentation; rules-based multilateral system.; IMF AREAER report; U.S. Dollar share; trade openness; trade agenda; share of Global Foreign Exchange; Capital flows; Trade barriers; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Effect of Tariffs in Global Value Chains
Johannes Eugster, Ms. Florence Jaumotte, Ms. Margaux MacDonald, and Mr. Roberto Piazza
This paper empirically investigates the impact of tariffs when production is organized in global value chains. Using global input-output matrices, we construct four different tariff measures that capture the direct and indirect exposure to tariffs at different stages of the production chain for a broad set of countries and industries. Our results suggest that tariffs have significant effects on economic outcomes, including on countries and sectors not directly targeted. We find that tariffs higher up and further down in the value chain depress value added, employment, labor productivity and total factor productivity to varying degrees. We find no benefits for the sector that enjoys additional protection, yet there is some evidence of economic activity being diverted, i.e. positive effects on value added and employment from tariffs imposed on competitors. Our paper relates to recent innovations in theoretical gravity models and provides an empirical assessment of possible long-term effects of recent trade tensions.
Keywords:
Tariffs; global value chains; value added; productivity; IMF working paper research Department; tariff measure; employment from tariff; tariff war; upstream tariff; effect of tariff; Tariffs; Total factor productivity; Labor productivity; Exports; Imports; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Dollar Invoicing, Global Value Chains, and the Business Cycle Dynamics of International Trade
Mr. David Cook and Nikhil Patel
Recent literature has highlighted that international trade is mostly priced in a few key vehicle currencies and is increasingly dominated by intermediate goods and global value chains (GVCs). Taking these features into account, this paper reexamines the relationship between monetary policy, exchange rates and international trade flows. Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) framework, it finds key differences between the response of final goods and GVC trade to both domestic and foreign shocks depending on the origin and ultimate destination of value added and the intermediate shipments involved. For example, the model shows that in response to a dollar appreciation triggered by a US interest rate increase, direct bilateral trade between non-US countries contracts more than global value chain oriented trade which feeds US final demand, and exports to the US decline much more when measured in gross as opposed to value added terms. We use granular data on GVCs at the sector level to document empirical evidence in favor of these key predictions of the model.
Keywords:
Dollar invoicing; global value chains; exchange rates; monetary policy; business cycle dynamics; dollar invoicing; EU importer; EU exporter; goods trade; Exports; Global value chains; Currencies; Trade balance; Imports; Global; interest rate shock; aggregate exchange rate passthrough; gross export; export platform; East Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Safe Asset Demand, Global Capital Flows and Wealth Concentration
Mr. Taehoon Kim
The US economy is often referred to as the “banker to the world,” due to its unique role in supplying global reserve assets and funding foreign risky investment. This paper develops a general equilibrium model to analyze and quantify the contribution of this role to rising wealth concentration among American households. I highlight the following points: 1) financial globalization raises wealth inequality in a financially-developed economy initially due to foreign capital pressing up domestic asset prices; 2) much of this increase is transitory and can be reversed as future expected returns on domestic assets fall; and 3) despite the low-interest-rate environment, newly accessed foreign capital provides incentives for affluent households to reallocate wealth toward risky assets while impoverished households increase their debt. Wealth concentration ensues only if this rebalancing effect is large enough to counteract diminished return on domestic assets. Quantitative analysis suggests that global financial integration alone can account for a third to a half of the observed increase in the current top one percent wealth share in the US, but indicates a possible reversal in the future.
Keywords:
Global capital flows; Financial integration; Safe asset; Wealth inequality; wealth concentration; wealth inequality; security market liberalization; closed economy; risky asset; Income distribution; Income inequality; Return on investment; Foreign direct investment; Global; Capital flows
Cover IMF Working Papers
Global Value Chains and Productivity: Micro Evidence from Estonia
Hang T. Banh, Mr. Philippe Wingender, and Cheikh A. Gueye
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented collapse in global economic activity and trade. The crisis has also highlighted the role played by global value chains (GVC), with countries facing shortages of components vital to everything from health systems to everyday household goods. Despite the vulnerabilities associated with increased interconnectedness, GVCs have also contributed to increasing productivity and long-term growth. We explore empirically the impact of GVC participation on productivity in Estonia using firm-level data from 2000 to 2016. We find that higher GVC participation at the industry level significantly boosts productivity at both the industry and the firm level. Frontier firms, large firms, and exporting firms also benefit more from GVC participation than non-frontier firms, small firms, and non-exporting firms. We also find that GVC participation of downstream industries has a negative correlation with productivity. Frontier firms and large firms benefit more from GVC participation of upstream industries, while non-frontier firms and small firms benefit more from GVC participation of downstream industries. Our results suggest that policies designed to promote participation in GVCs are important to raise aggregate productivity and potential growth in Estonia.
Keywords:
WP; GVC participation; production function; export firm; global value chains; trade; productivity; industry level; industry productivity growth; GVC supplier; participation measure; firm level; dependent variable; capital intensity; GVC buyer; Exports; Industrial productivity; Labor productivity; Global