Globalization and Economic Interdependence:
1. What does globalization mean? Globalization is the acceleration and extension of the interdependence of economic and business activities across national boundaries, in other words a development on one side of the globe will have consequences on another. As a consumer, it means more choices, generally lower prices, and increasingly blurred national identity for products and services. How do the statistics of world trade and direct investment show the trend of globalization? Globalization allows for countries to expand outside of their own country for resources. With this being done, more and more countries are able to interact in world trade and direct investment, which correlate to the trend of globalization increasing.
2. What are the main drivers of globalization? Accelerated technological change, liberation of trade and investment and investment in many countries, and entrepreneurship and competition among firms (location economies, economies of scale, and economies of scope). How do location economies, economies of scale and economies of scope motivate firms to expand their operations overseas? Location economies refer to the cost efficiencies that a firm can achieve by locating some of its activities overseas. Such cost efficiencies can result from lower labor or raw material costs, superior labor skills, or elimination of transport or tariff costs. Economies of scale refer to the reduction of average production costs due to the expansion of sales in additional markets when fixed costs are amortized onto a larger quantity of units sold, thus lowering the production cost per unit, which gives a company the ability to expand sales and production volume. Economies of scope refer to the realization of additional profit from the exploitation of certain valuable assets in additional foreign markets because those