1. The totality of interacting national economies of all countries of the world and international economic relations is ...
£ world production
World economy
£ world market
2. The number of independent states recognized by the world community at present:
3. The number of the most economically powerful developed countries with market economies:
4. Modern world economic relations are based on:
The total predominance of market relations
£ limited spread of market relations
£ dominated by political agreements
£ to strengthen the role of anti-terrorist agreements
5. "Open economy" presupposes:
Availability of the domestic market for attracting foreign capital
£ elimination of national borders
£ complete abolition of customs duties and restrictions
6. System-forming factor of the modern world economy:
£ offer
Capital
7. Uneven economic development of countries means:
£ differences in the standard of living of the population
Difference in the level of industrial development and technical equipment of labor
£ varying degrees of openness of the national economy
8. Indicators expressing the openness of the national economy:
£ volume of foreign investment
Import quotas
£ number of employees in export production
9. Groups of countries in the world economy in accordance with the UN typology:
Developed market economies
£ industrialized countries
Countries with economies in transition
£ newly industrialized countries
Developing countries and territories with market economies
10. Criteria for assigning a country to a particular group:
The type of her economy
Socio-economic development level
£ level and quality of life of the population
£ development of the military-industrial complex
£ gross domestic product
The value of GDP per capita
11. Countries in the "group 7":
£ Brazil
France
12.Countries of the "New Industrial Countries" group:
£ Nigeria
£ Uruguay
Taiwan
£ Vietnam
Singapore
13.Countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development:
Netherlands
Norway
Ireland
14.Characteristic trends inherent in the modern stage of development of the world economy:
Deeper international division of labor
£ autarkism
Globalization
Aggravated competition
15. Newly industrialized countries of the "first wave":
Taiwan
£ Indonesia
The Republic of Korea
Hong Kong
Singapore
£ Vietnam
16. Key changes in the traditional scheme of equilibrium of the world economy "North-South" after the 70s. XX century. occurred due to ...
£ collapse of the administrative-command system of the former socialist countries
The emergence of NIS
£ CMEA decay
17. Key changes in the traditional scheme of the balance of the world economy "West-East" after the 70s. XX century. occurred due to ...
The collapse of the administrative-command system of the former socialist countries
£ the emergence of NIS
The collapse of the CMEA
£ the formation of new markets for the sale of goods
£ collapse of the colonial system
18. In the technogenic model of world development, the "periphery" took
Dependent and subordinate position
£ dominant position
19.In the technogenic model of world development, the "periphery" specializes in supplying the world market
Mineral raw materials
Energy carriers
Agricultural products
£ high technology products
20. Protectionism of foreign trade policy of the countries of the world economy is based on
Import substitution
£ export promotion
State or international regulation
£ market freedom
21. The liberalization of foreign trade policy of the world economy is based on
£ import substitution
Export promotion
£ national or international regulation
Free market
22.The main features of the manifestation of the uneven development of the world economy are considered
£ the gap in development levels between CPs and developing countries has narrowed
The differentiation of developing countries by the level of economic development is growing
Leading countries are changing
In the context of the globalization of the world economy, the newly industrialized countries have approached the group of leading exporters
Development gap between CPs and developing countries widened
23. Countries with market economies are considered
OPEC countries
£ CIS countries
24. Countries with economies in transition are considered
£ OPEC countries
CIS countries
25 The emerging global world economy includes national economies
Industrialized countries
New industrial countries
Developing countries
£ countries supplying raw materials
Countries with economies in transition
£ countries with command and control system
26.The main results of international cooperation are considered
£ strengthening friendship between countries
Increased output of manufactured goods
£ obtaining free licenses and patents
£ deepening MRI
27. Motives for the participation of countries in the international division of labor
£ gaining access to new technologies
£ redistribution of spheres of influence between countries
Obtaining economic benefits
£ access to sources of raw materials and energy
28. Economic benefits of the country from participation in the international division of labor:
£ getting information about competitors
Saving national costs due to the refusal of domestic production of goods and services due to their cheaper imports
£ receiving land rent
29. Reasons for the development of the international division of labor:
Differences in natural and climatic conditions
£ geopolitical features of the country's position
£ implementation of the import substitution policy
30. The form of participation of the country in the international division of labor, subject to the production of products in excess of domestic needs:
£ international division of labor
£ international cooperation
£ sectoral division of labor
International production specialization
31. The form of combining labor at various stages of production and sale of goods and services is called:
£ international division of labor
£ productive collaboration
International cooperation
£ import substitution
£ international specialization
32. The increase in the export quota reflects:
Increasing the level of competitiveness of export-oriented products
£ increase in labor productivity
£ favorable conjuncture of world commodity markets
33. The main forms of the international division of labor:
International specialization
International cooperation
£ regional integration
£ internationalization of production
£ globalization of the world economy
34. The intellectualization of the international division of labor is expressed in:
£ increase in the export quota
Form of scientific and technical cooperation
Form of technological cooperation
£ strengthening the role of TNCs
35.The classical theoretical principles of the development of the international division of labor are considered ...
£ supply and demand theory
Relative advantage theory (D. Ricardo)
The theory of absolute advantages (A. Smith)
£ mercantilist theories
36. The main functions of international cooperation:
Increase in labor productivity
£ deepening the international division of labor
Increased production of goods and services
£ receiving gratuitous aid
37. The export quota indicator indicates:
£ level of cooperation of production
Degrees of orientation of individual sectors of the national economy to foreign markets
£ the nature of foreign economic relations
Industry level international specialization
38. Quantitative indicators of the openness of the economies of the world economy are
Export quota
£ export quotas
Import quota
£ import quotas
Foreign trade quota
39. The most dynamically developing areas of the international division of labor at the present time:
£ production
£ transport
Information Services
£ investment
40.The specific specialization of countries in the production of certain goods and services depends on ...
Natural and geographical conditions
Scientific and technical cooperation of countries
Industrial cooperation
£ using international regulations and rules
41. Correspondence between the subjects of the world economy and the specific forms of their manifestation
42.The essence of the international division of labor is manifested in:
Dismemberment of the production process
Combining the production process
£ diversifying sources of raw materials and labor
43. The main types of international specialization are considered ...
Subject
£ unit
Detailed
Technological
£ private
44. The main areas of international specialization:
Manufacturing
£ scientific
£ technological
Territorial
Cross-sectoral
Intraindustry
45. The main actors of the global world economy:
Globalizing capital - TNK, TNB, MFC
£ United Nations (UN)
46. The solution to the contradictions of the globalization process comes down to ...:
£ Strengthening aid to least developed countries
Giving the globalization process a social focus
To channel the process of globalization for the benefit of the least developed countries of the world economy
£ tackling corruption problems in the developing world
47. Problems associated with the relationship "man-nature":
Using the resources of the oceans
£ development of culture, education, health care
£ providing employment for the economically active population
£ international terrorism
48. Problems associated with the relationship "person-society":
Development of culture, education, health care
£ peaceful space exploration
£ disarmament and prevention of a new world war
£ preserving and restoring ecological balance
49.The main areas of activity of ECOSOC, as one of the main divisions of the UN
£ politics
£ science and culture
Economy
50. The development of education, science and culture in the UN system is dealt with by
51. The main activities of UNCTAD:
international trade
£ cultural environment
£ art
£ international STP
52. In the process of globalization, contradictions arise between ...
Countries with market economies and countries with economies in transition
Advanced and least developed countries of the MX
£ leading countries of the world
53. The main reasons for the emergence of the "anti-globalization" movement:
Globalization is for the benefit of the "club of selected countries"
Globalization is realized on the basis of taking into account the cultural values of the "West"
All countries are enjoying the fruits of globalization
54. Global demographic problems are
World population growth
£ population migration
Population aging
£ illegal migration
55. Global problems in the political sphere:
Rogue countries
International terrorism
£ religion
56. Global problems in the economic field:
£ economic wars
Growing Lagging Developing Countries
International debt problem
£ confrontation between interstate blocs
£ conflict between TNCs and national companies
57. Global social problems:
Income inequality
Unemployment
£ drop in real wages
£ urbanization
58. Global environmental problems:
£ limited resources
Waste and pollution problem
Climate warming
£ agricultural land problem
59. Characteristic features of the globalization of the world economy:
Liberalization of foreign trade
Strengthening the role of TNCs in the world economy
£ unresolved external debt problem
£ increased international terrorism
Enhancing the regulatory role of international economic organizations
60. Reasons for the acceleration of the globalization process at the beginning of the XXI century:
Information Technology
New financial technologies
Growth of the international capital market
£ financial crises
£ uneven economic development of the countries of the world economy
61. The area of the most dynamic development of the globalization process:
Economy
£ technique
Information
£ culture
£ politics
Finance
62. Global socio-political problems:
Disarmament and prevention of a new world war
£ energy problem
Providing employment for the economically active population
International terrorism
£ natural disasters
63. The global problems of "natural and economic" nature include
Economic problems
Energy supply
£ demographic problems
£ health problems
£ problems of interethnic relations
Food and raw materials problem
64. The main activity of the specialized organization of the United Nations - FAO is considered
£ development of international cooperation in the field of education, science, culture
Collection, synthesis and analysis of information on nutrition, nature management, fishing
65. The most common mineral:
£ iron ore
66. Of the fuel and energy fossil resources, the largest reserves are:
£ biofuel
67. A peculiar geographical phenomenon of the last decades of the XXI century, which has received the name "expansion" of the resource frontiers of the world economy in scientific literature, is associated with:
£ involvement in industrial exploration and development in almost all countries of the world
The beginning of the development of new sources of minerals in the conditions of hard-to-reach territories and shelf waters
£ discovery of fundamentally new types of minerals
68. Countries that almost completely satisfy their needs for fuel and energy resources from their own sources:
£ Mongolia
Norway
69. The biosphere's ability to cope with the consequences of human activity is based on the concept of the development of modern civilization ...
£ concept "limits of economic growth"
£ the concept of a "new quality" of economic growth
The concept of "sustainable development"
70. The natural resources that create the conditions for human existence, first of all, include:
71.The absolute scarcity of mineral resources is associated with (note):
£ involving new types of resources in the economic turnover
£ cardinal shifts in the production basis
The general limited scale of our planet and all types of resources
72. Renewable (reproducible) types of natural resources:
Solar energy
Geothermal energy
73. The relative scarcity of mineral resources is associated with:
£ general limited scale of our planet and all types of resources
Cardinal shifts in the production base
Involvement of new types of resources in the economic circulation
74. Five countries, in the depths of which 100 billion tons of oil are concentrated (or 2/3 of all proven reserves):
£ Venezuela
Saudi Arabia
£ Norway
75. Seven countries, in the depths of which 60% of the proven reserves of natural gas are concentrated:
£ Ethiopia
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
£ Ukraine
Saudi Arabia
76. The main oil exporters are currently:
Mexico
£ Ethiopia
Norway
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
77. Major importers of oil:
EU countries
£ Mexico
78. Top five places in the global demand for primary energy resources:
Hydropower
Natural gas
Atomic Energy
£ wind energy
£ solar energy
79. The main factors that, according to P. Samulsson, will provide both individual countries and the world economy as a whole with "crisis-free development":
Natural resources
Population
Capital
Technical innovations
£ democracy
£ culture
£ ecological cleanliness
£ humanity
80. "Six" of the leading countries in gold mining:
Australia
81.Science, which, on the basis of social, economic, biological and geographical factors, investigates the processes occurring in the structure, dynamics, movement and distribution of the population is called:
£ globalistics
£ sociology
£ political science
Demography
£ world economy
82. The population of the Earth is predicted to be:
£ gradually decrease
£ shrink slowly
Grow more and more slowly
£ grow at an ever faster pace
83. The movement of the rural population to the cities inevitably leads to:
£ marginalized
Urbanization
£ democratization
£ demopulation
84. The movement of people across the borders of certain territories with a change of residence permanently or for a sufficiently long period is:
£ diversification of the population
£ marginalization of the population
Population migration
£ geopolitization
£ urbanization
85. Workers - frontaliers are:
£ officially registered migrant workers
£ illegal immigrants
Workers crossing the border daily
£ family members of migrants
86. The increase in the proportion of highly qualified specialists among migrants leads to:
£ significant losses
£ increased economic crime
£ political instability
Significant economic impact for host countries
87. Population groups united by national, ethnic or religious grounds and living in a new region (country) for themselves are called:
£ nationality
Diaspora
88. The current demographic situation in Russia is characterized by:
£ an increase in the number of births
£ reduction in mortality among the population
Depopulations
Decreased life expectancy
£ increased life expectancy
89. The long-term trend of population aging is characteristic of the following countries:
£ developing countries
Industrialized countries
£ countries in transition
90. The occupational structure of the population reflects:
£ the country's political activity in the international arena
The degree of development of society as a whole
£ age and sex composition of the population
The achieved structure of the economies of the countries
£ unemployment rate in the country
General trends in the distribution of the labor force by sector of employment
91. Characteristic trends in the distribution of EAN in industrialized countries:
£ growth of EAN in agriculture
Decrease and stabilization of EAN in agriculture
Employment growth in the service sector
92. Typical trends in the distribution of employment in developing countries:
£ growth of employed in agriculture
Industrial employment growth
High employment in agriculture
Employment growth in the service sector
93. Characteristic trends in the distribution of EAP in countries with economies in transition:
Consistently high employment in agriculture
Growth of employed in the service sector
£ growth in employment in industry and construction
Decrease in employment in industry and construction
94. Reasons for international migration:
Economic
Demographic
Military-political
Environmental
£ terrorism
95. The characteristic features of the notion "Population explosion" are
Decreasing mortality
£ low mortality
High fertility
Sharp increase in population growth rates
£ declining fertility
£ stable or growing population at minimum dynamics
£ low fertility
96. The characteristic features of the concept of "demographic maturity" are
£ declining mortality
Low mortality
£ high fertility
£ declining fertility
Low fertility
Stable or minimally growing population
97.Demographic crisis is characterized by
£ high fertility
High mortality
Vital movement rate with a minus sign (-)
Depopulation
Mortality exceeds birth rate
98. Countries and regions of the world with high population growth rates include
Countries of Southeast Asia
Bangladesh
£ Israel
99. Correspondence between countries (regions of the world), and characteristic trends
100. Areas of activity that belong to the category of "high" technologies:
Nanotechnology
Information Technology
Biotechnology
£ continuous casting technology
Technologies based on the use of new materials
101. Indicators characterizing the scientific and technical potential of the world economy:
The number of specialists employed in science and scientific services
£ number of EAN in industry
Share of R&D expenditures in VMP
Share of high technology products in VMP
The share of products of high technology industries in the world market
102. Cycles of scientific and technical development of the countries of the world economy according to the theory of cyclical development of N. Kondratyev come to the end:
Change of technological structures
Technical upheaval
£ political crises
103. The sequence of stages of the formulation of the world information space:
1: the emergence of writing
2: invention of the printing press (typography)
3: creating a telegraph, radio, telephone, TV
4: the emergence of computer technology
5: the emergence of Internet technologies
104. The reasons for the sustainable growth of the knowledge intensity of the world economy:
Reducing the life cycle of high-tech goods (frequent change of generations of computers, household appliances, etc.)
The rise in the cost of research and development itself
High costs for scientific and basic research
Transnationalization of production
£ globalization MX
105. Quantitative characteristics of the scientific and technical potential of the countries of the world economy
£ R&D management organization system
Availability of research personnel
Material and technical support of R&D
£ main directions of scientific research
£ provision of scientific and technical information
106. Qualitative characteristics of the scientific and technical potential of the countries of the world economy
R&D management system
£ availability of research personnel
£ logistics R&D
Main directions of scientific research
Provision of scientific and technical information
107. International scientific and technological exchange can be carried out
on a non-commercial basis by ...
License agreements for the rights to use inventions, etc.
Scientific and technical publications
Scientific conferences
£ migration of scientists and specialists
108. The decline in the efficiency of the applied technique leads to:
£ energy crises
Search for new scientific ideas and technical solutions
Innovation boom
Massive renewal of generations of machines
£ mass migration of the population
109. Number of least developed countries (LDCs) (UN list):
110. Estimated population in least developed countries ...
111. The least developed countries are predominantly located in:
£ Latin America
£ South Asia
Tropical Africa
£ Eastern Europe
112.Differentiation by the level of economic development between developed and developing countries in the twentieth century:
Has increased
£ remained constant
£ decreased
113. Unevenness and contradictory development of countries in the modern world:
£ decreased
£ increased
Stopped
114. "Periphery" has taken a place in the technogenic model of world development - ...
£ equal position with "center"
Dependent position
£ independent position and specializes in supplying the global market
High technology products
£ minerals
Agricultural products
115. The main features inherent in the modern world economy:
£ transition to a postindustrial development model
£ a socially oriented model of a market economy emerged
The market economy has become universal
Increasing interdependence of countries and regions
The gap between the center and the periphery of the world economy has widened
£ developing countries catch up with developed countries in terms of economic development
116. Features of the catch-up development model:
Protectionism
£ liberalization of foreign economic activity
£ national currency convertibility
Strengthening state regulation of the economy
£ strengthening of integration processes
117. The highest level of differentiation in income distribution in ..
£ developed countries
Developing states
£ newly industrialized countries
£ OPEC countries
Countries in transition
118. The share of developing countries in world GDP is
£ less than 5%
£ about 10%
Over 30%
119. The share of countries with economies in transition in world GDP is ...
£ more than 20%
£ about 50%
£ about 10%
120. The main resources in an industrial society are
£ natural resources
Capital
£ information and knowledge
£ economic freedom
£ manpower
121. The main resources in a post-industrial society are
£ natural resources
£ capital
Information and knowledge
£ economic freedom
£ manpower
122. The dominant sector in the economy of developed countries is
£ primary
£ secondary
Tertiary
£ quaternary
123. The dominant sector in the economies of the least developed countries is
Primary
£ secondary
£ tertiary
£ quaternary.
124. The dynamics of economic growth (GDP growth) in China at the end of the twentieth century was
Up to 10% of GDP per year
£ approximately 3-5% of GDP per year
£ approximately 1-3% of GDP per year
£ less than 2% per year
125. The dynamics of economic growth (GDP growth) in Germany at the end of the twentieth century was
£ up to 10% of GDP per year
£ approximately 3-5% of GDP per year
£ approximately 1-3% of GDP per year
Less than 2% per year.
126. The Marshall Plan was associated with
£ the implementation of international control over key branches of the military industry of the EU countries
£ transfer of the leadership of the coal mining of France and Germany to a supranational authority
£ the creation of the European Atomic Energy Community
US economic aid to Western European countries.
127. The period of implementation of the "Marshall Plan" falls on
1948 - 1951
128. The Treaty on European Union came into force with
£ 01.01.1991
£ 31.12.1995
129. The document of the commencement of the functioning of the Treaty on European Union is considered
£ White Paper
Single European Act
£ Maastricht Agreement
£ NATO Treaty
130.The high level of technical equipment of Japanese production was achieved due to
High level of development of fundamental research
Borrowing scientific and technological achievements from abroad
Active purchase of foreign licenses
£ joint development with partners for scientific and technical cooperation
131. The main EU institutions are
European Parliament
£ Single European ACP
£ EURATOM
132. Candidates for EU membership are
Slovakia
£ Belarus
Hungary
Estonia
133.The United States meets its mineral needs through
£ 100% import
About 50% of imports
£ 25% imports
Own resources
134. For Japan, a "vital import" is
£ food
Fuel and raw materials
£ labor
£ semiconductors and home appliances
£ foreign currency
135. For Japan, a "vital export" is
£ foreign currency
£ food
£ fuel and raw materials
£ labor
Semiconductors and home appliances
136. NAFTA is a free trade agreement between:
£ US and Canada
£ US, Canada and EU
USA, Canada and Mexico
£ USA, Russia, Canada
137. Approximate Amount (Percentage of World) Mineral Resources Possessed by Russia
More than 20%
138 Approximate Amount (Percentage of World) Mineral Resources Possessed by the United States ...
£ more than 20%
139. The three economic centers of power in the world economy are considered ...
140. USA, EU and Japan share in world GDP ...%
£ less than 40
£ about 30
141.Participation and role of the state in the economies of most developing countries
£ small
Quite active
£ is absent at all, since the main engine of economic development is foreign capital
142. The economic reforms in China at the present stage, which caused an economic upturn in the country, began in ...
143. Most of China's population lives
£ in cities
In the countryside
£ overseas ("huaqiao")
144. Financing of the development of priority industries in China is made at the expense of
£ state budget funds
£ off-budget funds
Foreign investment
£ private investors
145. The common features of most developing countries are
Deep socio-economic backwardness
Diversified economy with various forms of ownership
Influence of traditional institutions in society
High population growth rates
£ specialization in MRI primarily in power generation
£ fairly developed market relations
£ strong dependence on the inflow of resources from outside
146.The modern economic model of the development of the national economy of developing countries is characterized as
Import substitution industrialization
Export-oriented model
£ convergence
£ liberalization
£ free trading
147. Share of developing countries in world GDP
Is increasing
£ decreases
£ remains the same
148. The share of developing countries in the world GDP is ...%
£ over 50
£ less than 20
£ about 10
149. Japan used a model of economic development in relations with developing countries.
Flying geese
£ flying flock
£ adaptation effect
150. Differentiation within developing states
Increasing
£ remains the same
£ decreases
151. Differentiation within developing countries is due to
Developed countries' policies
NIS development
£ the rapid development of China
£ competition from Russia
152. OPEC countries export mainly
£ natural gas
£ electronics
153. Population growth in developing countries
Higher than developed
£ about the same level as developed countries
£ less than developed due to high mortality
154. The population of developing countries predominantly lives
£ in Latin America
£ in Africa
155. Relations between Russia and APEC:
Russia is a member of APEC;
£ Russia is not a member of APEC;
£ Russia plans to join APEC
156.The most developed integration group in the world is considered
157. As a result of the formation of the CIS, mutual economic ties between them
£ remained the same
Decreased
£ increased
158. The Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) was established within the framework of an integration association ...
159. The forms of integration, in accordance with the plans of the organizers of the EU, provided for the creation of
£ cooperation with Russia
Political union
Economic and Monetary Union
Single (common) market for goods, services, capital, labor
£ political-military alliance
£ integration with the USA
Customs Union
160. The main forms of international economic integration are considered
Common Market
Customs Union
£ syndicate
£ international association
Free trade Area
Economic and Monetary Union
161. The "Visegrad Four" integration group includes
£ Bulgaria
Slovakia
£ Romania
Hungary
162. EU candidates from the former USSR are
£ Ukraine
Estonia
£ Belarus
163. The OECD was founded in ...
164. Russia's relations with the OECD:
£ not bound by bilateral agreements
£ is a member of the OECD
Not a member of the OECD
Bound by a bilateral agreement
£ is in a hostile relationship
165. Unification stood at the origins of the EU
166. The ECSC included states
£ Spain
Benelux countries
France
Germany
167. The sequence of stages of formation of the economic and monetary union of the EU countries
1: Free Trade Zone
2: Customs Union
3: "Common Market"
4: Economic and Monetary Union
168. Russia's external debt is in the range of ... billion dollars
£ less than 50
169. The largest in the 90s. XX century was the fall of mutual economic ties of Russia with ...
£ industrialized countries
£ countries of Central and Eastern Europe
£ developing countries
Former republics of the USSR
170. The main component in Russian exports to Western European countries is currently
£ electricity
£ industrial products
Fuel and raw materials
£ machinery and equipment
£ agricultural products
171. Economic, scientific and technical relations between Russia and China are considered
£ little promising
Very promising
£ economically unprofitable
172.The main reasons for the sharp decline in economic relations between Russia and other CIS countries are
£ decrease in the degree of interdependence of most of the union republics
£ national dislike
£ non-fulfillment of deliveries under intergovernmental agreements
The desire to export its products for hard currency to the countries of the "far abroad"
Painful transition from a single centralized supply system within the USSR to market interaction mechanisms
173.The main components in Russian exports to developed countries are
£ machinery and equipment
£ electricity
£ industrial products
Semi-finished products
Fuel and raw materials
£ agricultural products
174. The main advantages of Russia in the world are
Natural resources
£ scientific and technical potential
High educational level of the population
Nuclear weapon
£ developed economy
£ developed market infrastructure
175. In the end of the 20th century, Russia's economic power stations were primarily focused on
OECD countries
£ CIS countries
Countries "far abroad"
£ CEE countries
£ developing countries
GDP per capita
Educational level of the population
£ military potential of the state
£ inflation
177. The place that Russia occupies in the world according to the Human Development Index (UN) at the beginning of the 21st century
Between 60 and 80
£ in the top ten states
£ between 10th and 20th place
£ between 20 and 40 seat
£ between 40 and 60 seat
178. Industrial production in Russia during the 90s of the twentieth century
£ decreased slightly
£ increased slightly
£ decreased by 10%
Decreased by more than 60%
179.The decline in industrial production in Russia during the 90s of the twentieth century was associated with ...
£ confrontation with the USA
The severance of economic ties with the former republics of the USSR
Transition to market reforms
£ increased military tensions
180. GDP per capita in Russia correlates with the world average:
Below the world average
£ above the world average
£ is approximately equal to
181. The main components of the problem of Russia's external debt are considered
Debt from developing countries to Russia itself
Russian debt to leading PRS, commercial banks and a number of Eastern European countries
Debts of the former USSR
£ servicing Russia's external debt
£ relationship with the London Club
182. The largest demographic decline in Russia was observed in:
£ 20s of XX century
£ 30s of the XX century.
£ years of so-called Stalinist repression
90s of XX century
The first years of the XXI century.
183. The largest decline in GDP (GNP) production took place in:
£ Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War
£ the world economy during the Great Depression
£ USA in the 30s of the XX century.
£ countries of Western Europe in the 30s of the XX century.
Russia in 1992-1996
184. The international division of labor is based on the principle:
£ sectoral isolation
Territorial separation
£ technical and technological community
£ natural division of labor
Comparative advantages
185. Formation and development of the world market is associated with:
£ protectionist policy
Deepening and expanding the international division of labor
Development of industrialization
Development of transport and communication systems
£ autarchy of national economies
186. The internationalization of production is a process of economic relations between countries based on:
£ exchange of finished products
£ differences in natural and climatic conditions
Specialization and cooperation of production
£ overcoming economic dependence by countries
International movement of factors of production
187. According to the Heckscher-Ohlin model, countries specialize in the production of products based on the comparison:
£ production costs
Cost of factors of production
£ marginal utilities of the goods exchanged
£ labor costs
Abundance or shortage of certain factors of production
188 Leontyev's paradox is that the United States should be seen as a country:
£ capital surplus
Labor surplus
£ with limited natural resources
£ with limited manpower
£ with limited capital
189. Net exports are understood as :.
£ the difference between the proceeds from the export of products and the costs of its production
Foreign trade balance
£ share of exports in total production
£ share of imports in the total volume of consumed products within the country
Difference between export and import volumes
190. Re-export means:
£ import into the country of products manufactured abroad with the help of national capital
£ export from the country of products manufactured with the help of foreign capital
Export of products that were previously imported
£ export of finished goods, which contains imported components
Export of products previously imported into the country
191. Foreign trade turnover is determined:
£ by subtracting the value of exports from GDP
£ added to GDP by the value of exports
Summing up the values of exports and imports
Current account for goods and services
£ by subtracting the value of imports from the volume of exports
192. At present, world trade is dominated by:
£ food items
Manufacturing products
£ patents and licenses
£ "experience and knowledge", engineering services
193. The degree of openness of the national economy is determined by:
£ country share in world trade
Export volume per capita
£ share of national production in world production
Share of exports in national production
£ share of national production in international exchange
194. The policy of protectionism is aimed at:
£ expansion of imports from abroad
Protection of domestic production from foreign competitors
£ reduction in domestic exports
£ restriction on the import of foreign capital
Creation of barriers to imports of goods and ensuring the inflow of foreign capital
195. The policy of foreign economic liberalism (free trade) is pursued by the countries:
The most successful in their development
£ low-industrialized economy
£ agro-industrial
£ politically independent
Not afraid of flooding the domestic market with imported goods
196. Transnational corporations are characterized by:
£ limitedness of their activities within the framework of the national economy
£ multinational
International business activities
Capital of national origin and the international nature of its activities
£ multinational capital and international nature of its activities
197. Multinational corporations are characterized by:
£ the national character of the origin of their capital
Multinational capital
£ the international nature of the business and the capital of national origin
£ restrictions in the field of international economic relations
International nature of business
198. The essence of the export of capital is:
£ export of value for the purpose of its realization and appropriation of profits in
Exporting value for the purpose of generating new value and profit
Overcoming protectionist barriers preventing the export of goods to the country
£ advancing the cost for the purpose of obtaining the rent
£ upfront cost to recover production costs
199. Foreign direct investments are those that provide their owner:
£ appropriation of profit
Establishing control over the activities of a foreign enterprise
£ receiving interest on the loan granted
£ obtaining a share of the capital of a foreign enterprise that does not provide control over the activities of the enterprise
Setting up your own business abroad
200. Portfolio foreign investment:
£ investment of capital ensuring the establishment of control over the activities of a foreign enterprise
Investment of capital that prevents the establishment of control over the activities of a foreign enterprise
£ granting a loan to a native partner
Acquisition of an insignificant part of the shares of a foreign enterprise
£ buying up a controlling stake in a native enterprise
201. Loan form of capital export:
Assumes the return and payment of imported capital
£ secures majority ownership of the company
It involves the provision of a loan and receipt of interest on it
£ gives the right to own a certain share of the company's capital
£ is characterized by gratuitous capital transfer
202. On the eve of the First World War, in the export of capital, the first place was occupied by:
United Kingdom
£ France
£ Belgium
£ Netherlands
203. In the middle of the XX century. the first place in the export of capital is occupied by:
£ UK
£ France
£ Germany
204. At the end of XX - beginning of XXI century. the first place in the export of capital is occupied by:
£ Germany
£ oil producing countries of the Middle East
£ UK
205. Until the middle of the XX century. the main importers of capital were:
£ developed capitalist countries
£ socialist countries
£ socialist countries of Europe
£ EEC countries
Developing countries
206. At the end of XX - beginning of XXI century. the main recipient countries of capital were:
£ developing countries
£ countries that have embarked on the path of industrial development
£ socialist countries
Developed capitalist countries
£ post-socialist countries
207. Reinvestment of foreign capital means:
£ export of part of the profit to the capital exporting country and its investment
Investing a certain share of the profit on foreign capital in a given country
£ using the profit to pay off the debt of a foreign investor
£ export of all profits earned on foreign capital
Recurrent investments from part of the income received on previously invested capital
208. International labor migration is influenced by:
Demographic situation in the country
High domestic unemployment
Differences in wage levels
£ excess capital within the country
£ low economic growth
209. The departure from Russia to the United States of more than 50 thousand scientists and specialists was caused by:
£ lack of democratic freedoms in Russia
£ unwillingness to live in our country
Easing US immigration policy towards former socialist countries
Lack of funding in Russia for R&D and higher education, low wages
The policy of "human rights" and the openness of the economy
210. The $ 1 trillion "brain drain" from Russia to the United States means that:
Exhausted by "reforms" Russia acted as an intellectual donor
The wealthy US acted as an intellectual "vampire"
The flight of "human capital" from Russia has become the most profitable item for the United States in relations with our country.
£ Russia has received large revenues
£ Russia has strengthened its scientific and technological potential
211. The migration policy of Russia in the modern transformation period should proceed primarily from:
Ensuring scientific, technical and economic security
£ ensuring the openness of the economy
212. The migration policy of Russia in the modern transformation period should proceed primarily from:
Priority of national interests
£ Compliance with international human rights standards
£ the need for priority inclusion of the country in the globalization process
Preserving and increasing the potential of human capital
£ the need to increase emigration from Russia
213. Only economic integration is characterized by:
£ expansion of the international division of labor
£ growth of mutual trade
The presence of a single mechanism for regulating social and economic relations
£ internationalization of production
The closedness of the integration block
214. The final stage of economic integration is:
£ waiver of export and import quotas
£ waiver of licensing for export shipments
£ free movement of factors of production within one economic space
Creation of a political and economic union of countries
Formation of a currency union of countries
215. The softening of US immigration policy towards post-socialist countries was aimed at:
£ its humanization
£ Strengthening compliance with international human rights standards
Capitalizing on human capital inflows
£ improving the situation of workers in Russia
Building your own intellectual potential
216.Golden Parity:
Based on the gold content of the currency
£ represents a gold coin
£ expressed in paper currency
£ is the price scale
This is the ratio of national currencies based on their gold content
217. Currency parity expresses:
£ purchasing power of the currency
£ exchange rate of the national currency
£ weight amount of gold contained in a currency
Legislative ratio between national currencies
The ratio of national currencies in accordance with their gold content and is adequate to gold parity
218. The exchange rate is characterized by:
The ratio of national currencies, determined by their purchasing power
£ ratio of national currencies in accordance with their gold content
£ the ratio of national currencies established by a willful decision
The purchasing power of one currency relative to another
219. The cross-rate of the currency is determined on the basis of:
£ gold content of foreign currency
£ gold parity of the other two currencies
Exchange rates of two other countries
Purchasing power ratios of the currencies of the three countries
£ currency parity
220. Currency arbitration presupposes:
£ protection of the currency parity of the country's currency
£ protection of the exchange rate of the country's currency
Operations with the aim of making a profit as a result of different quotes of cross rates of the same currency
£ speculative transactions based on the forward rate
Speculative trades based on cross rates
221. A foreign exchange transaction is called a "spot" rate if:
£ a deal takes place under a forward contract
£ the deal is medium-term
The deal is carried out in accordance with the current rate
£ the transaction is carried out in accordance with the rate set for a certain date in the future
The operation is based on cash (cash) transactions
222. The forward rate provides for:
A deal made on the basis of a forward contract
Reconciliation of the rate for a certain date in the future
£ deal based on the current rate
£ spot rate
£ non-hedging or speculation transaction
The number of national currency units corresponding to the foreign currency
£ the number of foreign currency units corresponding to the national currency
£ by the ratio of the exchange rates of two other currencies
£ gold parity
£ currency parity
224. The reverse currency quotation is based on the expression:
£ amount of national currency in foreign currency
The number of monetary units of foreign currency in national currency
£ of one currency through the ratio of rates of two other currencies
£ gold content in foreign currency
£ currency parity
225. The demonetization of gold was carried out by the decision:
£ Bretton Woods Conference
Kingston (Jamaican) Conference
£ Genoa Conference
By a decision of the United States in 1971
£ by decision of Russia in 1897
226.The real, and not only the counting international monetary unit is (was)
£ transferable ruble
227. To determine the "weight" of each national currency in the currency "basket", data on:
£ per capita income
£ national wealth
Share of countries in world exports
The value of GDP
Share of countries in world foreign exchange reserves
228. Trade balance:
Part of the balance of payments
Expresses the relationship between exports and imports of goods and services
£ includes balance of payments
£ not related to the balance of payments
£ does not include re-export
229. Balance of payments:
£ is an integral part of the trade balance
Includes trade balance
£ does not include income and expenses from foreign exchange transactions
£ is not associated with the interbank foreign exchange market
Provides a report on the entire set of international transactions
230. The weakening of the national currency and the depreciation of its exchange rate is caused by:
£ positive balance of payments
£ positive trade balance
Negative trade balance
£ lower taxation
Negative balance of payments
231. The strengthening of the national currency and its appreciation are associated with:
£ negative trade balance
Trade surplus
£ negative balance of payments
Positive balance of payments
£ increased taxes
1 ... The essence of the concept "World economy".
WORLD ECONOMY - the economy of all countries of the world community, considered taking into account intercountry economic relations and interactions. This is a set of national economies, united by various types of world economic ideology.
The world economy as a science (or academic discipline) is a part of the theory of a market economy that studies the patterns of economic interaction between different states in the field of international exchange of goods and services, the movement of factors of production relations.
The world economy is a set of national economies of the countries of the world, interconnected by mobile factors of production. It is a worldwide, global, geo-economic space in which goods, services, and capital freely circulate in the interests of increasing the efficiency of material production.
World economy- a set of national economies of the countries of the world, interconnected by mobile factors of production. This is a worldwide, global, geo-economic space in which goods, services, and capital freely circulate in the interests of increasing the efficiency of material production.
The characteristic features of the modern world economy are as follows:
Development of international movement of factors of production, primarily in the forms of export-import of capital, labor and technology;
The growth on this basis of international forms of production in enterprises located in several countries, primarily within the framework of transnational corporations;
Economic policy of states providing for the support of the international movement of goods and factors of production on a bilateral and multilateral basis;
The emergence of an open economy within many states and interstate associations.
2. Natural resource potential of the world economy
Natural resources are the primary source, the starting base of the economy of all countries at all stages of their development. Natural resources are of two types: renewable and non-renewable. Recoverable resources can be used periodically and in an amount that does not deplete their cash for future consumption. Renewable natural resources include land, sea, rivers, solar heat and energy, etc. Forests, wildlife and fish stocks can also be examples of renewable resources. If logging and fishing are carried out moderately and rationally, then nature itself will take care of their reproduction. Non-renewable resources include those that are used once and are not reproduced by nature itself. These resources include coal, oil, gas, etc.
Natural resources have two important economic dimensions - stock size and flow. The amount of each resource is determined by the very nature and intensity of the previous use. Natural resource flows depend on the level of their annual consumption. Human needs determine this flow, and depending on them, natural resource stocks can be consumed quickly, slowly, or not used at all.
Labor force as an active part of the population - the second important component. The higher its share in the population, the more significant the productive capacity of the national economy.
The size of the employed (active) labor force depends on many economic, social and demographic factors. In terms of the share of employed, developing countries are significantly inferior to developed countries, and the number of hours worked per week is much higher in developing countries.
The rapid population growth in developing countries, the low share of its active part significantly slow down, even lower the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, which dooms the ongoing efforts for economic development to failure. All attempts to solve the problems of economic growth in developing countries are doomed to failure on their own. The solution to the issue is possible only within the framework of the world economy, in which each country will find its own writing in the MRI system.
What population size should be considered optimal from an economic point of view, and what are the criteria for such optimality? Since the per capita income depends on the size of the population, the optimal amount can be considered such an amount that maximizes per capita income .
Labor resources and the population movement as a whole is demography- a science that, on the basis of social, economic, biological, geographical factors, explores the patterns of what is happening in the structure, dynamics, as well as the distribution and movement of the population. On the basis of this, a population policy is developed, predictive estimates of changes in the country's population of the country, region and within the framework of the world economy as a whole are made.
Urbanization processes are an integral part of demographic processes in the world economy. . Urbanization is a multifaceted socio-economic, demographic and geographical process taking place on the basis of historically established forms of social and territorial division of labor. In the narrow sense of the word, this is the growth of cities, especially large ones, an increase in the proportion of the urban population in the country, region, and the world.
With a fixed level of technology, the amount of land and capital, a too small population does not provide the necessary space either for the maximum effect of the division of labor, or for the full realization of the effect of the scale of production of the national industry.
Problems of big cities: significant geographic disparity between jobs and workforce in the suburbs and urban centers, which requires the creation of an efficient transport system; environmental pollution.
Fossil resources. Their deposits have varying degrees of knowledge and varying degrees of estimation accuracy. In foreign countries, the following classification is applied. Explored reserves are divided into reliable and probable according to the degree of exploration. There is also a category of possible stocks. In general, the study of the subsoil is still insufficient. The specific weight of proven reserves for some types of minerals sometimes amounts to several percent of geological reserves. Mineral reserves vary by country.
The influence of the natural resource potential of the state on the development of the national economy and its integration into the MEO.
To understand this issue, you need to get acquainted with the essence of the so-called ... "Dutch syndrome"... Many countries rich in raw materials are subject to its influence, incl. and Russia. The essence "Dutch syndrome" lies in the fact that the presence of a large number of various minerals does not guarantee prosperity for the country at all, and under certain conditions even harms its economy, and vice versa. As a rule, a stable inflow of export earnings from the fuel and energy complex or other raw material industries (sectors) leads to the fact that the country ceases to pay attention to the development of its manufacturing industry, preferring to purchase imported equipment and finished products.
In Russia, this disease began to develop back in the 70s. This was due to a jump in oil prices and the discovery of new oil fields in Western Siberia (Samotlor and others). Soviet industry, during this period, produced mainly non-competitive products. In addition, the USSR had no export guidelines and came into contact with the outside world exclusively through the supply of raw materials and fuel. High-tech equipment was purchased for the proceeds from export, and most of it was not accepted by the economy, since the system that existed at that time was not focused on innovation. Oddly enough, radical reforms only made the situation worse. The reformers, guided by the Darwinian principle of natural selection (everything that is viable must survive, and what is not viable will die), pushed the domestic economy not to renewal, but to primitivization. It has become increasingly focused on fuel and raw materials exports.
An example of the opposite approach is the experience of Western Europe, Japan, the United States and the newly industrialized countries (NIS). The first three, faced with a fuel and raw materials crisis in the 70s, focused on the development of energy-saving technologies and reduced energy consumption by 30% in 30 years. The latter (NIS) took advantage of the transfer of labor-intensive industries from developed countries to developing countries, which began in the 60s, and made to fill a niche in the market of consumer goods and household appliances.
The main difference between the experience of the raw material countries of Southeast Asia and Russia is that, albeit with a twenty-year delay, they nevertheless focused on the development of the manufacturing industry.
So one can do output, that the availability of minerals is an important condition for the country's integration into the MEO; however, if the stake is placed only on them, this inevitably leads to a weakening of the country's position in terms of the competitiveness of its exports, because stable income can only be provided export of manufacturing products ... The experience of the countries of Southeast Asia shows that economic success can also be associated with the quality of the labor force. Confucianism left a legacy of these countries with the most important qualities: discipline, learning, hard work, patriotism.
3. Classification of countries by the level of socio-economic development
Not all countries (and there are about two hundred of them) are equally involved in the world economy. From the point of view of the level of their development and socio-economic organization of production and the complex structure of the world economy, the center and the periphery are quite clearly seen.
The center is made up of a relatively small group of industrially developed countries (24 states), which account for almost 55% of world GDP and 71% of world exports.
The periphery includes mainly developing countries. With all their diversity, a number of common features can be distinguished:
The diversified nature of the economy with a predominance of off-market relations and non-economic levers for organizing the economy;
Low level of development of productive forces, backwardness of industry and agriculture;
Raw materials specialization.
NEW INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES - a group of developing countries that have reached, by the end of the XX century. significant economic recovery, approaching in terms of basic socio-economic indicators to highly developed economically countries, for example, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, etc.
A country's activity in world trade is measured using indicators such as:
a) export quota, i.e. the ratio of the volume of exported goods and services to GDP / GNP; at the industry level, this is the share of all goods and services exported by the industry in their total volume;
b) import quota- an indicator characterizing the volume of imports of a certain product, established in accordance with the needs for it and the volume of its own production. It is the ratio of a given country's gross imports to its GDP. It shows how much of the import is from the GDP;
v) foreign trade quota is the ratio of the value of the country's foreign trade turnover to the volume of its GDP. It shows the total volume of foreign trade turnover of a given country with a partner country or with the entire world community, i.e. serves to measure the level of development of foreign economic relations of a given country.
b) export structure , those. the ratio or specific weights of exported goods by type and degree of their processing. The structure of exports allows us to single out the raw materials or machine-technical orientation of exports, the role of the country in international industry specialization;
v) import structure, the ratio of the volumes of raw materials imported into the country and finished products. This indicator most clearly shows the dependence of the country's economy on the external market and the level of development of the branches of the national economy;
d) the comparative ratio of the country's share in world production of GDP / GNP and its share in world trade. So, if the share of a country in the world production of any type of product is 10%, and its share in world trade in this product is 1-2%, then this means a discrepancy between the manufactured goods and the world quality level as a result of the low development of this industry.
4. International division of labor and its importance for the development of the world economy
INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOR - specialization of countries in the production of certain types of goods, for the manufacture of which the country has cheaper resources and preferable conditions in comparison with other countries. With this specialization, the needs of countries are met not only by their own production, but also through international trade. This is the specialization of individual countries in the production of certain goods and services in order to sell them in other countries.
MRI is a system or method of organizing interdependent production, in which enterprises in different countries specialize in the manufacture of certain goods and services, and then exchange them.
The first factor has to do with natural benefits. These include reserves of natural resources, specific climatic conditions.
Other factors relate to acquired benefits. So the surplus of machinery and equipment relative to other resources stimulates specialization in the production of capital-intensive products. Countries that invest heavily in education and knowledge production gain a comparative advantage in the manufacture of high-tech and science-intensive products.
The main driver of MRI for all countries of the world, regardless of social and economic differences, is their desire to obtain economic benefits.
Intra-industry, which expresses the concentration of efforts of enterprises of different countries that are part of some industry on the production of certain items and the exchange of these items between them.
Within its framework, it is necessary to distinguish between single-species, multi-species and all-species subject intra-industry specialization.
Interbranch, which means the division of labor between different sectors of the same kind of production (industry, agriculture, etc.).
Intergeneric is the division of labor between the kinds of production - industry and agriculture, industry and construction, etc. National economic I am according to its economic content, it corresponds to the interregional form of the division of labor within the country and represents the division of activities between countries on the scale of their complete national economies.
5.The process of internationalization of the modern world economy
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE ECONOMY - the formation, development of economic ties with other countries; processes of economic convergence, manifested in the growth of international trade and other forms of international economic cooperation, the growth of intercountry financial flows, labor migration. Distinguish between the internationalization of production, capital, trade, science. One of the important forms of internationalization of the economy is the emergence and development of transnational corporations. The economic basis of the modern world economy is the internationalization of production - the development of such organizational and economic forms that link the production of some countries with the consumption of its results in others.
Internationalization of business activities- this is the strengthening of the relationship and interdependence of the economies of individual countries, the impact of international economic relations on national economies, the participation of countries in the world economy.
In its development, the internationalization of the economy took place a series of stages . Initially, it represented international economic cooperation: it affected, first of all, the sphere of circulation and was associated with the emergence of international trade (late 18th - early 20th centuries). At the end of the 19th century, the international movement of capital is gaining momentum. International economic cooperation means the development of stable economic ties between countries and peoples, the exit of the reproduction process beyond national borders.
The next stage was international economic integration, objectively conditioned by the deepening of the international division of labor, the internationalization of capital, the global nature of scientific and technological progress and an increase in the degree of openness of national economies and freedom of trade. Integration translated from Latin (integratio) means the connection of separate parts into a common, whole, single.
International economic integration- convergence and mutual adaptation of national economies, their inclusion in a single reproduction process on an international scale. This is a process of economic interaction between countries, leading to the convergence of economic mechanisms, taking the form of interstate agreements and coordinatedly regulated by interstate bodies.
Economic integration, in particular, is expressed in :
Cooperation between the national economies of different countries and their complete or partial unification;
Elimination of barriers to the movement of goods, services, capital, labor between these countries;
The convergence of the markets of each of the individual countries in order to form one single (common) market;
Erasing the differences between economic entities belonging to different states;
The absence of any form of discrimination against foreign partners in each of the national economies, etc.
By the end Xx v. practically all civilized countries participate in various international economic organizations. For example, by 1996, 183 countries were members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 180 states were members of the World Bank (WB), about 150 countries are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), over 100 countries are members of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs. It is important to note that international law does not preclude the simultaneous participation of any country in several international economic organizations.
Although practically all states of the world take part in the global integration process, the degree of participation of each of them in this process is not the same. Some of them are at the lowest stages of economic integration, while others, having reached the highest limits of international economic relations, are expanding interstate cooperation to the level of military and political spheres.
The prerequisites for integration are as follows:
The proximity of the levels of economic development and the degree of market maturity of the integrating countries
The geographical proximity of the integrating countries, the presence in most cases of a common border and historically established economic ties.
The commonality of economic and other problems facing countries in the field of development, financing, economic regulation, political cooperation, etc.
Demonstration effect.
"Domino effect".
Integration goals
Taking advantage of economies of scale .
Creating a favorable foreign policy environment .
Solving the problems of trade policy.
Promoting economic restructuring .
Support for young industries of the national industry .
Integration stages
At the first level , when countries are just taking the first steps towards mutual rapprochement, between them are preferential trade agreements (Table 12.1). Such agreements can be signed either on a bilateral basis between individual states, or between an already existing integration group and an individual country or group of countries. In accordance with them, countries provide more favorable treatment to each other than they provide to third countries.
On the second level integration countries are moving to creating free trade zones , providing for not a simple reduction, but a complete abolition of customs tariffs in mutual trade while maintaining national customs tariffs in relations with third countries.
Third level integration linked to education customs union(TS)- coordinated cancellation by a group of national customs tariffs and the introduction of a common customs tariff and a single system of non-tariff trade regulation in relation to third countries. The Customs Union provides for duty-free intra-integration trade in goods and services and full freedom of movement within the region. Usually, a customs union requires the creation of an already more developed system of interstate bodies coordinating the implementation of a coordinated foreign trade policy. Most often, they take the form of periodic meetings of ministers directing the relevant departments, which in their work rely on a permanent interstate secretariat.
When the integration process reaches fourth level - common market (OR) - integrating countries agree on freedom of movement not only of goods and services, but also of factors of production - capital and labor.
Finally, on the fifth, the highest level of integration turns into economic union(ES), which provides, along with the general customs tariff and the freedom of movement of goods and factors of production, also the coordination of macroeconomic policy and the unification of legislation in key areas - currency, budget, monetary. At this stage, there is a need for bodies that are no longer just endowed with the ability to coordinate actions and monitor economic development, but also make operational decisions on behalf of the grouping as a whole. Governments consistently relinquish part of their functions and thereby cede part of state sovereignty in favor of supranational bodies. Such interstate bodies with supranational functions are empowered to make decisions on issues related to the organization, without the consent of the governments of the member states. Within the EU, it is the EU Commission.
In principle, it is possible to exist and sixth level integration - political union (PS) , which would provide for the transfer by national governments of most of their functions in relations with third countries to supranational bodies.
9 globalization of the world economy
GLOBALIZATION OF ECONOMY - strengthening of interconnections, interactions and interdependence of economies, economic systems of different countries of the world; The globalization of the world economy can also be characterized as an increase in the interdependence and mutual influence of various spheres and processes of the world economy, expressed in the gradual transformation of the world economy into a single market for goods, services, capital, labor and knowledge.
The process of globalization covers different areas of the world economy, namely:
· Foreign, international, world trade in goods, services, technologies, objects of intellectual property;
· International movement of factors of production (labor, capital, information);
· International financial and credit and foreign exchange operations (gratuitous financing and assistance, loans and borrowings of subjects of international economic relations, operations with securities, special financial mechanisms and instruments, operations with currency);
· Production, scientific and technical, technological, engineering and information cooperation.
Economic globalization is the process of accumulating structural shifts and the gradual formation of an organically integral world economy
The main prerequisites (driving forces) that determine the process of globalization:
1. Production, scientific, technical and technological:
· A sharp increase in the scale of production;
· Rapid spread of knowledge as a result of scientific or other types of intellectual exchange;
2. Organizational:
· International forms of implementation of production and economic activities (TNCs): organizational forms, the framework of which goes beyond national borders, acquire an international character, contributing to the formation of a single market space;
· The emergence of non-governmental organizations on a multinational or global level. International organizations such as the UN, IMF, World Bank, WTO, etc began to play a new global role;
3. Economic:
· Introduction by international economic organizations of uniform criteria for macroeconomic policy, unification of requirements for tax, regional, agricultural, antimonopoly policy, employment policy, etc .;
· Strengthening of the trend towards unification and standardization. 4. Informational:
· A radical change in the means of business communication, exchange of production, scientific and technical, economic, financial information
· The formation of systems that allow from one center to manage production located in different countries, creating opportunities for prompt, timely and effective solution of production, scientific and technical, commercial tasks no worse than within individual countries.
· 5. Political:
· Weakening the rigidity of state borders, facilitating the freedom of movement of citizens, goods and services, capital;
· The end of the "cold" war, overcoming political differences between East and West.
6. Social and cultural:
· Weakening the role of habits and traditions, social ties and customs, overcoming national limitations, which increases the mobility of people in territorial, spiritual and psychological relations, contributes to international migration;
· Manifestation of the tendency of the formation of globalized "homogeneous" mass media, art, pop culture.
· Overcoming boundaries in education thanks to the development of distance learning;
Globalization processes are most often welcomed in developed countries and raise serious concerns in the developing world. The degree of positive influence of globalization processes on the economies of individual countries depends on the place they occupy in the world economy; in fact, wealthy countries or individuals receive the bulk of the benefits.
The inequitable distribution of the benefits of globalization creates the threat of conflicts at the regional, national and international levels.
The problems potentially capable of causing negative consequences from globalization processes in all countries include:
De-industrialization of the economy,
Attempts to undermine national sovereignty, i.e. transfer of control over the economies of individual countries from sovereign governments to other hands, including the most powerful states, multinational or global corporations, and international organizations.
Rising unemployment.
Potential global instability due to the interdependence of national economies at the global level.
10.Subjects of world economic relations
The subjects of world economic relations are private (individuals) and organizations (legal entities) engaged in the implementation of international economic transactions.
From the standpoint of the national economy, the subjects are divided into residents and non-residents.
Residents are economic entities permanently located on the territory of a given country, regardless of their national (state) affiliation.
Non-residents - economic entities permanently located on the territory of a foreign state, even if they are citizens of a given country, but permanently residing abroad, or branches of economic units of a given country located outside its borders.
In addition to organizations directly involved in foreign economic activity, supranational international institutions are beginning to play an increasingly active role in the world economy. They are represented by international economic institutions involved in organizing and coordinating world economic relations. The tasks of these organizations are to create the "rules of the game" for the normal functioning of the world economy and control over the practical implementation of world economic relations.
The priority of international law in operations on the world market does not mean the complete internationalization of the foreign economic activity of the state and the replacement of its foreign economic institutions with the activity of international economic organizations.
The duty of any state is to defend national economic interests, including through foreign economic activity. Therefore, in modern conditions, the state itself determines its foreign economic policy. To implement it, each country develops its own national legislation on foreign economic activity. For example, for Russia, the fundamental laws are the federal laws "On state regulation of foreign trade"). "On foreign investments in the territory of the Russian Federation", etc. ...
Special institutes are engaged in direct regulation of foreign economic activity in each country. In Russia, such institutions include: the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, the Ministry for Cooperation with the CIS, the Customs Committee, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vneshtorgbank, etc.
These state organizations register foreign institutional units in the country, regulate exports and imports through the issuance of licenses, quotas and the establishment of customs tariffs, facilitate the signing of interstate agreements, the promotion of domestic residents into economic unions and the world economy in general.
The states participating in the world economic process, organizing and regulating international economic relations directly within the country, can also influence world economic relations as a whole. This kind of influence is realized in many ways, first of all by using the right of the participants of this or that international economic organization to develop and correct the rules of the intra-union "game".
In addition, it should be noted that the states participating in the world economic process, especially the most economically developed and richest, have both direct and indirect opportunities to influence world economic relations, regulating them in their national interests.
Direct regulator is an protectionism, with the help of which this or that state or union in its own interests presents advantages in the export and import of goods, services and capital.
Indirect regulation states can carry out world economic relations through their private firms (especially banks) and transnational companies (TNCs).
Thus, modern states, organizing their national economy for broad participation in the world economic process, at the same time actively organize and regulate the entire complex of world economic relations. This process allows countries not only to defend their economic interests in the international arena, but at the same time to improve and develop the world economy and international economic relations.
11. Classical theories of world trade.
Mercantilists essentially proposed the enrichment of some countries at the expense of others, but their merit lies in the fact that for the first time they drew attention to the problems of foreign trade, emphasized its importance for the economic development of countries, described and substantiated a certain ratio of costs for exports and imports, i.e. ... laid the foundations for the balance of payments.
Adam Smith noted that the well-being of a nation depends not so much on the amount of gold it has accumulated, but on its ability to produce final goods and leave. He also developed the first classical theory of foreign trade - theory of absolute advantages.
ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE - the ability of the state, region, company, arising as a result of geographic location, successful location, resource potential, and other favorable conditions, to produce goods with minimal costs of production and circulation in comparison with other countries, regions, firms that produce the same or similar goods. Thanks to this advantage, it is possible to sell your product on the market at a lower price and bypass competitors. A. Smith argued that those countries that are actively involved in the international division of the pile will receive the greatest benefits. A country that has certain advantages in the production of a product must specialize in its release for delivery to other countries
Absolute advantage theory- countries export those goods that they produce with lower costs (in the production of which they have an absolute advantage), and import those goods that are produced by other countries with lower costs [in the production of which the advantage belongs to their trading partners).
This statement of A. Smith was supplemented by David Ricardo, creating theory of comparative advantages .
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES - lower costs of one producer in comparison with the costs of another, which allows dividing the output between them in favor of the first producer in order to obtain greater returns, benefits. Comparative advantages are most characteristic of different countries and are manifested in international trade.
Comparative advantage theory - Since the country's producers specialize in the production of those goods that they can produce at relatively lower costs compared to other countries, then trade will be mutually beneficial for both countries, regardless of whether production in one of them is absolutely more efficient than in the other.
Ricardo proved that foreign trade brings additional benefits even to highly efficient economies.
in the 20-30s of our century to create Heckscher - Olin theories .
Heckscher-Ohlin theorem - each country exports those factor-intensive goods for the production of which it possesses relatively surplus factors of production, and imports those goods for the production of which it experiences a relative lack of factors of production.
In this theory, the factors that determine the international division of labor are already associated not only with the natural conditions of production in the country, but with the realities that have arisen in the process of development of production. The theory proceeded from the fact that the historical and natural conditions of the development of individual countries predetermined the unevenness in their provision with labor resources and capital. Therefore, different factor intensity and factor saturation determines the specialization of the country in the production of certain goods.
Factor-intensity is the ratio of the costs of various factors of production for the production of a certain product
Factor saturation Is the relative provision of the country with production factors .
Factor price equalization theorem (Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theorem) - international trade leads to equalization of absolute and relative prices for homogeneous factors of production in trading countries
In 1947, the American economist Vasily Leontiev, examining the structure of US exports and imports, found that more labor-intensive goods were exported, and capital-intensive ones were imported. V. Leontiev's research showed the opposite, and its result became known as Leontief paradox .
The Leontief paradox- the theory of the ratio of factors of production of Heckscher-Ohlin is not confirmed in practice: labor-surplus countries export capital-intensive products, while capital-surplus - labor-intensive ones.
An attempt to take into account the influence of the scientific and technological revolution in international trade led to the creation neotechnological theories foreign trade. Their supporters try to explain the emergence of foreign trade ties not by the provision of production factors, as the neoclassicists did, but by the costs of research and development, the level of average wages and the share of skilled labor. This school explains the emergence of advantages by a monopoly on individual discoveries and new technologies, which makes it possible to dominate both the production of these goods and their sale on the world market until these technologies are mastered by other countries.
technology gap theory , the foundations of which were laid by the English economist M. Posner in the early 60s. Posner suggested that if one of the developed countries, as a result of some kind of discovery, has a fundamentally new technology or a new product, then this product will be in demand even in countries with the same resource availability. Then, as a result of the predominant position of one country, a technological gap arises between the countries.
This model was developed by another American economist, By Raymond Vernon, who in 1966 published an article describing a model of the life cycle of a product, which can be considered both as an independent theory of international trade, and as a theory that develops the theory of comparative provision of factors of production. But unlike her, she explores the comparative advantage of countries not in static, but in dynamics.
International trade is based on differences in the relative prices of goods, which arise due to the different endowments of countries with specific factors of production, with factors specific to the export sector developing, while factors specific to the sector that compete with imports decrease.
The theory of the firm associated with the strengthening of the role of individual firms and corporations in international trade. V Ultimately, it is not the nation that always gains the comparative advantage, but the individual exporter of the given product. In the course of research, it turned out that technologically complex products are created by a separate company based on the needs and demands that exist within the country. Only after the expansion of production and saturation of the internal market can the company enter the external market. But in order to sell your products, you need to find a buying country, whose structure of demand in the domestic market would be as close as possible to the structure of demand of the exporting country. This explains the possibility of carrying out trade transactions between countries that are at the same level of economic development, in particular between developed industrial countries. This provision was first substantiated by an American economist E. Linder.
A kind of generalization of the modern development of theories of foreign trade is theory of international competitiveness of the nation , developed by the American researcher M. Porter. He concluded that the place of each country and its specific producers in the world market depends on four basic conditions: the quantity and quality of various factors of production, the conditions of demand in the domestic market, the presence of related and service industries, the firm's strategy, and internal competition.
12. Modern theories of international trade
All theories of international trade in one way or another pay attention to the formation of the equilibrium price in the world market and the distribution of income.
Neoclassical theories considered the problem of income as one of the key ones. Theory Heckschera - Olin proved that the owners of relatively excessive factors of production receive additional profits from foreign trade, and the owners of relatively insufficient factors lose.
The theory of specific factors of production substantiates the provision on an increase in the income of the owner of a specific factor used in export industries, and, accordingly, on a reduction in the income of the owners of a specific factor used in industries. competing with imports.
In the process of trade between countries, prices for goods sold and purchased may change. How, in this case, will the income of the owners of the factors of production change? The answer to this question was given in a study by American economists P. Samuelson and F. Stolper. They suggested that two types of goods are produced in a single country: one is labor-intensive, and the other requires a large amount of land to produce.
Stolper - Samuelson theorem - As a result of rising prices in the world market, prices for the factor of production, relatively more intensively used in the production of the first good, rise, and prices for the factor of production, used relatively intensively in the second production, decrease. Moreover, as a rule, an increase or decrease in the price of factors of production occurs to a greater extent than a change in the prices of goods.
English economist T.M. Rybchinsky drew attention to the fact that the rapid development of some industries often leads to a reduction in production in others. In his work, he proceeded from the same conditions as Stolper and Samuelson, except for one thing: he considered the prices of goods unchanged.
Rybczynski's theorem- an increasing supply of one of the factors of production leads to a disproportionate percentage increase in production and income in the industry for which this factor is used relatively more intensively, and to a decrease in production and income in the industry in which this factor is used relatively less intensively. From the point of view of international trade, Rybczynski's theorem says that the expansion of export production due to an increase in supply of a relatively intensive factor will lead to a reduction in other industries, which will force the country to increase imports of goods that are in short supply. An increase in the supply of factors for the development of other industries will accelerate their development and reduce imports.
The distribution of benefits from foreign trade between individual countries depends largely on how domestic prices change under the influence of foreign trade. Of the two countries, the country where prices have changed more usually wins. This is the so-called benefit-sharing rule, which says that the gains from foreign trade are distributed in direct proportion to price changes in both countries.
13. Supply and demand in international trade
export resources currency funds- vehicles, warehouses, communication facilities, etc. Settlements for foreign trade operations are made by banking organizations, and the country's insurance business insures transportation and cargo.
Export import - trade balance foreign trade turnover .
At the bottom of the market there is trade in ferrous metallurgy products, construction materials, textiles, garments, footwear and other light industry products. On the Middle level sell machine tools, vehicles, rubber and plastic products, basic chemicals and woodworking products. On the highest level sells aerospace equipment, automated office equipment, information technology, electronics, pharmaceutical products, precision and measuring instruments, electrical equipment. The last-tier markets are the most promising and are developing at a much faster pace than other markets.
Quality goods are always more expensive and are only available to countries with high per capita incomes. Lower quality goods are bought by countries with low per capita incomes. This predetermines the fact that countries with the same income have approximately the same structure of demand for finished goods, and the coinciding demand predetermines the most intensive exchange of finished goods between these countries.
14. Types of foreign trade policy
Foreign trade policy
Freedom of trade
Protectionism
The development of protectionist trends allows us to single out several forms of protectionism:
Selective - directed against individual countries or individual goods;
Sectoral - protects certain sectors, primarily agriculture, within the framework of agricultural protectionism;
Collective - is carried out by associations of countries in relation to countries that are not part of them;
Hidden - carried out by methods of domestic economic policy.
Protectionism as a theory of foreign economic behavior was established in XIX v. in competition with free trade (theory and practice of free trade). The results of free trade between countries with different levels of economic development were especially fiercely criticized by supporters of protectionism. It was believed that the developed countries were primarily interested in free trade, but it hindered the creation of national industries for relatively backward states.
In a developing national economy, protectionist measures are necessary for protection of only new industries that have arisen as a result of scientific and technological progress from the competition of efficient foreign firms operating in the world market for a fairly long time. It was under the protection of protectionism that the formation and development of the national economy of modern developed countries took place.
During periods of serious tensions in relations between states and increased international tension, protectionist measures are used to preserve the security of the state, which is facilitated by the production of all necessary, vital products on its territory.
Despite the clearly positive influence of protectionist measures on the development of the national economy and international trade, this method of regulating foreign trade relations has its opponents. As a rule, they distinguish the following arguments against protectionism .
1) protectionism is not beneficial from the point of view of national production, because it destroys the spirit of competition, develops privileges, entails sclerosis of the economy;
2) it damages the interests of the consumer, because under the conditions of customs bans, sales prices for protected goods rise. The consumer suffers from this;
3) it is a threat to international peace, because fuels interethnic rivalry, weakens bonds of interdependence between countries, a fertile atmosphere for MRI and economic cooperation
4) protectionism is inherent in a certain illogicality - in pursuit of the goal of achieving a positive trade balance, protectionism restrains import operations, and international partners are also beginning to enter, as a result of which the volume of export operations is curtailed. This does not lead to a positive balance, but to an imbalance.
5) in conditions of protectionism, the sectors of the national economy, protected by its barriers, lose incentives for development, since the mechanisms of competition are dying out, and the desire for progress and innovation is destroyed by the opportunities to preserve the incomes achieved and monopoly privileges.
6) oppositionism has a certain multiplying effect- the technological interconnection between industries leads to the fact that when protectionist protection is introduced for some sectors of the technological chain, it is immediately required by the industries that are technologically related to the protected.
7) in conditions of protectionism, the national economy may not fully use the advantages of international specialization - restrictions on cheaper imported goods do not make it possible to import them into the country.
Freedom of trade- a policy of minimal government intervention in foreign trade, which develops on the basis of free market forces of supply and demand. In this case, the latter is implemented and developed in accordance with the international division of labor and the modern version of the theory of comparative advantage. It is believed that such a policy leads to the most efficient allocation of resources on a global scale and to the maximization of global income. Despite the fact that the theory of free trade is quite convincing and attracts with many advantages, the policy of non-interference of the state in international trade is practiced very carefully.
The positive aspects are already visible in the criticism of protectionism. Freedom of trade:
1) allows distribution of products in accordance with the law on comparative production costs and entails international specialization that is beneficial to all;
2) facilitates the development of competition and maintains a spirit of innovation not only among domestic producers, but also in relations with other countries;
3) allows you to expand the market. It leads to the development of mass production, and therefore to lower prices as a result of falling production costs, which is beneficial for the consumer. In addition, the risk of shortages associated with tight localization of production and markets is reduced.
15. Foreign trade policy of states and its economic instruments
Foreign trade policy is a set of measures used by the state to regulate trade relations and relations with other countries. While these measures are trade-oriented, they cannot but affect direct producers and domestic consumers.
Depending on the scale of state intervention in international trade, they are distinguished protectionist and free trade policies .
Freedom of trade- a policy of minimal government intervention in foreign trade, which develops on the basis of free market forces of supply and demand.
Protectionism- state policy of protecting the domestic market from foreign competition through the use of tariff and non-tariff instruments of trade policy. This is the theory and practice of foreign trade response, aimed at protecting the subjects of the national economy from foreign competition.
FOREIGN TRADE POLICY- part of the state foreign economic policy, export and import policy, impact on foreign trade through taxes, subsidies and direct restrictions on import and export.
The main task of the state in the field of international trade- help exporters to export as much of their products as possible, making their goods more competitive in the international market, and restrict imports, making foreign goods less competitive in the domestic market.
Instruments of state regulation of international trade are divided into tariff- those based on the use of a customs tariff, and non-tariff- all other methods. The latter are subdivided into quantitative methods and methods of hidden protectionism.
customs tariff is determined by:
An instrument of trade policy and state regulation of the country's internal market in its interaction with the world market;
A set of rates of customs duties applied to goods transported across the border, systematized in accordance with the commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity;
The specific rate of customs duty payable when importing or exporting a certain product into the customs territory of the country. In this case, the concept of a customs tariff completely coincides with the concept of a customs duty.
Import duty (tariff ) - this is the fee for bringing the goods into the country. In this case, the price of imported goods in the domestic market rises above the world one. Since the value of the import tariff is added to the world price. Tariffs protect domestic producers employed in import substitution industries, but domestic consumers lose out
In this situation, domestic producers have the opportunity to expand production, since they do not pay the tariff, and therefore, the "golden equality" of marginal costs and marginal income is achieved by domestic firms with a larger volume of output of goods that are optimal for them.
Types of customs duties .
Customs duty- a mandatory fee levied by customs authorities upon import or export of goods and is a condition of import or export. Customs duties fulfill three main functions :
- fiscal, which applies to both import and export duties, since they are one of the items of the revenue side of the state budget;
- protectionist (protective ), related to import duties, since with their help the state protects local producers from unwanted foreign competition;
- balancing, which refers to export duties established in order to prevent unwanted exports of goods, the domestic prices of which, for one reason or another, are lower than world prices.
Classification of customs duties. By charging method:
- ad valorem- accrued as a percentage of the customs value of taxable goods (for example, 20% of the customs value);
- specific- accrued in the established amount per unit of taxable goods ($ 10 per 1 ton);
- combined- combine both of these types of customs tax (20% of the customs value, but not more than $ 10 per 1 ton).
By the object of taxation:
- imported- duties that are imposed on imported goods when they are released for free circulation in the domestic market of the country. They are used to protect national manufacturers.
- export- duties that are imposed on export goods when they are released outside the customs territory of the state;
- transit- duties that are imposed on goods transported through the territory of a given country in transit. Used extremely rarely, primarily as a means of a trade war;
The nature:
- seasonal- duties that are applied for the operational regulation of international trade in products of a seasonal nature. First of all agricultural. The validity period does not exceed several months;
- anti-dumping- duties that are applied in the event that goods are imported into the country at a price lower than their normal price in the exporting country, if such imports harm national producers of such goods or impede the organization and expansion of national production of such goods;
- compensatory- duties imposed on the import of those goods, in the production of which subsidies were used directly or indirectly, if their import harms the national producers of such goods.
Origin:
- autonomous- duties imposed on the basis of unilateral decisions of the state authorities of the country;
- conventional (contractual)- duties established on the basis of a bilateral or multilateral agreement such as the GATT or a customs union agreement;
- preferential- duties with lower rates compared to the customary customs tariff, which are imposed on the basis of multilateral agreements on goods originating from developing countries. Their goal is to support the economic development of these countries by expanding their exports.
By types of bets:
- permanent- customs tariff, the rates of which are set at a time by state authorities and cannot be changed depending on the circumstances. The vast majority of countries in the world have tariffs at constant rates;
- variables- a customs tariff, the rates of which can be changed in cases established by state authorities (when the level of world or domestic prices, the level of state subsidies changes). They are rarely used, for example, in Western Europe within the framework of a single agricultural policy.
By calculation method:
- nominal- tariff rates specified in the customs tariff. They can only give a very general idea of the level of customs duties to which a country is subject to its imports and exports;
- effective- the real level of customs duties on final goods, calculated taking into account the level of duties imposed on import units and parts of these goods.
Optimal tariff rate- the level of the tariff that maximizes the level of national economic welfare. The optimal tariff has the following main features that must be taken into account when implementing state foreign economic policy:
The optimal tariff rate is always positive and is in the range between 0 and the prohibitive tariff rate;
It is always relatively small and inversely proportional to the elasticity of imports;
An optimal tariff leads to economic gain for one country, but losses to the international economy as a whole.
tariff quota . This is a kind of variable customs duties, the rates of which depend on the volume of imports of goods: when imported within certain quantities, it is taxed at the base intra-quota tariff rate, and when a certain volume is exceeded, imports are taxed at a higher over-quota rate.
In addition to the tariff methods of state regulation of international trade, governments widely use non-tariff methods - quantitative, hidden and financial. Most of them, in contrast to customs tariffs, are poorly quantifiable and therefore poorly reflected in statistics. It is this characteristic of non-tariff methods that enables governments to use some or any combination of them to achieve their trade policy objectives.
One of the following indices is commonly used to measure non-tariff methods:
- frequency index- an index showing the share of tariff lines covered by non-tariff restrictions;
- trade coverage index- shows the value share of exports or imports covered by non-tariff restrictions.
- price impact index- the ratio of the price of the world market and the domestic price of goods, the import or export of which is subject to non-tariff restrictions.
The government is more likely to give preference to non-tariff methods because politically they are considered more acceptable because they do not constitute an additional tax burden on the population. In addition, they are more convenient for achieving the desired result. Finally, non-tariff restrictions are almost not regulated by international agreements, and using them, governments feel freer than when introducing tariff restrictions that are regulated by the WTO.
Quantitative restrictions- the administrative form of non-tariff state regulation of trade turnover, which determines the quantity and range of goods allowed for export or import. They can be applied by the decision of the government of one country or on the basis of agreements coordinating trade in a particular product.
character.
Quota- a quantitative non-tariff measure of limiting the export or import of goods to a certain quantity or amount for a certain period of time. By focus their action quotas are divided into:
Export - introduced either in accordance with international stabilization agreements that establish the share of each country in the total export of a certain product, or by the government of the country to prevent the export of goods that are in short supply on the domestic market;
Imported - introduced by the national government to protect local producers, balance the trade balance, regulate supply and demand in the domestic market, as well as in response to discriminatory trade policies of other states.
By coverage quotas are divided into:
Global - set to export and import a specific product for a certain period of time, regardless of which country it is exported from. Their meaning is to ensure the required level of domestic consumption;
Individual - the quota set within the global quota for each country exporting or importing a product. They are established on the basis of bilateral agreements that give the main advantages in export or import to those countries with which there are close mutual political, economic or other interests.
Closely related to quotas is another type of state regulation of foreign economic activity, called licensing. Licensing - regulation of foreign economic activity through permits issued by government agencies for the export or import of goods in established quantities for a certain period of time. It can be an integral part of the quota process or be an independent regulatory instrument. In the first case, the license is only a document confirming the right to import or export goods within the received quota. In the second case the license takes on a number of specific forms (one-time, general, global, automatic). Licenses are distributed using the following mechanisms:
Auction, which is considered the most cost-effective way of distributing licenses, capable of generating revenue for the state treasury comparable to the revenue from customs duties on the same product;
The system of explicit preferences - the government assigning licenses to certain firms in proportion to the volume of their imports for the previous period or in proportion to the structure of demand among national importers;
Licensing on a non-price basis - licenses issued by the government to firms that have demonstrated their ability to export or import in the most efficient manner.
A quantitative restriction on imports into a country can be achieved not only through the actions of its government to introduce an import tariff or import quotas, but also as a result of measures taken by the government of the exporting country within the framework of the so-called. "voluntary" export restrictions. "Voluntary" export restrictions- quantitative restriction of exports based on the obligation of one of the trading partners to limit or at least not to expand the volume of exports, adopted in the framework of a formal intergovernmental or informal agreement on the establishment of quotas for the export of goods
Technical barriers - hidden methods of trade policy, arising from the fact that national technical, administrative and other rules and regulations are structured in such a way as to discourage the import of goods from abroad. The most common technical barriers are requirements for compliance with national standards, for obtaining quality certificates for imported products, for specific packaging and labeling of goods, for compliance with certain sanitary standards, including environmental protection measures, for compliance with complicated customs formalities and requirements of laws on protection consumers and more.
Internal taxes and fees - hidden methods of trade policy aimed at increasing the domestic price of imported goods and thereby reducing its competitiveness in the domestic market.
Public procurement policy - a covert method of trade policy that requires governments and businesses to buy certain goods only from domestic firms, even though.
Local content requirement- a hidden method of trade policy of the state, legislatively establishing the share of the final product that must be produced by national producers, if such a product is intended for sale on the domestic market. Developing countries use this method as part of their import substitution policy, while developed countries use this method to maintain the level of employment.
Financial methods of trade policy. If the government considers it necessary to stimulate the export of national producers, then it can in one form or another provide them with subsidies from the budget.
Subsidies - cash payments aimed at supporting national producers and indirectly discriminating against imports. By the nature of payments they are divided into:
- straight - direct payments to the exporter after the export operation by him in the amount of the difference between his costs and the income he received. Since the beginning of the 60s, they have been used in the export of ships, aircraft and other expensive industrial export goods. Now prohibited by WTO rules;
- indirect hidden subsidies for exporters through the provision of tax incentives, preferential terms of insurance, loans at a rate below market rates, refund of import duties, etc .;
Internal subsidy - the most disguised financial method of trade policy and discrimination against imports, providing for budgetary financing of the production of goods that compete with imported goods within the country.
Export subsidy - a financial non-tariff method of trade policy, which provides for budgetary payments to national exporters, which allows selling goods to foreign buyers at a lower price than in the domestic market, and thereby boosting exports. The fundamental difference between import tariffs and export subsidies as a means of trade policy is that the former leads to an increase in the domestic price of imported goods, while the latter leads to an increase in the domestic price of exported goods.
Export lending- a method of financial non-tariff foreign trade policy, which provides for financial incentives by the state to develop exports by national firms. It can take the form:
Subsidizing loans to national exporters - loans issued by state-owned banks at below market interest rates;
Government loans to foreign importers with the obligatory condition of purchasing goods only from firms in the country that provided such a loan (tied loan);
Insurance of export risks of national exporters, which include commercial and political risks;
Export credits are:
Short-term and - for up to 1 year, used to finance the export of consumer goods and raw materials;
Medium-term - for a period of 1 to 5 years, used for crediting the export of machinery and equipment;
Long-term - for a period of more than 5 years, are used to finance the export of investment goods and large projects.
Subsidizing exports in order to speed up it in the face of heightened competition can take extreme forms aimed at suppressing competitors and ousting them from the market.
Dumping - a method of financial non-tariff trade policy, which consists in promoting goods to the external market by reducing export prices below the normal price level existing in these countries. It can take one of the following forms:
Sporadic dumping is an episodic sale of surplus stocks of goods to the external market at low prices. It occurs when the domestic production of a product exceeds the capacity of the domestic market;
Intentional dumping is a temporary deliberate reduction in export prices in order to drive out competitors from the market and subsequently establish monopoly prices.
Permanent dumping is the constant export of goods at a price below the fair value.
Reverse dumping is an overstatement of export prices in comparison with the selling prices of the same goods on the domestic market.
Mutual dumping is countertrade of two countries in the same product at reduced prices.
The prerequisites for dumping are:
Differences in the elasticity of demand for a product in different countries - domestic demand should be less price elastic than demand abroad;
A situation of imperfect competition that would allow the manufacturer to set and dictate prices;
Market segmentation, i.e. the ability of the manufacturer to isolate the domestic market, where he sells goods at high prices, from the external market, where he does it at lower prices.
Dumping is prohibited both by international rules within the WTO and by national anti-dumping duties in case of detection of the fact of dumping. The latter is understood as a temporary levy in the amount of the difference between the selling prices of goods in the domestic and foreign markets, introduced by the importing country in order to neutralize the negative consequences of unfair price competition based on dumping.
16. International trade, its structure and dynamics
INTERNATIONAL TRADE - the totality of trade relations, foreign trade relations of all countries of the world that trade with each other.
The need for the emergence and development of a system of relations for the international exchange of goods and services is due to many reasons. Virtually no country has the amount and range of resources necessary to fully meet the entire system of needs. Each country has a limited amount of labor and capital that allows it to produce various goods that make up GDP. If there are the best conditions for the production of a product in the country and the costs are minimal, then by increasing its production and selling it abroad, you can buy goods that cannot be produced domestically or whose production is too expensive. That's why reasons for the existence of foreign trade relations , and consequently, the modern world market always remains the international division of labor and the mutually beneficial exchange.
The modern world market is a sphere of stable commodity-money relations for the exchange of produced national products. The subjects of these relations can be states, individual organizations and enterprises, as well as individuals. As well as inside the country, in the structure of the world market one can distinguish markets for goods and services, labor markets, capital markets, and, in addition, markets for the achievements of science and technology. As part of the latter, information markets are becoming increasingly important in modern conditions. In addition, individual markets can be distinguished by regional basis - European, Asian, South American, Far Eastern, etc.
In order for a country to be able to trade on the world market, it needs to have export resources, i.e. stocks of competitive goods and services that are in demand on the world market, currency funds or other means of payment for imports, as well as a developed foreign trade infrastructure- vehicles, warehouses, communication facilities, etc. Settlements for foreign trade operations are made by banking organizations, and the country's insurance business insures transportation and cargo. Of course, if necessary, you can use the infrastructure services of other countries, but, as a rule, they are very expensive, and each state involved in the world market seeks to create its own infrastructure.
Two counter flows of goods and services form the exports and imports of each country Export is the sale and export of goods abroad, import - it is the purchase and import of goods from abroad. The difference between the value estimates of exports and imports is trade balance, and the sum of their estimates is foreign trade turnover .
In the world market, as in any other, supply and demand are formed and the desire for market equilibrium is maintained. In order to understand how this happens, consider a conditional example. Suppose two countries produce and consume the same product, but the resources for its production and the need for it are different.
The world market is always balancing supply and demand for - exported and imported goods, and world price is between the minimum and maximum internal equilibrium prices.
17. International regulation of foreign trade and the World Trade Organization
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT)- adopted in 1948 a multilateral agreement between many countries of the world, containing the rules for concluding intercountry trade contracts and conducting international trade operations. The parties to the agreement provide each other with favorable conditions for mutual trade (most favored nation in trade). The agreement is intended to eliminate unnecessary restrictions and discrimination in foreign trade. In 1995 it was transformed into the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.
The Geneva Treaty on Sucking GATT was signed in 1947 by 23 countries and entered into force in 1948. Its main principles are the principles of non-discrimination and liberalization of the terms of international trade.
Countries to belong to the GATT must comply with the provision about most favored nation treatment . This is a condition enshrined in international trade agreements, providing for the granting of the contracting parties to each other all the rights, advantages and benefits that any third state enjoys and / or will enjoy. The MFN principle is included in the WTO conditions and is considered the basis for the creation of a non-discriminatory regime in international trade. It means that if a country, say the United States, lowers the customs tariff of one country, for example Australia, from 20 to 10% on woolen sweaters, then the United States makes the same concession to all other countries in the world.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade determined the permissible amounts of customs duties and export subsidies, resolved disputes between countries on mutual trade through intergovernmental multilateral agreements, and brought countries that violated the terms of the agreement to economic responsibility.
The main activity of the GATT is the organization rounds or rounds of negotiations(named according to the place of their holding) on the conclusion of multilateral agreements on the reduction of customs tariffs and the mitigation of non-tariff barriers for their participants. Each round bears the name of the city or state in which the meeting of the participants took place. In total, eight rounds were held, as a result of which the average customs duties were reduced 10 times from 40% in the middle. XX century. up to 4% to the shock of the 90s.
By 1996, about 130 countries were members of the GATT. Since January 1996, the GATT replaced World Trade Organization (WTO). Its founders are 81 countries. The formation of the WTO reflects the specifics of the current stage of development of international trade, when the sphere of WTO regulation extends to the international exchange of services and intellectual property, control and protection of investments.
Trade unions and free trade zones are the initial stages (stages) of the formation of integration associations. The first are based on preferential trade agreements... They are signed either on a bilateral basis between individual states, or between an already existing integration group and a separate country or group of countries. In accordance with them, countries provide more favorable treatment to each other than is provided to third countries. At the same time, no interstate bodies are created to manage preferential agreements.
Examples of trade unions include:
1) "Agreement on cooperation and partnership between the EU and the countries of the former USSR" the member states of which are the EU, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine.
2) Association Agreement with the EU (Eastern European countries - former CMEA members, as well as the Baltic countries).
3) Enterprise for America Initiative (USA, most Latin American and Central American states).
Free trade zones are the second level of integration, which provides not a simple reduction, but a complete abolition of customs tariffs in mutual trade while maintaining national customs tariffs in relations with third countries. In most cases, the terms of the free trade zone apply to all goods except agricultural products. The free trade area can be coordinated by a small interstate secretariat located in one of the member countries. But more often it does without it, coordinating the main parameters of its development at periodic meetings of the heads of the relevant departments.
Examples of free trade zones:
1) European Free Trade Association (Austria, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Sweden)
2) Baltic FTZ (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
3) North American FTZ (Canada, Mexico, USA)
4) Agreement on free trade of ASEAN countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand).
Free trade zones – these are areas not covered by the state customs regime. In particular, in the United States, legislation allowed the creation of free trade zones at each official port of arrival. Free trade zones have become widespread in world practice general and special purpose(specialized)
18. The role of TNCs in international economic relations
transnational corporations- a form of international pooling of capital, in which the parent company, having its branches in many countries, coordinates and integrates their activities. The country in which the head office is located is called the home country. Usually this is the state in which the corporation was originally established. The manager of one of the IBM subsidiaries classified as transnational only those firms that have five characteristics:
1) the firm operates simultaneously in many states (not in 2-3) with different levels of economic development;
2) its foreign branches solve the issues of reconstruction and development, have industrial, trade and service enterprises;
3) executives of the branches - local citizens who are well acquainted with the situation;
4) the governing bodies of the parent company are made up of people of different nationalities;
5) the property of the company belongs to citizens of different countries.
The main goal of TNCs, like any other entrepreneurial structure, is to make a profit. The preference for obtaining it abroad is due to the following circumstances:
Uneven distribution of economic resources, which causes the movement of national production to areas where the availability of resources is higher;
The difference in tastes among consumers from different countries. This creates incentives for their satisfaction by the enterprises of the country, which has great opportunities for this;
The presence of technological advantages for the company of a given country over similar industries in other countries, which allows it to transfer the production of obsolete products in the domestic market abroad (where they still retain their novelty);
The effect of positive economies of scale, which determines the creation of enterprises larger than the capacity of the domestic market allows;
the growth of protectionism, forcing them to compete on the basis of the export of capital, not goods.
In accordance with the requirements of scientific and technological progress, changes are taking place in the organizational structure of TNCs, and, first of all, in the geography of location. If in the 40-50s these were mainly developing countries, then in the 70-80s we are talking about industrially developed countries with significant scientific and technical potential. Among the economically backward countries, TNCs are attractive for those that have: cheap labor; low taxation; proximity to sources of raw materials; weak government regulation; the possibility of exporting environmentally harmful industries to them; stable political environment, etc. In addition to the geography of location, current trends in the development of TNCs are characterized by the following circumstances:
The growing dependence of the parent company on its external enterprises, i.e. the increasing separation of TNCs from their national soil;
The corresponding growth of transnational banks, which create branches in other countries, are bought there by local credit institutions;
A positive attitude towards TNCs on the part of the countries that host their branches;
Improving the general level of qualifications, culture, education of the collective employee of TNCs;
The new nature of the relationship between parent firms and their subsidiaries, determined by the decentralization of research and development work.
19. International labor migration reasons and directions
Under
Immigration - Emigration - legal illegal (with
scale of disposals -
scale of arrivals -
balance of migration,
gross migration ,
The first massive movement of workers in modern times was the purposeful import of slaves from Africa to the American continent, which was carried out by force.
That. depending on the geographical directions are distinguished external and internal migration of the population... Internal refers to the movement of population between cities and regions of one country, and external - from one country to another. In turn external migration is divided into intercontinental and intracontinental.
In modern conditions, international labor migration is characterized as a natural global socio-economic phenomenon that has deep roots in the economic, social and political spheres. What are the reasons that induce people to move from one country to another? Guest workers in Russia
First of all, labor migration is associated with the development of large-scale machine production, which predetermined the uneven socio-economic development of different countries.
International labor migration is primarily due to eq onomic reasons The main ones are:
Different levels of economic development in individual countries. The labor force moves from countries with lower gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to countries with higher living standards;
Different degrees of provision of countries with labor resources, which affects the volume of production, differences in the levels of wages. If the country has a surplus of labor resources, this creates an incentive for emigration;
Foreign activities of transnational corporations (TNCs), contributing to the development of international labor migration. In this case, there is a movement of labor resources to jobs in the foreign branches of TNCs;
The presence of unemployment in a country that increases labor migration.
In addition to socio-economic reasons, there are other reasons for population migration:
Political instability of the regimes or flight from political persecution, racial, religious and national discrimination;
Military circumstances - evacuation, re-evacuation, etc .;
Expansion of the international information system, which makes people aware of the broad socio-economic opportunities of other countries;
Development and reduction of the cost of vehicles.
20. Features of modern world labor markets
World labor market - it is a system of economic mechanisms, norms, institutions that ensure the interaction of demand for labor and its supply at the interstate level.
Modern world labor markets have a number of features.
1. Growth in the scale of international labor migration. At the beginning of 1995, there were more than 35 million migrant workers in the world against 3.2 million in 1960.
2. The multidirectional nature of the main flows of labor migration. These are migration to developed countries with market economies from developing countries; cross labor migration within the developed countries of the world; labor migration between developing countries; migration of highly qualified personnel from developed to developing countries.
3. The growth of the share of youth, women and children in the migration process. For example, in Belgium and the Netherlands, the share of young people in the total number of migrants reaches 50%. In other countries, it is also significant and often exceeds the share of young people among the indigenous population. The share of women in labor migration in Western Europe increased from 30% in the 60s to 40-48.3% in 1980.
4. The increase in the length of stay of migrants in the country of employment.
5. Since the 1980s, there has been a slight decrease in the degree of activity of international labor migration, which was associated with the transition to a policy of limiting this process and the deterioration of the economic situation.
6. Migration of scientists, highly qualified specialists from different regions of the world to developed countries with market economies, as well as from these countries to developing countries.
7. Formation of the "black market" of labor in modern centers of attraction of foreign labor. " Black market "labor is a mechanism for using illegal labor migration to increase profits through the use of cheap labor. The scale of illegal migration is significant. For example, in the United States, the total number of clandestine immigrants ranges from 2 to 13 million.
8. Expanding the scale of Russia's participation in international labor migration.
21. Positive and negative results of international labor migration
22. Features of modern international labor migration and its regulation
Migration- Latin word meaning displacement, resettlement. This word denotes the movement of people, animals, capital, chemical elements in the earth's crust, etc. Population migration of interest to us is the movement of people across the boundaries of certain territories in connection with a change of permanent residence or with a return to it.
Under international labor migration refers to the movement of labor resources between countries and their use outside national borders for a certain time. Since labor is inseparable from a person, it is often talked about labor migration. International labor migration- cross-country movement of the working-age population for reasons that do not imply a final change of place of residence.
In recent years, international labor migration has been studied within the framework of the theory of human capital. Differences in the rates of economic growth are associated with its movement between countries.
International labor migration includes migration and emigration flows. Immigration - movement of the working-age population from abroad to a given country. Emigration - movement of the able-bodied population from a given country abroad. This movement is carried out with the aim of the most effective solution to the economic and social problems of immigrants and emigrants. Re-emigration (return emigration)- return of emigrants to permanent residence. From the point of view of compliance with the norms of the legislation in force in the country, a distinction is made between legal labor migration (without violating legal norms) and illegal (with violation of the law).
Various indicators are used to assess the size of labor migration:
scale of disposals - the number of emigrants who left the country for a certain period in order to get a job;
scale of arrivals - the number of immigrants who arrived in the country during a certain period in search of work;
balance of migration, or net migration, is the difference between the number of arrivals and the number of departures in the country in the period under study. The balance can be either positive or negative. It is expressed in relative terms (per 100 or per 1000 inhabitants), as well as in absolute terms;
gross migration , or total migration, is the sum of the number of arrivals and the number of departures in the country, region for a certain period.
Regulation of immigration. Most host countries use selective approach in the regulation of immigration. Its meaning lies in the fact that the state does not prevent the entry of those categories of workers who are needed in a given country, restricting the entry of everyone else. The list of desirable immigrants varies from country to country, but they usually fall into one of the following categories:
Workers who are ready to perform hard, non-prestigious, harmful, dirty and unskilled work for a minimum wage - construction, auxiliary (in repair shops), seasonal (for harvesting in greenhouses), watch (oil drilling), municipal (garbage and sewage collection) workers;
Specialists for new and promising industries - programmers, highly specialized engineers, bank employees;
Representatives of rare professions - diamond cutters, restorers of paintings, doctors practicing non-traditional methods of treatment;
World-renowned specialists - musicians, artists, scientists, athletes, doctors, writers;
Large businessmen relocating their activities to a host country, investing capital and creating new jobs.
23. Features of modern capital migration
International capital migration - one of the characteristic phenomena of the world economy is the movement of capital between countries, including exports, imports and its functioning abroad. Its reasons are interpreted ambiguously by scientists from various directions of economic thought. Approaches to explaining this process evolve with changes in economic conditions, scales, forms, mechanism, and consequences of the international movement of capital.
The international movement of capital is one of the important instruments in the competitive struggle of companies. Capital markets play a critical role in servicing farm restructuring. At the same time, they can contribute to deepening imbalances in the world economy.
Capital Markets Internationalization is primarily associated with the cross-border consolidation of securities markets and, to a lesser extent, markets for direct capital investments, bank loans and deposits.
The leading force in the revitalization of international operations is savings institutionalization process , concentrating them in the hands of non-bank credit institutions. The total assets of the 300 largest American institutional investors rose from 30% of GDP in 1975 to over 110% of GDP in 1993. Similar asset growth has occurred in other countries. The process of institutionalizing savings contributes to the international diversification of portfolio investments and the internationalization of capital markets.
Starting from the last third of this century, credit markets began to function not as local structures, but as aggregates united by general laws of development, which allows us to speak of the formation of a global credit and financial system, including the movement of bond, bank loans, portfolio, direct investments, as well as economic help.
25.International financial and credit institutions and their role in international economic relations
The exit of production beyond national borders, the development of the process of internationalization brought credit relations to the international arena. International credit relations mediate the movement of capital through the provision of loans, commodity resources on the terms of urgency, repayment, payment.
Leading sectors the world loan market are the world money market and the world capital market. Institutional framework loan capital markets are intermediaries between lenders and borrowers from different countries. Intermediaries are various credit and financial institutions, such as transnational banks, stock exchanges, etc., which accumulate temporarily free funds from banks, insurance companies, private firms and other economic entities from different countries. Borrowers are government agencies, international organizations, transnational corporations, etc.
The international loan capital market performs the following tasks arising from the functions of credit:
Redistributive function;
The function of saving distribution costs;
The function of accelerating the concentration and centralization of the capital;
The function of lending to states to pay off balance of payments deficits.
In the struggle for financial markets, monetary organizations use credit discrimination and credit blockade. Credit discrimination used when it is necessary to exert political or economic pressure on certain countries or firms.
A tougher measure is credit blockade, i.e. refusal to provide loans to individual countries. Most often, this measure is carried out unofficially through the refusal of loans for various reasons, but sometimes it is formalized in official government documents as an addition to the economic blockade. In particular, the economic blockade of India announced by the United States as a result of the ongoing underground nuclear explosions will entail a credit blockade by the largest American and joint monetary organizations.
Regulation of international credit relations carried out by various intergovernmental organizations.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) created in 1944 to regulate monetary relations and provide assistance to member countries through the provision of foreign currency loans. The capital of the IMF consists of contributions from members, made by subscription, and each country has its own quota, which determines the number of votes to vote, the amount of contributions and the possibility of using the resources of the Fund. Since 1962, the IMF has been using both borrowed funds and funds from permanent or temporary special funds. The IMF pursues a policy of weakening the role of gold in the world monetary system, carries out interstate regulation of exchange rates, helps to remove currency restrictions, coordinates international credit, regulates relations with regard to external debt, monitors the macroeconomic policies of member countries and the development of the world economy. The IMF carries out short-term lending to its member countries in the face of difficulties associated with the deficit of the balance of payments. It provides loans to treasuries, central banks in the form of the sale of foreign currency for the national currency of the borrowing countries. Loans are repaid by repurchasing the national currency for foreign currency.
On The World Bank, which includes the IBRD and International Development Association ( MAP ), engaged in the issuance of concessional loans, was entrusted with the financing of economic development. While the World Bank borrows and lends, the IMF is more of a credit union, with resources dedicated to helping member countries in difficult times. Both organizations work closely with each other. In modern conditions, stable economic development is possible only with an effective financial policy. Experience shows that the balance of payments deficit arises not only due to a temporary lack of liquidity, but also due to structural imbalances in the economy, the elimination of which requires long-term financing. Therefore, the IMF and the World Bank are implementing concessional lending programs for developing countries that are carrying out large-scale economic reforms.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) created in 1944 at the same time as the IMF. At first, its activities were aimed at restoring and developing the economies of European countries, and since the mid-50s, it has stimulated the development of market relations in the newly liberated nation-states and promoted the deepening of integration processes. Its resources are accumulated at the expense of the authorized fund, formed by the subscription of the participating countries to the shares of the IBRD and at the expense of proceeds from the sale of bonded loans. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development specializes in long-term lending to stimulate the economic development of the IBRD member countries. The first loans were presented to finance the economies of the countries of Western Europe destroyed during the Second World War. In modern conditions, it lends mainly to developing countries. Loans are provided at a fairly high interest rate, both state and private enterprises, subject to government guarantees and on terms similar to those of private commercial banks. The main task of this organization is lending to specific objects, among which social ones predominate in recent years. Similar functions are performed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), established in 1990, and regional banks; Inter-American, African, Asian. In addition to these, international monetary and credit relations are served by dozens of other intergovernmental organizations aimed at their development.
26.World capital market pricing principles
Since the export of capital is the movement of money abroad either for the purpose of deriving entrepreneurial profit or for the purpose of obtaining interest, it is customary to distinguish the export of capital in two forms: entrepreneurial and loan ... Export of entrepreneurial capital means investment in the economy of a particular country, i.e. investments for the purpose of making a profit. Export of loan capital- international loans and credits (as a rule, long-term), bringing loan interest to the creditor country. Thus, we can talk about the world capital market, which in turn is part of the world financial market. The latter, like any national market, in addition to the capital market, includes the money market.
The world money market determines the ratio of supply and demand for short-term means of payment. This is, as a rule, an international commercial loan provided for the purchase of goods and payment for services. The world capital market regulates the movement of long-term assets in the form of investments and long-term loans.
Long-term lending- these are loans from banks, the state to buyers of machinery and equipment, as well as loans from foreign governments and individual firms.
Investment financing involves investment in the creation of productive capital abroad. The main subjects of this process are private business and the state.
27. International investment and savings
Most representative private investment . Investors in this case are individuals, banks, insurance, investment companies, etc. Investments are made by them in two forms: portfolio and direct.
Portfolio investments - these are securities that appear in the portfolio of the country that provided the capital. These primarily include stocks and bonds placed in large financial centers. In this case, no control is established when purchasing securities.
Direct investments give the investor the right to control management at the borrower's enterprises. In most cases, we are talking primarily about investments from our own funds. Among them:
Investments of companies in their foreign branches and branches;
Investments of citizens of a given country in enterprises created by them for doing business abroad;
Investments of financial groups in foreign companies (in which they hold dominant positions) to ensure their equity participation in their capital.
Since the main thing in the implementation of direct investments is not property, but control, insofar as their sign is the presence of dominant positions in management. To determine these positions, the International Monetary Fund put forward three criteria:
Investors owning 50% or more of the voting capital;
Concentration of 25% or more of the capital in the hands of one owner;
The dominant role of foreigners in the practice of determining the policy of the enterprise.
The movement of private investment is characterized by movement in the following directions:
a) between countries with highly developed industries, where there is a movement of portfolio investments;
b) to countries that already have a fairly significant industrial potential (Austria, Canada, South Africa, Brazil. Mexico), where direct investment is more significant than portfolio investment;
c) to countries with underdeveloped economies, but possessing rich raw materials, where only direct capital investments are directed.
Direct investment in modern conditions has a number of characteristic features. First of all, it is necessary to note the increase in direct investment in comparison with other forms of capital movement.
Direct government investment include:
State entrepreneurial activity in foreign territory;
Purchase of shares of private companies for the purpose of controlling them;
Capital investment in colonial possessions or protectorates.
The source global investments, as well as national ones, are saving... The balance of world investment and savings determines the world equilibrium interest rate. In fact, this is the real interest rate prevailing in the world capital market. At the same time, equality of national investment and savings is not necessary.
Levels of world savings and savings. Savings and savings are inextricably linked. Savings usually precede accumulation and represent the formation of money capital, in which credit institutions play an important role. The global savings rate has changed dramatically over the past three decades. It gradually increased in the 50-60s, in the 70s it rose sharply in connection with the energy crisis and decreased significantly in the 80s. Calculated on the basis of the purchasing power of currencies, the global savings rate was 23% in 1960-72, 25% in 1973-1980, and 22.5% in 1981-1995. The decline in the share of savings is associated primarily with their reduction in the public sector of industrialized countries. In many industrialized countries, the private sector savings rate remained in the range of 20% in the 60-80s, the public sector savings rate fell from 4% to 1/2% and in recent years has dropped to almost zero. The process of saving developed in the opposite direction in developing countries, where the savings rate increased from 19% in 1970 to 27% in 1996. high growth rates. In the 90s, the savings rate there dropped significantly.
The accumulation of capital is manifested in an increase in capital investment and production assets. Average annual investment, in the world economy changed according to the dynamics of world savings, with the exception of the 70s. 1950 to 1970 the investment quota grew steadily, reaching almost 27% of GDP in 1973. Then it dropped to 20-22% in 1983, after which it began to grow again, but did not reach the level of the early 1970s. The decline in the accumulation rate in the mid-70s - early 80s occurred in countries where, as a result of the energy crisis, large amounts of labor instruments turned out to be ineffective, despite the fact that they belonged to the models of the late 60s. The cost transfer proved to be difficult due to the drop in capacity utilization. The lack of equipment on the market that would be effective under that system of relative prices became an important reason for the formation of an investment pause in the mid-1970s. In general, changes in the dynamics of world investment were in line with the movement of the economic cycle, they increased during periods of ups and decreased during recessions.
There were other reasons as well. In the world economy in the 1980s, there was an increase in real discount rates. They rose from low and often negative real values to the highest level in history, which persisted until the late 1980s. The rise in real rates was facilitated by restrictive foreign exchange policies of industrial countries, as well as a huge US federal budget deficit, which was financed by savings from other countries. The high level of real interest rates was not accompanied by an increase in the savings rate. It declined in all industrialized countries in the 1980s.
Changes in the investment quota are affected by price shifts. If the prices of investment goods fall in relation to consumer prices, then more can be invested in real terms with the same level of savings. Since 1973, prices for investment goods have fallen relative to other goods and services, but at the same time, the real amount of capital investment could have remained with a decrease in the share of investment costs. Therefore, the value of the investment quota decreases less if measured in constant prices and exchange rates, compared to calculations in current prices. But even in this case, a downward trend was noted in the 1980s.
In the world economy as a whole, the levels of savings and investment are identical.
Sources of savings and savings. At the macro- and micro- (levels, savings and accumulation are mobilized from various sources of economic entities. These are depreciation and retained earnings of companies. In the structure of accumulation of companies, the share of expenses for replacing consumed fixed capital (depreciation) pretty stable. On average, it accounts for a little more than half of investments, increasing during periods of crises and decreasing during years of economic booms. Net savings generated by retained earnings directly increase the production assets of companies. Firms with poor access to the loan market tend to maintain high retained earnings and pay less dividends. Although companies provide the bulk of capital investment in industrialized countries (50-80%), their net 17% of total capital investment.
Household savings in industrialized countries in the 80-90s decreased. This trend has been driven by a number of factors. In particular, the liberalization of consumer credit has led to a decrease in savings for large purchases. The role of households in saving varies dramatically from country to country. In the second half of the 1980s, they accounted for between 9% of gross investment in Great Britain and 57% in Italy.
Since the late 1980s, there has been an increase in savings of the state , which was determined by a decrease in the need for issuing government loans. A sharp increase in budget deficits occurred in the 70s in connection with an increase in spending on military purposes, social security, while reducing business activity and taxation.
In developing countries, domestic savings are also the most important source of replenishment of productive assets, providing over 95% of investment. Domestic savings rates have fallen significantly in countries experiencing difficulties in servicing external debt. Analyzing trends and patterns of savings in developing countries is difficult due to the difficulty of obtaining relevant information on households, business and public sectors.
28.Monetary system and its evolution European and Jamaican monetary systems
European Monetary System (EMU)- the zone of coordinated navigation created by the EU members in relation to the dollar of the exchange rates of national currencies in order to ensure their greater stability. The main parameters of the EBC are:
Limiting currency fluctuations to within 2.25% each way from the agreed central rate of each currency to the ECU;
Creation of a European currency unit - ECU (European Currency Unit) - a unit of account, the rate of which is determined as a weighted average of the rates of the EU member states;
Establishment of the European Monetary Cooperation Fund. It was created through contributions to: provide temporary financial support to EU member states; financing the balance of payments deficit; settlements for foreign exchange interventions of member countries in order to support exchange rates.
The mechanism for regulating exchange rates within the EMU was called "Snake in the tunnel" due to the fact that the courses could only float within a limited range. If the deviation of the exchange rate from the central parity reached 75% of the size established by the agreement, the country had to take a number of measures to prevent the rate of its currency from going beyond the established limits.
In June 1989, the Commission of the European Communities adopted a decision on the transition of European EU member states to a monetary and economic union. This transition was supposed to be carried out in three stages. On the first, which began in July 1990, there was a complete elimination of restrictions on the movement of capital between the EU countries and a gradual convergence of key macroeconomic indicators of their economies began. On the second, which began on the basis of the agreement on the European Union (Maastricht Agreement), which entered into force in November 1993, the member countries took the path of further deepening monetary integration on the basis of an agreement on the convergence of national economies and the creation of a mechanism for multilateral monitoring of this process. Transition to third stage began in 1999 and is associated with the introduction single European currency and education European Central Bank .
The second stage, which lasted from 1993 to 1999, became the key in the movement towards a full monetary union. In this period:
Convergence requirements were introduced - strict indicators of farm convergence in the areas of public finance, long-term interest rates and exchange rates. To qualify for participation in a monetary union, a country must meet the following requirements: the budget deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP, and the gross government debt must not exceed 60% of GDP; consumer price inflation should not exceed inflation in the three member countries with the lowest inflation by more than 1.5 percentage points; interest rates on long-term government debt securities should not exceed by more than 2 percentage points the interest rates in the three member countries with the lowest inflation;
The European Monetary Institute (EMI) was created - an organization of the EU countries responsible for coordinating monetary policy between them, as well as preparing for the creation of the European Central Bank and developing a single monetary policy;
Creation of an oversight mechanism for economic policy, which is formed from the EU Council and the EMI.
The transition to a single currency also includes three stages. First lasted from the moment the participants of the monetary union were determined to the mutual fixation of their exchange rates. After that, the EMU, ECU and other mechanisms were abolished, and their functions were transferred to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), in which the European Central Bank plays the main role. The euro (the single European currency) is used as a non-cash currency. Second phase will last from the moment of fixing exchange rates until the withdrawal from circulation of national currencies, along with which non-cash euros will circulate. Stage three is due to start no later than January 1, 2002 and will be marked by the issuance of euro in cash in the form of banknotes and coins. The exchange of the ECU for the euro will take place at the 1: 1 rate, i.e. the exchange rate of the euro against the other currencies of the participating countries will correspond to their exchange rate against the ecu.
29.The concept of the exchange rate and the factors that determine it
30. Regulation of the exchange rate
The formation of the exchange rate of the national currency in a foreign one is called currency quotation. In this case, the rate of the national currency can be set in the form as direct quotation ( 1,10,100 units foreign currency = x units. national currency. Formula Rb 1 = ( x ) $ 1 ), so and reverse quotation ( 1,10,100 units national currency = x units. foreign currency. Formula $ 1 = Rb x (1/ x )). There is also cross-quote- the expression of rates of two currencies to each other through the rate of each of them in relation to a third currency, usually the US dollar.
Exchange rate quotes also have a time dimension. According to this criterion, the following are distinguished: spot rate- the rate at which currencies are exchanged within no more than two working days from the date of agreement on the rate; forward rate- the agreed rate at which currencies are exchanged at a certain point in the future, more than three days after reaching agreement on the rate.
The comparability of national currencies on a value basis, in fact, expresses the ability to compare the value of various goods produced in different countries, or rather, using the exchange rate, the prices of goods in different countries are compared... As a result, the profitability of buying goods or investing in the economy abroad is determined in comparison with a given country.
The exchange rate depends on many factors, and primarily on the demand and supply of foreign currency in the market, therefore, all factors affecting the supply and demand of the currency also affect its rate. These factors include:
High rates of growth of national income in a given country. This will result in an increase in the income of individual citizens, an increase in the aggregate demand for goods, including imported ones, which will lead to an increase in demand for foreign currency and an increase in its exchange rate;
A change in consumer preferences for imported goods will act in a similar way;
High rates of inflation in the country depreciate the national currency, and its exchange rate begins to depreciate against the currencies of countries where inflation rates are lower. The negative consequences of this are primarily felt by countries with a large volume of international transactions. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate real exchange rates, those. purchasing power parity, which is the ratio of prices for similar goods and services produced in comparable countries. Weighted aggregate parities of any level are calculated, up to GDP. These calculations make it possible to estimate the GDP adjusted for the standard of living. The IMF sets parities for large zones of the planet According to the PPP theory, the exchange rate changes in accordance with the need to compensate for the difference in the dynamics of price levels in different countries;
The balance of payments of the country also has a certain influence on the exchange rate. If the balance is positive, then the exchange rate of the national currency grows, since foreign debtors buy it much more, and vice versa. Currently, the balance of payments is increasingly influenced by the movement of capital, which also affects the exchange rate;
The movement of capital largely depends on the difference in interest rates in different countries. An increase in the interest rate stimulates the import of capital into the country, and a decrease in the rate makes it necessary to look for the use of free capital abroad, which increases the volatility of the balance of payments. Low interest rates in other countries encourage banks to buy foreign currency from them, increasing its supply. As a result, the exchange rate of the national currency appreciates;
The exchange rate can be influenced by the development of currency speculation, the popularity and confidence in a particular currency, the real terms of international settlements and, of course, the monetary policy of the state.
The exchange rate can be of two types. The first one is freely floating exchange rate, or, as it is also called, free floating. In this case, the state is completely outside the limits of the foreign exchange market, and the rate is set only on the basis of supply and demand of currencies, i.e. it is totally flexible. Usually, a floating exchange rate is considered, which can change in any range, and these limits are not legally established. The following varieties are known:
Adjustable exchange rate - a rate that is automatically changed in accordance with a change in a certain set of economic indicators (used in Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua);
Controlled floating exchange rate - the rate set by the central bank, not the foreign exchange market, but with frequent changes (developed - Norway, Greece, developing - Brazil, Egypt, etc., countries with economies in transition - China, Russia, etc.);
Independently floating exchange rate - a rate determined on the basis of the ratio of supply and demand for currency in the foreign exchange market with the state's non-interference in this process (most industrialized countries, except for the EU, many developing countries and countries with economies in transition).
Another type exists when the state is tough fixes exchange rates . Fixed exchange rate- the officially established ratio between national currencies, allowing a temporary deviation from it in one direction or the other by no more than 2.25%. The course can be recorded in one of the following ways:
Fixing the rate to one currency - pegging the rate of the national currency to the rate of the most significant currencies of international settlements (most countries of Latin America and Africa, as well as some countries with economies in transition, for example, Lithuania and Turkmenistan, have a fixed rate to the US dollar);
Using the currency of other countries as legal tender (the ruble in 1992-94 in the CIS countries, the dollar in Ecuador);
Currency board - fixing the exchange rate of the national currency to the foreign one, and the issue of the national currency is fully secured by the reserves of foreign currency (Argentina, Hong Kong, Singapore);
Fixing the exchange rate of the common currency to one foreign currency (French-speaking African countries to the French franc);
Fixing the exchange rate of the national currency against the currencies of other countries - the main trading partners (Estonia - against the German mark);
Fixing the exchange rate to the currency composite - pegging the national currency rate to the rates of collective currency units, such as SDRs.
Equilibrium exchange rate- the exchange rate that ensures the achievement of an equilibrium of the balance of payments provided that there are no restrictions on international trade, special motives for the inflow or outflow of capital and excessive unemployment. In other words, the balance of payments as a result of changes in the exchange rate should be ensured as a result of the action of fundamental economic laws, and not through short-term measures of state economic policy. Thus, the equilibrium balance of payments acts as a key fundamental economic law that is necessary to maintain an equilibrium exchange rate.
If equilibrium is established in the foreign exchange market at point A and the price of 1 yen is Y, then the price can be influenced by increasing or decreasing purchases of the yen. The country's central bank can raise the yen rate by throwing a significant dollar mass into the market and buying up a significant part of the offered yen. In this case, the supply on the market will decrease from S to S1 and the rate will increase. If the yen needs to be depreciated, the Central Bank throws additional yen into the market. Legislative depreciation of the currency or central parity under a fixed exchange rate regime is called devaluation, and the increase is revaluation .
Which of these systems is better, more profitable for the state? It is difficult to answer unequivocally, since the practice of using fixed and flexible exchange rates has shown both the advantages and disadvantages of both. Flexible course often creates fluctuations in exchange rates, which leads to additional difficulties and costs in international economic relations, but, as the practice of its use has shown, in the long run it has the necessary flexibility to ensure normal relations ... Fixed exchange rate good from the point of view of ensuring short-term stability, but in the long run it is inelastic and constrains the development of international relations.
In market conditions, supply and demand for foreign currency is constantly changing under the influence of a host of factors, which together reflect the change in the country's relative place in the international economy. The exchange rate of the national currency also changes accordingly. Moreover, the economic meaning of a change in the exchange rate under the regime of floating and fixed exchange rates is different.
Depreciation of currency- a decrease in the value of a currency under a floating exchange rate regime. Rise in currency- an increase in the value of a currency under a floating exchange rate regime.
In the case of a fixed exchange rate regime, its adaptation to the changed volumes of supply and demand for foreign currency occurs differently. At the same time, the question of the size of the state's foreign exchange reserves is especially important. They are not unlimited and therefore, if for some reason the demand for foreign currency for a long time exceeds its supply, it is impossible to artificially keep the national currency rate from falling by selling foreign currency from reserves. When the latter decline to less than eight weeks in the volume of imports of goods and services, the question of the utmost importance for the state is to abandon the protection of the fixed exchange rate and switch to a floating exchange rate regime or legislatively reduce the value of its national currency to a level approximately corresponding to market equilibrium.
In this situation, currency speculators playing on the exchange rate difference in the foreign exchange market can outstrip the state, which will inevitably be forced to reduce the value of its currency due to the growing loss of reserves, and begin to actively sell the national currency in exchange for foreign currency, thereby trying to avoid losses. The result is a situation known in international economics as “Speculative attack on currency”. It is understood as a sharp increase in the supply of foreign exchange on the market during a period of weakening of its exchange rate, leading to the loss of the country's foreign exchange reserves in the event of attempts to support the weakening exchange rate.
It is important to consider dependence of prices on the dynamics of the exchange rate... In general, this dependence boils down to the following:
- depreciation of the national currency leads to a decrease in the prices of national goods in the world market, expressed in national currency, which contributes to the growth of exports, which as a result becomes more competitive. At the same time, prices for foreign goods, denominated in national currency, become higher, as a result of which their imports are reduced. As a result of the depreciation of the national currency, national assets and securities denominated in it become cheaper and more attractive to foreign investors, which leads to an increase in capital inflows from abroad.
- growth of the national currency leads to an increase in the prices of national goods in the world market, denominated in foreign currency, which leads to a decrease in their exports, which, as a result, becomes less competitive. At the same time, prices for foreign goods, denominated in national currency, are falling, as a result of which their imports are increasing. As a result of the growth in the exchange rate of the national currency, national assets and securities denominated in it become more expensive relative to foreign ones, which leads to an increase in capital outflow abroad.
The ongoing monetary policy has a certain impact on both the internal position of the country and its position in the world economy. Therefore, in the implementation of reforms in Russia, from the very beginning, much attention was paid to currency relations. The liberalization of the economy led to the organization of the foreign exchange market using the mechanisms of free and controlled floating.
Under these conditions, when the internal conversion of the ruble was carried out, and production showed a progressive tendency to decline, which was accompanied by inflation, the demand for foreign currency rose sharply, and the ruble depreciated. As a result, the profitability of exports increased, while the profitability of imports decreased slightly, which entailed the emergence of additional channels of capital flight abroad. The process of dollarization clearly manifested itself in the national economy, when all savings, both physical and legal, began to be carried out mainly in foreign currency. This, like capital flight, negatively impacted investment opportunities.
The transformation of the American dollar into an almost parallel currency revealed all the shortcomings of the internal conversion of the ruble in the absence of an external one: the Central Bank of Russia had to constantly replenish its foreign exchange reserves to ensure the internal conversion of the ruble and maintain its exchange rate. Funds for this could be obtained only through the export of raw materials and energy resources, which also negatively affected the state of the economy, increased the disproportionality of development.
In 1995, to stabilize the ruble exchange rate and reduce inflation in the country, "currency band". It means the establishment of limits for the fluctuation of the exchange rate, which the state undertakes to maintain.
31.Economic content of the trade balance
32.Balance of payments and factors affecting its condition
trade balance represents the ratio of the value of exports and imports of goods over a period of time. It allows you to analyze the participation of a country in the international division of labor, to determine its place in world trade. Another example is calculated balance on a specific date (balance of international debt and claims). It allows you to obtain data on the amount of monetary claims and obligations of the country in relation to other countries. The settlement balance is closely related to the trade balance, since the basis for the emergence of claims and obligations in international payment turnover are, in particular, commodity transactions. Analysis of the state of the settlement balance allows us to judge whether the country is an international debtor or an international creditor for the entire range of external settlements.
A special place in the system of balances of international settlements is occupied by payment balance. It is a statistical report on all international transactions of residents of a particular country with non-residents for a certain period of time. It reflects the ratio between the volume of goods and services received by a given country from abroad and provided by it abroad, as well as changes in its financial position in relation to abroad.
Note that the balance of payments deals with flows, not stocks, with changes in real and financial assets and liabilities that occur over the reference period, and not with the total amounts of a country's economic assets and liabilities that exist at a particular point in time.
The balance of payments is compiled for the purpose of performing both accounting and analytical tasks, which are closely related to each other. The analysis of the balance of payments allows us to draw conclusions about how effectively the country is able to manage its foreign economic activity, and serves as the basis for making decisions in the field of foreign economic policy.
Methodology for compiling the balance of payments. Fundamental for compiling the balance of payments is double entry method for international transactions... This method is based on the fact that each registered transaction corresponds to a payment in one form or another, and the balance of payments and receipts should converge. The double entry system used to compile the balance of payments means that each transaction is represented by two entries that have the same meaning. One of them is registered as "credit" and has a positive sign, the other as "debit" with a negative sign, and the sum of their values must equal zero.
In accordance with the principles of constructing the balance of payments of the balance it is always balanced... The concept of negative or positive balance is applicable only to its individual parts. It should be noted that the balance sheet itself a priori cannot have an unambiguous interpretation from the point of view of its impact on the national economy. Depending on the goals of economic policy, both negative and positive balances on individual items can be regarded both positively and negatively.
Usually, within the general balance of payments, the balances of the trade balance, the current account balance, the balance of capital flows and the balance of official settlements are distinguished.
Trade balance is formed as the difference between the export and import of goods only (excluding services). Comments on changes in the trade balance depend on what factors caused the change. For example, if a negative balance was formed as a result of a decrease in exports, then this may indicate a decrease in the competitiveness of the national economy and be considered as a negative phenomenon. But if such a situation was the result of an increase in imports due to the inflow of direct investments into the country, then this can in no way be considered as a weakening of the national economy.
Balance on current transactions(this is the most frequently mentioned balance) is considered, as a rule, as a reference balance of payments, since it determines the country's need for financing, being at the same time a factor of external economic restrictions in domestic economic policy. A positive current balance of payments means that the country is a net creditor for in relation to other states, and, conversely, the current account deficit means that the country becomes a net debtor, obliged to pay for net imports of goods, services and finance transfers. In fact, a surplus country is investing part of its national savings abroad instead of increasing domestic capital formation.
Capital and finance balance in fact, it is a mirror image of the current balance, as it shows the financing of the flow of real resources. True, some of this mirroring is usually found in the article "Pure errors and omissions."
Balance sheet of official settlements is the most common definition of the overall (final) balance of payments and indicates an increase (decrease) in liquid claims on the country by non-residents or an increase (decrease) in the country's official reserves in foreign liquid assets. Recall that this balance covers all items, except for the item "Reserve assets".
Under the conditions of a system of fixed exchange rates until 1971, great importance was attached to the balance of official settlements, since, for example, its deficit indicated an increase in the country's obligations to other states (or a reduction in reserves), which threatened the stability of exchange rates. The introduction of floating exchange rates eroded the concept of the general balance of payments, and the dynamics of official reserves was not only a consequence of the official balance of payments, but also the cause of changes in flows recorded in other sections of the balance of payments.
The standard balance of payments components are also used to determine the country's international investment position , which is a statistical report on the value of the country's external assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the reporting period, as well as all those changes that occurred during the reporting period as a result of financial transactions, value and other changes in accumulated assets and liabilities. The main classification groups used to determine the net investment position of a country are external assets and liabilities of residents, the difference between which gives the desired value. The International Investment Position contains information that is important for analyzing the economic condition of a country. The net international investment position of the country characterizes the state and development trends of the country's foreign economic relations with the rest of the world. Depending on whether this position is positive or negative, one can say whether the country is "net creditor" or "net debtor".
There are several main methods of state influence on the state of the balance of payments. Method one- this is direct control, including the regulation of imports (for example, through quantitative restrictions), customs and other fees, a ban or restrictions on the transfer abroad of income from foreign investments and cash transfers of individuals, a sharp reduction in gratuitous assistance, the export of short-term and long-term capital, etc. Such direct control measures usually cause great difficulties for many firms in the country and, accordingly, are perceived with hostility.
In the short term, direct control has a positive effect (it is more or less depending on the level of compliance by firms with business laws and the ability of the government to enforce its decisions). In the long term, the effect of these measures is contradictory, since a "greenhouse regime" is created for local producers, the interest of foreign investors in the country is reduced due to the ban on the transfer of their income, difficulties arise in attracting foreign specialists, and obstacles are created for the expansion of goods abroad. and a service delivery network for domestic exporters.
It does not cause hostility, but on the contrary, such a direct measure as export subsidies is welcomed by domestic firms. But it is expensive, and therefore its use is usually associated with the state of the country's budget. Thus, the state of the state budget of Russia is unlikely to allow it to actively subsidize exports in the near future.
Method two - deflation(i.e., the fight against inflation), which is aimed at solving internal economic problems, while the side effect is an improvement in the state of the balance of payments. It is believed that the traditional consequences for deflationary policy - a decrease in production, investment and income - lead to a reduction in imports and an increase in reserve capacity for increasing exports. An increase in the real interest rate, which is typical for deflation, attracts short-term capital to the country, if, of course, there is a developed banking system and a low level of political risk. However, there is another point of view: deflation decreases exports and increases imports. With deflation, the exchange rate of the national currency rises, which increases the opportunities for importers. For exporters, the high exchange rate of their national currency means that when exchanging export earnings, they receive less national currency, and this does not at all stimulate them to establish exports.
The third method is exchange rate changes... Both with a firm and a floating exchange rate, they pass under strong control and influence of the state. So, even in conditions of a floating exchange rate, the state (usually represented by the country's central bank) often seeks to keep these fluctuations within certain limits, focusing on the so-called exchange rate targets in order to avoid strong economic shocks.
Changes in the exchange rate help the government regulate the balance of payments, but it should be borne in mind that the effect of revaluation / devaluation is weakened by the elasticity of exports and imports, as well as the inertia of foreign trade flows. Therefore, the short-, medium- and long-term effects of changes in the exchange rate on the balance of payments differ. Thus, the inertia of foreign trade flows often leads to the fact that in the first months after a strong fall in the national currency rate, the trade balance does not change and even, oddly enough, its deterioration may occur. After all, exporters need time to increase their exports, and importers need time to reduce the number of new contracts. In the meantime, foreign trade flows go under previously concluded contracts, the cost of exports and imports in dollars does not decrease, but in the domestic market the cost of exported goods in rubles remains the same, while the cost of imported goods increases. True, after some time the situation with the trade balance usually changes: exports increase and imports decrease.
1. The world world economy, its essence
The modern world economy (world economy) is a naturally developing and increasingly complex system of interaction between national economies of different countries of the world, which manifests itself in various forms of their international economic relations on the basis of the international division of labor.
The world economy is a complex system that includes many interconnected, dependent and interacting elements. The basis of this system is formed by the international and limited by the framework of individual states, the national production of material and spiritual goods, their distribution, exchange and consumption. Each of these phases of the world reproduction process both on a global scale and within individual states, depending on their place and share, as a whole, affects the functioning of the entire world economic system.
Although the world economic system has long become a reality, there is still no single definition of the concept of "world economy" due to its complexity and diversity.
World economy, or world economy,- this is a set of national economies that are in constant dynamics, in motion, with growing international ties and, accordingly, the most complex mutual influence, obeying the objective laws of a market economy, as a result of which an extremely contradictory, but at the same time more or less integral, world economic system is formed.
The formation of the world economy took place gradually, as the corresponding prerequisites were created. At the final stage of the formation of the world capitalist economy, world market, which became one of the characteristic features of the development of the world economy in the second half of the 19th century, played an important role in the formation and development of the world economy.
The modern world economy is heterogeneous: the states included in it are distinguished by their social structure, political structure, the level of development of productive forces and production relations, as well as the nature, scale and methods of international economic relations.
Leading position in the world economy occupy seven industrialized countries: USA, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy. They account for more than 80% of the industrial production of the group of industrialized countries (IDS) and about 60% of the total world industrial production; respectively 70 and 60% of electricity production, more than 60% of exports of goods and about 50% of services.
2. The main stages of the formation and development of the world economy
There are several periods in the development of the modern world economy and the involvement of national economies in it.
First period- 20-30s of the XX century, which were characterized by crisis phenomena in the development of the world economy. When Russia fell out of world economic ties in 1917, the economic blockade carried out by Western countries could not lead to the restoration of world economic ties on the previous basis. The deep socio-economic crisis of the world economy was accompanied by the general instability of economic ties caused by the First World War, the Great Depression in the late 1920s and 1930s in the development of the economies of the leading countries of the world.
Second period development of the world economy - this is the end of the 40s - 80s of the XX century - is characterized by an intensive growth in the export of entrepreneurial capital in the world capitalist economy. During this time, the growth of foreign production had a major impact on the organizational and economic parameters of the world economy. The main force in industrial relations was transnational corporations (TNCs), which formed international production complexes, including the creation of a product, its implementation, settlements, and lending.
Very important economic processes took place in the world economy during this period. Among them, the following should be noted.
The United States, which sharply increased in its economic power during the Second World War, helped in the economic revival of Western Europe. After finishing Marshall Plan (1951) As the colonial empires collapsed, aid programs were reoriented to developing countries in order to preserve them in the system of relations between Western countries. The liquidation of the colonial system in the mid-1960s brought a large group of developing countries to the forefront of international life, which still occupy a special place in the world economy.
In the 1950s and 1980s, the levels of development of the United States and other industrialized countries converged. The worldwide economic dominance of the United States began to degenerate into a multipolar system.
The crisis period in the world economy in the 1970s and 1980s was not accompanied by a trend towards economic autarchy, as it was in the 1920s and 1930s. On the contrary, foreign economic relations had a steady trend towards expansion and deepening.
The beginning of a new one third period in the development of the world economy can presumably be considered the last decade of the XX century. The processes of formation and creation of economic and political structures similar to those of Western states are taking place in Eastern European countries. The economic reforms carried out in Russia since the beginning of the 90s are aimed at transferring the country's economy to market conditions of economic management and its deeper integration into the world economy.
3. Subjects of the world economy
Purposeful economic activity in the world economy is carried out by subjects that determine the state and development of factors of production, as well as ways of combining them. The subjects of the world economy are economic units that are capable of organizing production activities on an international scale in terms of their financial and material capabilities and possessing certain international rights and obligations. These major economic entities include national states, TNCs, regional integration economic associations, and international economic organizations.
The main subject world economy is state.
The role of the state in the economy is manifested primarily in the creation of guaranteed markets for companies inside the country and abroad, its participation in capital accumulation, regulation of internal and external economic relations in the national interests, directly in the production of gross domestic product (GDP).
In modern conditions of globalization of world economic relations, the state influence on other subjects of the world economy and on the system as a whole is commensurate with the economic potential of the state and the role of national economic entities in international markets.
In accordance with the International System of National Accounts (SNA), the subjects of world economic relations are private (natural) persons and organizations (legal entities), carrying out international economic transactions.
From the standpoint of belonging to the national economy, the subjects are divided into residents and non-residents.
Residents- these are economic entities permanently located in the territory of a given country, regardless of their national (state) affiliation.
Non-residents- these are economic entities permanently located on the territory of a foreign state, even if they are citizens of a given country, but permanently residing abroad, or branches of economic units of a given country located outside its borders.
In accordance with the SNA, all residents and non-residents, or business entities, qualify as institutional units. These are individuals and legal entities that own the factors of production and have the ability to produce products or sell services, to conclude transactions with others on their own behalf.
The SNA does not establish differences between the subjects of national and international economic activity, since in an open market economy, all legal entities and individuals that actually exist in the economy of any country, at the same time and in the same capacity, have the right to be subjects of the world economy, i.e. enter into legal economic relations with any subjects of other countries or participants in international economic unions.
4. System of national accounts and its indicators
To analyze economic events, complex economic relationships, a system of reliable, complementary indicators is needed. The modern SNA was approved by the UN in 1993, which slightly changed the names of the sectors of the economy, standard accounts and basic macroeconomic indicators.
Most widely in economic analysis, two important indicators are used: gross product and national income. The central indicator of the new SNA is gross domestic product (GDP); its second macroeconomic indicator is gross national product (GNP). Both of them reflect the results of activities in two spheres of the national economy - material production and services; both are defined as the cost of the total volume of final production of goods and services in the economy for one year (quarter, month). These indicators are calculated both in current (effective) prices and in constant (prices of any base year).
The difference between GNP and GDP is as follows.
Gdp calculated on the so-called territorial basis. This is the total cost of products in the sphere of material production and the sphere of services, regardless of the nationality of enterprises located on the territory of a given country.
GNP Is the total value of the total volume of products and services in the national economy, regardless of the location of national enterprises (in their own country or abroad).
Thus, GNP differs from GDP in the amount of so-called factor income from the use of the resources of a given country abroad (profit transferred to the country from capital invested abroad, property available there, wages of citizens working abroad) minus similar income exported from the country foreigners.
Usually, to calculate GNP, the difference between the profits and incomes received by enterprises and individuals of a given country abroad, on the one hand, and profits and incomes received by foreign investors and foreign workers in a given country, on the other hand, are added to the GDP indicator. This difference is small - for the leading Western countries, no more than ± 1% of GDP.
In our country, the transition to new indicators of GDP and GNP is carried out by recalculating the gross social product (GP) and national income (NI), which are, respectively, the sum of gross output and net output of the branches of material production.
5. National income. PPP
National income Is the newly created value in a year, which characterizes what added the production of a given year to the welfare of society. Therefore, when calculating it, unlike GDP, it does not include depreciation, indirect taxes, and government subsidies.
This is the net "earned income" of society, and this determines the importance of ND as a macroeconomic indicator and its widespread use in comparative analysis.
In Russian practice the breakdown into two funds is still applied:
the consumption fund is a part of the ND that ensures the satisfaction of the material and cultural needs of people and the needs of society as a whole (for education, defense, etc.);
an accumulation fund is a part of the ND that ensures the development of production.
The SNA usually defines the rate of accumulation and the share of consumption, but as a percentage of GDP, and not of NI.
For international comparisons and other purposes, it is more convenient to have an integral indicator of the scale and level of economic development. This role is usually played by a monetary indicator, expressed in dollars - GDP or GNP.
For international comparisons, GDP is converted into one currency, usually US dollars. This raises a number of problems. First, it turns out that the relative performance of a particular country and its place in the world economy strongly depend on the current exchange rate, which can change dramatically.
By the 90s of the XX century. a solution to this problem was found: the concept of purchasing power parity - PPP (from the English. purchasing power party - PPP). Since 1992, the UN, within the framework of the international comparison program, as well as the OECD, the EU, the IMF and the IB, have begun to introduce calculations taking into account PPPs.
PPP - the coefficient of converting national currencies into dollars, but not at the bank rate, but based on the ratio of the purchasing power of the two currencies in the countries where they are issued. For convenience, PPP $ 1 is taken as a unit.
For such calculations, they take a uniform "basket" of goods and services and calculate its cost by country. Here a new problem arises: the inadequacy of the standard basket to the structure of consumer spending, which are fundamentally different in different countries. This means that there is no standard “basket” that is uniform for all countries.
Price differences are not the only source of distortion in comparing GDP; in addition, the shadow economy and labor costs in the household are not taken into account.
6. The main features of integration in the late XIX - early XX century.
The integration of economic life in the world goes in many directions:
a) internationalization of productive forces through the exchange of means of production and technological knowledge, as well as international specialization and cooperation, linking economic units into integral production and consumer systems; through production cooperation, international movement of production resources; through the formation of a global material, information, organizational and economic infrastructure, ensuring the implementation of international exchange;
b) manifestation of internationalization through MRI;
v) an increase in the scale and qualitative change in the nature of traditional international trade materialized goods. The main factor of the impact of international trade on national economies is not so much its outstripping growth, reflecting the process of deepening MRI, as its fundamental qualitative shifts. The very functions of international trade have changed- from short-term transactions "commodity - money" to the means of direct servicing of national production processes, linking them into a single production mechanism that does not know national borders. The emphasis in such service is shifting to the final stages of production (finishing, assembly operations);
G) international movement of financial and production resources, ensuring the intertwining and interdependence of economic activities in different countries. This movement takes the form of international credit or foreign investment;
e) an increasingly important area of international cooperation is becoming services sector, which develops faster than the sphere of material production;
f) rapidly growing international exchange of scientific and technical knowledge: no country alone is able to resolve all issues of scientific and technological progress, and even more so to be a leader in all its areas. All this leads to an intensive process of the formation of an international intellectual division of labor. International specialization of scientific and experimental design centers is taking place, the establishment of stable cooperation between them;
g) the scale of international labor migration is increasing, to which Russia and other states formed on the territory of the former USSR are beginning to connect as exporters;
h) simultaneously with the increasing internationalization, the impact of production and consumption on the natural environment is growing need in the international cooperation aimed at solving global problems of our time(environmental protection, exploration of the oceans, outer space, assistance to the starving population of developing countries, etc.). The solution to the increasingly aggravated global problems that put humanity on the brink of survival requires the combined efforts of all countries of the world community.
7. International division of labor
The basis for the unification of national economies into a single world economy is international division of labor(MRI), i.e. specialization of individual countries in the production of certain types of products, which countries exchange with each other.
MRI is the basis of the world economy, allowing it to progress in its development, to create the prerequisites for a more complete manifestation of general (universal) economic laws.
The essence of MRI manifests itself in the dynamic unity of two production processes - its dismemberment and unification.
A single production process cannot but be divided into relatively independent, isolated from each other phases. At the same time, such a dismemberment is at the same time the unification of separate industries and territorial production complexes, the establishment of interaction between the countries participating in the MRI system.
The need to increase labor productivity, which determines economic and social progress, is a driving force in deepening the division of labor, including international. MRI is performed in order to increasing production efficiency, serves as a means of rationalizing social productive forces.
The main driving force behind MRI for all countries of the world, regardless of their social and economic differences, is their the pursuit of economic benefits. In this case, the realization of the effect obtained by the MRI participants occurs as a result of the operation of the law of value, which is manifested in the differences between the national and international value of the goods.
MRI is the “integrator” that formed the world economic system - the world economy from separate elements.
Types of MRI.
1. Territorial: a) interregional - division of labor between regions of the same country; b) international - the division of labor between individual countries.
2. Functional: a) general - the division of labor between large spheres of material and non-material production (industry, agriculture, transport, communications, etc.); b) private - the division of labor within large spheres by industry and sub-industry (for example, such as heavy and light industry, animal husbandry and crop production, sea, air and land transport, as well as within them: mining industry, metallurgy, mechanical engineering within the framework of heavy industry ; machine tool and transport engineering in the framework of mechanical engineering; automobile, aircraft, shipbuilding in the framework of transport engineering, etc.); c) single - division of labor within the enterprise (in this case, the enterprise is interpreted broadly as a complete cycle of creating the final product).
8. Scientific and technological progress as a determining factor in the development of modern MRI
The scientific and technological revolution (STR) at the present stage is causing profound changes in the structure of productive forces, inter- and intra-sectoral proportions in the national economies of an increasingly growing number of countries and the world economy as a whole.
New technological base, availability of information since the early 80s change the conditions of production and consumption. Individualization of demand, an increase in the saturation of mass needs, a reduction in the timing of meeting demand, a constant threat of overproduction, a number of socio-economic moments - all this is dramatic. increased the role of consumer demand as an incentive for the qualitative development of production and services, or, in other words, the formation of directions of technical progress, the final efficiency of material and spiritual production.
New technologies bring into play qualitatively new economic ties: they aim at saving resources, individualizing and specializing production and consumption. The cumulative result of new links goes not so much along the chain of costs as along the axis of the growing effect from their application. The chain reaction here has a consequence saving all kinds of resources. Increasing the role of consumers in the "producer - consumer" system results in the implementation of a complex of organizational and managerial measures at the corporate level of a marketing nature (strengthening the link between research and development (R&D) and production activities with sales policy, preliminary identification and assessment of consumer opportunities) , focus on meeting a narrow specific demand).
Application of new technologies affects world economic relations. The nature of the MRH is changing as the newest forms of automation deprive developing countries in an increasing number of economic activities of some of the advantages associated with the presence of a significant cheap labor force, which affects traditional incentives to export capital. They are shifting away from labor savings to savings on costs, associated with lower standards for environmental cleanliness and labor safety, which developing countries go to for the industrialization of national economies. In addition to the export of goods and capital, industrialized countries are increasingly using the export of scientific and technical information and scientific and technical services as a "battering ram" of great disruptive power to establish and expand their positions in the world market.
The modern world is moving to a new, synthesized development model, which is characterized by: a) a qualitative update of the technological base of production, b) widespread introduction of resource and energy-saving technologies, c) shifts in the structure, content and nature of production and consumption processes.
9. Strengthening the trend of globalization in the development of the world economy at the beginning of the XXI century.
Globalization as a process, it is a movement towards superinternationalization, superintegration, which manifests itself in all world markets.
The process of globalization has led to a new qualitative state of the world economy, the so-called globalized space. Globalization as a new qualitative state of the world economy is a new stage in the development of human society, at which the features of the integrity of the world economy, the interdependence of all its parts become obvious, noticeable at the level of both phenomena and individual events.
The revolution in finance and technology, as well as the availability of information, have led to a new state of society: neither governments nor national mass media are able to isolate economic agents from the full volume of information about economics, politics, problems and ways of solving them in other countries.
Economically globalization means lowering barriers between national economies (the role of the World Trade Organization - WTO is increasing, numerous agreements on telecommunications and financial services are being developed), over-integration of national economies.
At the beginning of the XXI century. under the influence of the global information system, the boundaries between technologies, industries, and sources of capital are disappearing. Various computer technologies grow together into a single integral information system, dragging along not only the information environment and information technologies, but also the markets for capital, goods and services, and labor. Now it is often difficult to determine the country - the manufacturer of the goods, the country - the source of capital.
Globalization is especially evident on the capital market: thanks to the information and technical power of modern means of communication, huge amounts of financial resources are rapidly moving from one point of the planet to another; the speed and direction of this movement is difficult to predict; they are instantly invested where they perform best.
In 1980, 4.6 million Americans owned shares of various funds, and in 2000 already half of the US population invested their money in the securities markets. At the same time, there was a "narrowing of space"; on the commodity market, this manifested itself in a sharp increase in world exports, which in half a century increased from $ 53 billion to $ 7 trillion.
Technological prerequisites for globalization computerization, miniaturization, fiber optics, increased use of satellites, the introduction of the Internet. The number of computers per capita, the number of CDs and digital disks, as well as the number of individuals using e-mail, as well as the number of Internet users, are becoming important indicators of the development of a country.
10. Correlation of globalization and global problems in the world economy
The deepening of the process of globalization, unfortunately, not only does not lead to the solution of global problems, but also contributes to the prosperity of a small group of industrialized countries and the degradation and impoverishment of the least developed countries of the world.
None of the global world problems, known since the middle of the 20th century, has yet been fully resolved: the creation of a mechanism for resolving issues of war and peace, disarmament, conversion, overcoming poverty, hunger, and disease. There is no paradigm for human development and survival in the context of global warming, a unified environmental protection program, and a joint search for new energy sources. Today, more than 80 thousand chemicals are used in everyday production that have a detrimental effect on human health.
Moreover, itself globalization gives rise to new global problems. Direct investments of transnational corporations do not always give an unequivocally positive result, for which they are called “instruments for preserving underdevelopment,” producing products that the country does not need with the help of unnecessary technology. Financial resources attracted through the globalization process “run away” as quickly as they come. In mid-1997, Western capital left Thailand, and in 1998 - South Korea and Indonesia, causing a financial shock in each of these countries.
Even in countries reaping the "sweet fruits" of globalization, there are occasional protests against alien values sold as universal (anti-globalization movement). The sharply increased severity of competition on a global scale leads to growing income inequality and a lack of job security. In industrialized countries, globalization is being rebuffed from both the left and the right of the political spectrum. The left sees the differentiation of consumption: the suffering of the poor and the over-enrichment of dozens of citizens, the right sees the erasure of national borders, the unification of national identity, the loss of jobs, the loss of clearly expressed national sovereignty.
The trade unions of the developed countries are also protesting against globalization. It is known that in the United States a worker earns an average of about $ 19 an hour, and a Mexican worker $ 1.50, which causes a massive outflow of production to Mexico.
Capital that has burst out into the global space finds those areas where wages are minimal, taxes are negligible, and government regulation is almost absent.
11. Ecological crisis as a global problem of humanity
The ecological problem has a long history, but it has become aggravated since the second half of the 19th century as the planet industrialized.
The aggravation of the ecological problem means a transition to a qualitatively new dependence of the population of the world community on the impoverished surrounding nature as a result of the barbaric impact of human activity on it.
The main directions of exacerbation of the environmental crisis:
Increased withdrawal from land use (area) of cultivated land as a result of excessive use of chemical fertilizers, soil salinization, wind and water erosion, etc .;
Chemical impact on agricultural and livestock products, water, human habitat, deforestation, etc .;
The growing volume of emissions of pollutants into the Earth's atmosphere (hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, etc.), leading to the gradual destruction of the ozone protective layer around the Earth's atmosphere;
The rapid build-up of waste, the transformation of significant land areas into landfills for various industrial waste. As a result, useful areas of land are reduced and territorial centers with increased danger to human life are expanding;
The growth in the number of nuclear power plants.
The so-called local wars in Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos, Afghanistan, Africa, Central America also influenced the acceleration of the ecological crisis. The vast expanses of the jungle, which were untouched for centuries, turned out to be literally scorched.
The links between the environment and the economy can be seen in many phenomena. The recent famine in sub-Saharan Africa was the result of severe environmental and economic degradation rather than drought alone, which undoubtedly was the catalyst for the disaster.
The problem of environmental safety is closely related to the achievement of economic security, the establishment of equal economic relations, excluding the predatory exploitation of natural resources, the export of polluting industries and hazardous waste, - this idea was emphasized at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, held in 1992 American scientist Brown, Director of the Washington Institute for World Observation , stressed in this regard that the extensive destruction of natural support systems and deteriorating environmental conditions pose a threat to national and international security, which now competes with the traditional military threat.
This is where the most developed forms of international cooperation are required on the basis of common criteria and generally recognized universal approaches.
12. International economic aspects of the food problem
Although food consumption in general is increasing in all regions, it is unevenly distributed across continents and across individual states:
1) industrial zones of the world, including Western and Northern Europe, North America, Australia and Japan - regions that are faced not with a shortage of high-quality food, but with its surplus;
2) regions of southern Europe and Central Asia, as well as most of the countries of Latin America, the Maghreb countries and ASEAN, in which food supply is at a level approaching the norm in terms of the requirements of the UN WHO;
3) the countries of Eastern Europe, the CIS and the Baltic countries, as well as India, Egypt, Indonesia, the food supply of which is at the "permissible" level of deviation from the norm according to the UN WHO standards;
4) developing countries, the overwhelming majority of whose population is just experiencing all the severities of the food crisis (a vivid example is the countries of the south of the Sahara).
The level of food production in countries of Eastern Europe, CIS and Baltic countries does not correspond to their real capabilities. Russia alone, possessing vast territories for the cultivation of various agricultural crops and animal husbandry, has enormous potential not only to fully provide its population with the necessary food, but also to provide assistance to other countries. However, at present the CIS countries and the Baltic countries are food importers.
Providing food for a rapidly growing population developing countries is one of the most pressing global problems of our time. The solution to the food problem of developing countries is associated with overcoming their economic, scientific and technological backwardness and lies on the path of radical socio-economic transformations, the elimination of backward forms of land tenure and land use, the rise of agriculture based on the introduction of advanced scientific methods of its management.
According to FAO estimates, the total number of people suffering from acute hunger in the early 1990s due to the food crisis in Africa is between 600 million and 700 million. The criterion of hunger in this assessment is its extreme degree, determined by the "critical level" of the body's energy needs, sufficient only for survival. If, however, a less rigid approach is applied to the definition of hunger, then the number of hungry in developing countries will be even greater. Hunger in the liberated countries is a massive and constant phenomenon that accompanies the daily life of broad strata of the population.
Chronic hunger causes irreparable damage to the reproduction of labor resources, shortens life expectancy, and contributes to maintaining a high mortality rate.
13. Global international cooperation and the UN. ECOSOC
United Nations Is the largest, universal and most authoritative international organization at the present time, designed to deal with the main political problems of concern to mankind. The political activity of the UN is inextricably linked with economic and social tasks directly related to world politics.
The preamble of the UN Charter states that its purpose is to promote the economic and social progress of all peoples. In duties UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) includes the organization of research and the preparation of various kinds of reports and recommendations on a wide range of international economic, social, cultural and other "related" issues. The Council prepares draft conventions for submission to the UN General Assembly, can convene international conferences on these issues. As the main coordinating body in this area, ECOSOC coordinates work with other UN organizations, holds consultations, involving for this purpose non-governmental organizations specializing and interested in the problem under consideration.
The main questions of ECOSOC:
The state of the world economic and social situation and the preparation of fundamental reviews and other analytical publications;
The state of international trade;
Environmental protection problems;
Economic, scientific and technical assistance to developing countries;
Various aspects of the food problem;
Problems of socio-economic statistics;
Population problems;
Natural resource problems;
Settlement problems;
Problems of planning and mobilizing financial resources, etc.
In the system of ECOSOC bodies there are five regional economic commissions: Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), Economic Commission for West Africa (EWA).
Environmental meeting held by EEC in 1979, adopted the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (entered into force in 1983) and the Declaration on Low-Waste and Non-Waste Technology and Waste Reuse.
Within the framework of ESCAP the project of trans-Asian railways and highways has been developed and is being implemented.
The document, which defined the economic policy of the continent's states for the 90s, was adopted at the 24th session ECA(1989). It is the Framework for the African Alternative to Structural Adjustment Programs for Economic Recovery and Transformation. The "alternative" is a real basis for halting Africa's slide into the now deepening economic crisis.
14. UN organizations
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is designed to regulate world trade relations. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created and operated outside the UN framework. Therefore, many countries set the UN the task of having in its structures an independent and universal body called on behalf of the world community to regulate complex problems of international trade. To this end, an autonomous UN body was founded in 1964 to facilitate international trade, negotiate and develop international treaties and recommendations in this area; it currently includes about 170 states. The main body of UNCTAD is a conference, which is convened in session twice a year. Sessions of UNCTAD committees are convened more often - on commodities, on finished goods and semi-finished products, on shipping, technology transfer, economic cooperation among developing countries, etc.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Within its framework, a Section for Integrated Industrial Projects was created: development, coordination and control over the implementation of individual large-scale technical projects, development and management of joint programs of technical cooperation with FAO. During the year, UNIDO is working on more than 100 interregional and global projects for the countries of Latin America and Asia in all sectors of the economy and training.
Environment program(UNEP): protection of soil and water, flora and fauna, socio-economic aspects of energy, urban development problems, cooperation in the field of education and exchange of information on environmental protection, practical implementation of the tasks of environmental safety.
The International Labour Organization(ILO): Development of international conventions and recommendations on labor and trade union rights.
Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO): Collect and compile information on nutrition, environmental management, agricultural production, forestry and fisheries. The main field of activity is the agriculture of the world.
Target European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD) - to provide financial assistance to the new states of Eurasia and Eastern Europe in carrying out economic reforms, in particular, in financing "privatization programs" and encouraging "private initiative" and "entrepreneurial spirit". The bank actually started functioning only in 1993. In 1994-1997, some technical assistance was provided to a number of countries, but it is clear that the EBRD's capabilities are limited and any significant financial impact on the CIS members, the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe is unrealistic to expect.
15. Natural resources and their role in the world economy
The world economy is based on the use of significant reserves of natural resources. The economic activity of economic agents is unthinkable without soil cover, minerals, fresh water, solar and wind energy, precipitation moisture, biological (flora and fauna) resources.
All elements of nature used in economic activity and being the means of human existence form the natural resource potential of the world economy. All natural resources are subdivided into real ones, i.e. identified by modern survey methods, technically available and economically viable, and potential, i.e. resources, the volume of which is set theoretically and has a forecast character.
Potential resources are resources of the future. Due to their current economic unprofitability, they can be involved in production under conditions of a qualitatively new level of development of scientific and technological progress.
Classification is important on the principle of exhaustion. From this point of view, all resources are divided into exhaustible and inexhaustible.
The demand for exhaustible resources sharply exceeds their volumes and the rate of their natural replenishment, which leads to the depletion of these resources.
Based on the intensity and rate of natural renewal exhaustible resources are divided into non-renewable (all types of mineral and land resources), renewable (flora and fauna) and relatively renewable (productive arable soils, mature forests).
16. Stocks of mineral raw materials and energy resources in the world (coal, oil)
Despite the significant development of geological exploration (primarily in developed countries), the study of the subsoil is still insufficient. The specific weight of proven reserves for some types of minerals sometimes amounts to several percent of geological reserves.
Among the fuel and energy resources, the world's largest reserves coal. Its geological reserves, according to some estimates, reach 9-11 trillion tons (in conventional fuel), and of brown coal and lignite - 2.2 trillion tons. If we compare the figure of world reserves with world coal production - over 4.3 billion tons in 1994 (in terms of conventional fuel - 3.1 billion tons), it turns out that it will be enough for 3000–3700 years with modern production (and for 1000 years with a production level possible in 2020). Explored coal reserves are much less than geological - 1.2 trillion tons.
Of this total, the United States accounts for 430 billion tons, Germany - 100 billion, England - 50 billion, India - 29 billion, Canada - 50 billion, Australia - 90 billion and the CIS - 290 billion tons. The bulk of coal is mined in the CIS, USA, China, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and England.
In the United States, by the mid-90s, about 900 million tons of coal were mined annually. About 1/10 of the coal is exported. The coal industry has excess capacity due to the displacement of coal by other more efficient fuels. Coal production is declining in European countries. In England, mines are closed in connection with the depletion of coal reserves and the rise in the cost of its production, as well as the displacement of coal by oil from the North Sea. Production decreased in France and Russia.
The share of coal in the world consumption of energy resources (in terms of equivalent fuel) at the beginning of the XX century. was 56%, and in 1995 - 27%. In the coming years, the ratio between the types of energy resources consumed in the world will change towards a decrease in the proportion of oil, the sources of which are limited. The share of consumption of coal, natural gas and nuclear energy will grow.
Reliable reserves oil are 127 billion tons of standard fuel and probable - 360 billion tons of standard fuel. In addition, the probable reserves of oil from unconventional sources - oil shale and tar sands - amount to 750 billion tons. Reliable oil reserves from traditional sources in the world are distributed as follows (in%): in the Near and Middle East (in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq) - 70, in Africa (in Nigeria, Algeria, Libya) - 9–11, in North America - 8–10, in Central and South America - 5, in Western Europe - 5. Currently, slightly less than half traditional oil reserves are located on coastal shelves.
Oil is likely to remain the main fuel and energy resource for a long time to come. It is estimated that in 2020 the share of oil in world energy consumption will be at least 10%. It should be borne in mind that with the existing production technique, on average only 30–35% of the oil in the Earth's interior is extracted to the surface.
17. Stocks of mineral raw materials and energy resources in the world (natural gas, iron ore, etc.)
The world has natural gas(in terms of fuel equivalent) 79 billion tons of proven reserves and 276 billion tons of probable reserves (66 trillion and 230 trillion cubic meters, respectively, in physical terms). The largest proven gas reserves are located in developing countries - Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Near and Middle East, as well as in Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mexico. Among developed countries, the USA, Canada, Australia have significant gas reserves, and in Europe - Great Britain, Norway and Holland (North Sea reserves). In many of these countries, gas reserves have been discovered over the past 15–20 years, and there is reason to believe that further discoveries are possible.
The production of natural gas in the world reaches 1.7 trillion cubic meters per year. This figure will increase and may double by the middle of the 21st century. The share of gas in global energy consumption is estimated to be about 15% by 2020.
Geological potential reserves iron ore estimated in trillions of tons. The resources of known deposits, including those whose use is currently economically unprofitable, reach about 600 billion tons, and the proven and probable reserves - 260 billion tons. The largest deposits of iron ore in the world are in Brazil, Australia, Canada, the USA, South Africa, and among European countries - France, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and Norway. There are large deposits of iron ore in the CIS and China. The iron content in the known deposits of industrial ores for the most part does not exceed 40%. Poor ores with an iron content of 30–35% and less undergo the beneficiation process at mining and processing plants. Rich ores - with an iron content of more than 45% - are used without beneficiation.
The production of iron ore in the world is about 870 million tons per year. In recent years, its production has decreased significantly and the production of ferrous metallurgy has decreased. Steel production capacity decreased as the demand for it decreased, in particular in the automotive industry. Steel is being replaced by plastics, heavy-duty ceramics, and other materials.
General stocks bauxite(raw materials for the production of aluminum) amount to 50 billion tons, of which reliable and probable - about 20 billion tons. The production of bauxite reaches 80 million tons, mainly in Australia, Guinea, Jamaica.
General stocks copper ore are determined at 860 million tons, of which reliable and probable - 450 million tons. There are data on 363 million tons of assumed and 290 million tons of theoretically possible resources. The bulk of the total reserves of copper ores are located in the United States, Chile, Zaire, Zambia, as well as in Canada, Panama, and Peru. About 8 million tons of these ores are mined annually.
Limited stocks and other non-ferrous metals- lead, tin, zinc. Total lead reserves are 200 million tons, reliable and probable - 100 million tons. Most of the reserves are located in the USA, Australia, Canada. Lead production is about 2.5 million tons annually. The total reserves of tin are 8.3 million tons, of which reliable and probable are 3.8 million tons (India, then Thailand, Bolivia).
18. Natural resources for agriculture
The natural resources, which are increasingly used in the course of the development of society and create the conditions for its existence, primarily include the earth - this is the basis, basis, living space of a person. From this value of the land as a space in which society exists, its active importance in production differs, primarily as the basis of agriculture, as the main means of production of food and raw materials. The land covered with forest - a source of obtaining wood and other raw materials, must also be attributed to the production sphere, since the forest is used and reproduced by society. Finally, the bowels of the earth contain various types of mineral raw materials, are the environment that contains them, fossils also serve as means of production.
Of the total surface area of the Earth of 510 million km 2, land accounts for 149 million km 2. Agricultural land occupies 51 million km 2 and forested areas - 38 million km 2. In the structure of agricultural land, arable land and perennial plantings account for 13.4 million km 2, hayfields and pastures - 37.4 million km 2. Thus, on average, per capita in the world there is 0.3 hectares of arable land - the main source of food and fodder. In recent years, arable land has been declining absolutely, not to mention a relative decline (per capita), due to population growth, especially in developing countries. In individual countries, the area of arable land per capita varies sharply. So, in the USA, per capita there is 0.67 hectares of arable land, in the Federal Republic of Germany - 0, 12, in the UK - 0, 11, in Japan - 0.03 hectares.
There are reserves in the world for increasing the cultivated areas: several million square kilometers of land that could be used for agricultural needs, but their development requires significant capital investments. Therefore, in order to increase food production, the first step is to improve the use of available agricultural land. Most of the cultivated land is in the Northern Hemisphere. More than half in Europe and Asia and 15% in North America. The bulk of food is also produced in these countries.
More than half of the area is occupied cereals. The production of grain and leguminous crops on the planet in 1994 reached 1,658 million tons, including in China - 403 million, in the USA - 359 million, in India - 227 million, in Russia - 81, 3 million, in France - 57, 1 million, in Brazil - 49, 2 million, in Canada - 49 million, in Argentina - 24, 9 million tons. Over the past 25 years, the production of grain and legumes has doubled.
Urbanization, the development of industry, transport lead to the alienation of agricultural land, their sale for other needs. Alienation of suitable land for cultivation directly reduces the ability to produce food. Significant damage to land resources is caused by the deterioration of their condition, degradation due to erosion, deflation, waste pollution, which is facilitated by imperfect methods of land cultivation, its overload, and depletion.
19. Use of natural resources for agriculture
Agriculture Development in the first place in the world are USA. This is facilitated by favorable natural conditions, vast flat areas, a temperate climate, which changes to subtropical in the south, and sufficient moisture. Agricultural lands occupy over half of the country's territory. Agricultural exports are growing, labor productivity has increased with a decrease in the number of agricultural workers (1.7% of those employed in the national economy, or 3.1 million people). The high level of labor productivity in agriculture is based on its wide mechanization. Farms in recent years have been in a state of aggravating crisis. Dealers of agricultural products get big profits, farmers go bankrupt.
Areas of irrigated land are growing; they collect up to 1/4 of the harvest. All surface water in the western United States is practically distributed; mainly groundwater is used, including from the very vast Ogallala groundwater body.
Wind erosion and deflation negatively affect the soil. When the soil dries up and deep plowing, the fertile layer is blown out.
Significant depletion of land resources occurs in countries of Asia. This is the result of primitive farming in conditions of rapid population growth, cultivation of the same crops, plowing of new unproductive lands, overloading of pastures. In South and Southeast Asia, a slash farming system is used: slash-and-slash, in which the decay products of felled forest are used, and slash-and-burn, based on burning wood and using ash. Such predatory methods of farming accelerate soil degradation, their disposal, lead to land salinization and desertification.
Rapid processes of erosion and deflation, as well as general depletion of arable and rangelands, occur in countries Africa, where backward methods of farming are widespread. On pasture lands, the vegetation cover degrades due to overgrazing. Desertification is underway, involving thousands of square kilometers of semi-arid lands in the regions north and south of the Sahara. In the Sahara, the Sahel, on the Kalahari Plain, dust storms occur, and their intensity is so great that sand and dust are sometimes transported across the Atlantic Ocean and reach the West Indies.
In countries Latin America the area of agricultural land is expanding, which is largely due to the reduction of forest areas. The slash-and-burn farming system is widely used, which is why erosion and deflation cover most of the cultivated land in these countries.
V Australia the development of cattle breeding for several decades has led to the deterioration of pasture lands; periodic droughts also contributed to this; plowing in the “wheat-sheep breeding belt” caused erosion processes. Measures are being taken for land reclamation, backfilling of ravines, plowing across slopes, tinning of eroded lands, and construction of water-retaining shafts.
20. Forest resources. Their importance in the global economy
The forest is of great importance for life on Earth. With the help of light energy absorbed by the chlorophyll of plants, i.e. by photosynthesis, organic substances are formed, necessary and the plants themselves, and all others living organisms. This is one of the main biological processes taking place on Earth. More than 100 billion tons of organic matter is formed on the Earth annually, half of which is accounted for by terrestrial vegetation, mainly forests. The forest covers with its underground and aboveground multi-tiered structures more than other plants, a part of the biosphere, counting per unit of occupied area.
Worldwide, the forested area reaches 36 million km 2, which is 27% of the land area. The bulk of the forested area is within the CIS - 8.1 million km 2, in the USA - 2 million, in Canada - 2.6 million, in Brazil - 3.2 million km 2. Large areas are covered by forest in India, Angola, Colombia, Mexico, Peru.
Forest - source of wood, construction material, raw materials for pulp and paper, woodworking, including furniture, and other industries. The total timber reserves in all forests in the world are 360 billion m 3. The development of logging depends not only on the available timber resources, but also on the quality of forestry. It is characteristic that in Sweden and Finland, which have a small stock of wood - only 4.1 billion m3 of all species and 3.4 billion m3 of conifers - the removal of wood is about 100 million dense m3, or almost 1/8 of the total removal. developed capitalist countries.
Taking the annual growth of timber as 1% of its total volume in the forests of the world, i.e. 3, 6 billion m 3, we get that about 80% of the annual forest growth is harvested. But from this ratio it is still impossible to conclude that forests are used rationally. First of all, logging in general is growing rapidly. So, in the mid-50s, they amounted to 1.5 billion cubic meters per year. By 2000, with the same increase, they reached 3.3 billion cubic meters, i.e. almost equal to the annual growth of wood.
Along with wood, a number of other types of forest products: various types of technical raw materials, for example, resin for the production of rosin and turpentine, gutta-percha for the production of rubber, tanning agents, organic dyes and other wood chemistry products. The forest has significant food and feed resources(wild berries and fruits, mushrooms, nuts, honey plants, birch sap). The annual harvest of all types of forest food products is measured in tens of millions of tons, but only a small part of this amount is used.
Are important forest products(fruits, foliage, needles, bark, roots) for the production of medicines. There are widely known very effective medicines obtained from sea buckthorn, lemongrass, ginseng, lily of the valley and many other forest plants, shrubs and trees. It should be noted the role of forests in protecting soil, protecting fresh water sources, performing recreational functions, etc.
21. General concepts of demography
Population information is obtained on the basis of regularly conducted (usually once every 10 or 5 years) general population censuses, and in the intervals between them - by means of calculations based on census data as a basis. In many countries, there have been no censuses for a long time, so the total population is considered an approximate estimate.
According to the UN, in 2005 the population of the Earth was 6.5 billion people and will continue to grow and in 2050 will amount to approximately 9.1 billion people.
The labor force and the population movement as a whole deals with demography- a science that, on the basis of social, economic, biological and geographical factors, explores the patterns occurring in the structure, dynamics, as well as the distribution and movement of the population. On the basis of this, a population policy is being developed, predictive estimates of changes in the population of a country, a region and the world economy as a whole are made.
In demographic statistics are used odds fertility (the number of births per 1,000 citizens of the country, measured in per thousand), mortality (the number of deaths per 1,000 citizens, in per thousand), marriage rates, vital rates - the difference between fertility and mortality rates.
Odds are most often calculated for calendar year. Coefficient mortality(fertility): the number of deaths (or births) per year is divided by the average population (of the country or other study area) for the same year, after which the quotient of the division is multiplied by 1000.
Average population for a given year: population as of June 30 of the year in question (or calculate the arithmetic average of the population as of January 1 of this and next year). In the same way, and marriage rate: the count may be based on the number of marriages contracted, or the number of newlyweds, which is twice the number of marriages contracted.
As a result of fertility and mortality, there is a process of continuous renewal of the population, which is called "reproduction". To observe the dynamics of the population, its annual growth is determined. Annual growth rate- this is the population growth during the year under consideration (i.e. between two consecutive January 1) as an arithmetic mean:
P = (P r / P m) x 1000,
where P g is the increase during the year; Р m is the average number of the population during the year.
With the exception of periods of war, epidemics and famine, the birth rate slightly exceeded the death rate; annual population growth usually reaches several units per 1000, with the upper limit being 10 per 1000, or 1%. In order to assess the extent to which a given generation has ensured its replacement, it is necessary to trace this generation from the moment of its birth until it gives birth to its descendants. Full generation replacement is observed if 1000 people of a given generation, taken into account from the moment of their birth, gave birth to 1000 newborns (living).
22. Types and characteristics of reproduction in different groups of countries
Analysis of the dynamics of the world's population shows that in most European countries, as well as in the countries of North America in the 19th and 20th centuries, the death rate of the population decreased. In other states of the world, a noticeable decrease in the mortality rate of the population began only after the collapse of the colonial system, i.e. mainly after the Second World War. The prerequisites for the decrease in mortality were: a) a general increase in the standard of living of the population; b) improving health care; c) carrying out preventive measures to prevent diseases, primarily infections.
Thus, one can point to two characteristic types of demographic transition to a new type of reproduction:
1) "Classic", or European, type: the transition from high levels of mortality and fertility to low ones takes place over a long time, and the fertility rate in most cases exceeds the mortality rate by an amount significantly less than 10%, which leads to a slowdown in population growth;
2) "Modern" type: a decrease in the overall mortality rate for a shorter period than in the first case, to a level of about 10%, with a stabilization or increase in a significant birth rate.
This ratio of fertility and mortality rates means rapid population growth: a doubling of its size over a period of about 20 years. Measures to regulate the birth rate in some countries contribute to its decline. Individual countries are characterized by numerous features of these processes, which often complicate the task of their classification.
Generally developing countries can be attributed to the "modern" type of demographic reproduction. A number of developing countries have very low overall mortality rates due to a “young” age structure. At the same time, the level of age and sex mortality is higher than in the economically developed countries of the West.
However, sometimes it appears specific type of reproduction, when the mortality rate begins to exceed the birth rate, and the result is a coefficient of vital movement of the population with a minus sign (i.e., there is a natural decline in the population - depopulation). Trends of this kind are clearly evident in modern Russia.
According to the latest census (2002), the resident population of the Russian Federation was 145.2 million, which is 1.8 million more than the current estimate of the population. As of December 1, 2005, the population was 142.8 million. In 2005, the population decreased by 0.5% (680 thousand people).
23. Urbanization. Urban and rural population
Urbanization- a multilateral socio-economic, demographic and geographical process taking place on the basis of historically established forms of social and territorial division of labor. In a narrower, demographic and statistical understanding, urbanization is the growth of cities, especially large ones, an increase in the proportion of the urban population in a country, region, and the world.
The development of the urbanization process is closely related to features of the formation of the urban population, inclusion of suburban areas in the urban environment or assignment to urban administrative subordination, transformation of rural settlements into urban ones. In fact, the growth of the urban population also occurs due to the formation of wide suburban areas and urbanized areas. The living conditions of the population in these areas are increasingly approaching those in big cities.
The outstripping growth of the urban and non-agricultural population in comparison with the rural and agricultural population is the most characteristic feature of modern urbanization.
In three parts of the world - Australia and Oceania, North Africa, Europe - urban dwellers prevail; rapidly urbanizing Latin America is catching up with them; at the same time, the population of Afro-Asian countries, due to their large numbers, creates an advantage of the countryside over the city on average throughout the world. The developed countries have the highest percentage of the urban population. In Europe - Great Britain (91%), Sweden (87%), Germany (85%), Denmark (84%), France (78%), Netherlands (76%), Spain (74%), Belgium (72%) ; in North America - USA (77%), Canada (76%); in Asia - Israel (89%), Japan (78%); in Australia and Oceania - Australia (89%), New Zealand (85%); in Africa - South Africa (50%). When the share of the urban population exceeds 70%, the rate of its growth, as a rule, slows down and gradually (when approaching 80%) stops.
Urbanization is characterized by concentration of the population in large and super-large cities. It is the growth of large cities (with a population of over 100 thousand people), the associated new forms of settlement and the spread of the urban way of life that most clearly reflect the process of urbanization.
At the end of the XX century. a qualitatively new phenomenon of urbanization - megacities(cities with a population of over 20 million people) - also originated in developing countries. By the 60s of the XX century. there were only 2 megacities in the world (New York and London), then Mexico City, Tokyo - Yokohama, Big Bombay, Calcutta, Jakarta, Dhaka, Karachi, Madras, Bangkok were added.
In 2000, the urban population was about 48% of the world's population. The most urbanized region is Western Europe; the least urbanized is Africa.
24. Employment. Economically active and passive population
Employment- This is the activity of the able-bodied population to create a social product or national income. Providing an opportunity for everyone who is willing and able to work in social production ideally leads to full employment.
Employment in social production does not exhaust all types of useful employment, such as studying in general and special educational institutions, military service, employment in the household, raising children, caring for the sick and the elderly, etc.
Accounting for all types of economic and socially useful activities is reflected in the concept global employment. Outside of it are those who, for subjective or objective reasons, could not find a useful field of activity that does not contradict the law.
Employment in social production is of decisive importance from the point of view of the development of society itself, i.e. productive employment. The ratio of productive employment with other types of useful employment makes it possible to determine rational employment.
In international statistics, the categories are widely used "economically active population" and “Economically inactive population”.
According to the ILO recommendations to economically active the population includes all persons who participate in the production of goods and services, including the production of goods for the market, through barter channels and for personal use: persons of hired labor - workers and employees; independent workers; unpaid family members; seasonal and casual workers; persons temporarily not working for objective reasons (illness, vacation, etc.); students combining study with part-time work; apprentices and persons undergoing vocational training in production and receiving either a scholarship or a salary.
In different countries, the definition of the economically active population differs somewhat, for example, according to the age of entry into active working life (USA - from 15 years old, in Sweden - 16 years old). Differences by category: In the UK, the economically active population does not include part-time students or job seekers. The economically active population for the current period in the countries of the market economy is defined as "work force".
The labor status of the economically active population is quantified by the number of weeks or days worked in a certain period of time (12 months or one calendar year). By the amount of time worked, the economically active population is subdivided into employed, unemployed and part-time workers.
TO economically inactive to the population, international statistics includes everyone who, regardless of age, is not included in the category of the economically active population: full-time students, housewives, old-age and disability pensioners, rentiers, persons receiving material support from public organizations and individuals; employed in unpaid public work, persons providing voluntary, free services, etc.
25. International labor migration
The rapidly occurring internationalization of production and capital is accompanied by the internationalization of the labor market. International migration has become an integral part of the modern system of the world economy.
In countries that actively employ foreign workers, entire sectors of the economy are dependent on labor imports. In France immigrants make up 1/4 of those employed in construction, 1/3 in the automotive industry; v Belgium- half of the miners; v Switzerland- 40% of all construction workers, etc. At the same time, for most developing countries that export labor, abandoning it would mean the loss of an important source of foreign exchange. So, if in Egypt the operation of the Suez Canal at the end of the 80s gave a profit of $ 970 million, and tourism - 600 million, then immigrant remittances - $ 3.1 billion.
The number of foreign workers in Western Europe is 4, 1-6, 5 million, in USA- 5-5.6 million, in Latin America- 3.5-4 million, in countries Middle East and North Africa - 2, 8 million, in West Africa- 1.3 million people.
First Immigration Center formed in Western Europe, where foreign labor began to be used on a permanent basis. The EU has 13 million immigrants and their family members, including about 8 million (or 61%) from non-EU countries. In Germany, foreign labor makes up 8% of the total employed, in France - 7, Switzerland and Luxembourg - up to 30%.
But the special role of foreigners as an additional labor force for the countries of immigration was that young people, as a rule, up to 25 years old, suitable for intensive work and physical exertion, mainly participated in interstate movement.
Until recently, foreign workers were used mainly in those spheres where the share of manual labor is high (construction, service sector), and in those industries where work is too dangerous, dirty, or considered not prestigious for the local population. Here the share of foreigners is very high, sometimes it reaches 70%, which means that such enterprises are already “oriented” towards using the foreign labor force.
Second Immigration Center Traditionally, the United States is the country, whose workforce has historically developed precisely at the expense of immigrants. Now the arriving labor force is constantly about 5%, and in coastal areas and more (counting those who did not have time to assimilate).
Third center- in the region of oil-producing countries of the Middle East. Until recently, it was the third center of immigration: in the UAE the share of the labor force is about 90%, in Qatar - over 80, in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - almost 40, in Oman - 34%. The main exporter of labor in the region is Egypt (75% of the total number of immigrants).
Fourth center- in Latin America: Argentina and Venezuela accept workers from neighboring countries. The total number of immigrants is 3 million, the vast majority are Hispanics. The most common form is rural seasonal migration. Longer-term migration is typical for workers in industry and services.
26. Scientific and technical potential (STP) in the world economy
Scientific and technical potential of the state (industry, a separate branch)- a set of scientific and technical capabilities that characterize the level of development of a given state as a subject of the world economy and depend on the quantity and quality of resources that determine these capabilities, as well as on the availability of a fund of ideas and developments prepared for practical use (introduction into production). In the process of practical assimilation of innovations, the materialization of scientific and technical potential occurs.
Scientific research, especially in the field of natural and technical sciences, is increasingly becoming an integral part of the process of material production, and applied research and experimental design development can practically be considered an integral part of this process.
The science is a complex and very difficult to measure system that embodies the results of people's intellectual activity, an ordered set of their ideas, knowledge and experience. As a result, the study of the results of scientific and technical activities is fraught with a number of difficulties.
The main components of the scientific and technological progress: provision of the country with scientific and technical personnel and material and technical support of research activities. The main "quality" components: organization of a science management system; provision of scientific and technical information; main directions of scientific research.
The development of scientific and technological progress testifies to the onset of a qualitatively new stage in world development, which is manifested in the following: 1) the economy is experiencing continuous innovation process, during which transformations in the technological, organizational and social spheres merge. At the same time, a new model for the development and use of human resources, focused on a highly skilled workforce integrated into the production system; 2) gains priority intangible accumulation, including investment in a person, in comparison with material accumulation; 3) turns into the most important productive force information. Its production, processing, distribution, creation of information infrastructure and information networks are becoming necessary conditions for competitiveness and economic growth; 4) industry-specific range of services, performing important production functions in the modern reproduction process, becomes the main sphere of employment of the population; 5) the mobility of public institutions, vocational qualifications and social class structures increases; 6) social control over capital is increasing, social expenditures of corporations are increasing, the role of social guidelines in the development of the whole society is increasing; 7) the spread of powerful information systems enhances the interconnectedness of the states of the world. However, many critical problems facing society (destruction of the natural environment, limited resources, wealth and poverty, terrorism, etc.) also acquire a global character.
27. STP as the basis of economic growth
Analysis of trends in the financial and staffing of scientific activities shows that its scale in developed countries continues to grow. R&D expenditures at the macro level are growing, but the share of R&D expenditures in GNP tends to stabilize at below 3% (except for Japan, where this indicator is surpassed).
Increasing the scale of scientific activity is a positive factor in economic growth. American scientist F. Scherer formulated "Natural law of technical progress": R&D costs in each individual country should grow faster than the production of the gross national product at a rate. At the same time, the optimal scale of resource provision for science is 3% of GNP.
Reasons for sustainable long-term growth in the knowledge intensity of the economy: the rise in the cost of research and development in connection with the use of highly skilled labor and sophisticated science-intensive equipment on a growing scale; "maintaining stable funding for scientific divisions of corporations or even increasing it in the years of both normal and unfavorable economic conditions; technological convergence, which requires firms to train experts in broader fields of science and technology, to carry out developments in a wider range of related technologies; life cycles of high-tech goods (frequent change of generations of computers, household appliances); constantly growing demand for high-tech products on the part of healthcare (diagnostics, medicines).
Modern Russia is characterized by a gradual and steady decline in the share of spending on science in GDP, a transition to indicators that are typical, at best, for medium-developed countries. According to Goskomstat, the share of R&D in GDP fell to 1.6% in 2005 (at the level of India, Canada, Brazil).
Process prioritization involves simultaneously taking into account at least four factors: 1) national ideas (ensuring national security, competitiveness of the economy, development of education, health care); 2) the need to solve the most acute problems of this period, for example, saving energy (70s), environmental protection (80s), fighting AIDS (late 80s - early 90s); 3) the implementation of modern scientific achievements, for example, the results of molecular biology or genetic engineering, and in the more distant future - the phenomenon of superconductivity; 4) the real possibilities of national scientific schools.
Comparison of the list of NTP priorities of different countries, for example, OECD countries, leads, first of all, to the conclusion that most of the positions are significantly similar. Among the recurring positions in the lists of state priorities: technologies for the production of new materials, information technology, communications, biotechnology, health and environmental protection; space research plays an important role.
In the long term, common priorities will retain their importance, but they will increasingly fit into the solution of global tasks of preserving man and nature.
28. The concept of the sectoral structure of the economy
Sectoral structure of the economy broadly understood, it is a set of qualitatively homogeneous groups of economic units characterized by special conditions of production in the system of social division of labor and playing a specific role in the process of expanded reproduction.
Sectoral shifts at the macro level, if we consider them in a long historical framework, manifested themselves first in the rapid growth of "primary industries" (agriculture and mining), then "secondary" (industry and construction), and in the last period - "tertiary industries" ( services sector).
In world practice, the basis for the formation of the structural elements of the economy is the International Standard Industrial Classification of all types of economic activity and the International Standard Classification of Occupations, which are part of the SNA. The SNA provides for the use of two types of classifications - by industry and by sector. The grouping by industry provides a characteristic of the sectoral structure of the economy, makes it possible to establish the contribution of each industry to the creation of GDP, and to trace inter-industry relations and proportions. The grouping by sectors of the economy, formed depending on the functions performed by economic units in the economic process, allows you to analyze the processes in the field of distribution and redistribution of income, investment financing. A special place in the system of national accounts is occupied by intersectoral balances, which, depending on the goals of economic analysis, can include from several tens to several thousand industries.
Basic industries for developing intersectoral balances are industry, agriculture, construction, trade, transport and communications, other sectors (they mainly include the service sector). Each sector of the economy, in turn, is divided into the so-called enlarged industries, branches and types of production. Each of the enlarged industries includes homogeneous industries that are specialized in the production of certain types of products.
When attributing an enterprise, types of production and services to a particular branch of the economy taken into account the purpose of the product or services, the type of basic raw materials and materials, the nature of the technological process. In a number of cases, difficulties arise when attributing a specific section of the economy to a particular industry. This is due to the fact that as a result of specialization, products that are homogeneous in purpose are often manufactured using various technologies, from various raw materials, etc. In addition, there is penetration process techniques and methods from one industry to another. Products for a wide variety of purposes are produced from the same raw materials.
29. Sectoral structure of modern industry
Industry is the main, leading branch of material production, in which the predominant part of the gross domestic product and national income is created; its share in the aggregate GDP of developed countries is about 40%.
Modern industry consists from a variety of independent industries, including a large group of related enterprises and production associations located at a considerable territorial distance from each other.
Sectoral structure of industry characterized by the composition of industries, their quantitative ratios, expressing certain production relationships between them. The sectoral structure of industry is determined by finding the share of sectors in the total volume of production, the number of employees and the value of the basic production assets of the industry.
The main one is indicator of the volume of production: makes it possible to judge the ratio of industries, their interconnections, the dynamics of the sectoral structure of industry.
When determining the sectoral structure of industry by employment rate the share of more labor-intensive industries will be overestimated, and the share of industries with a high level of mechanization and automation will be underestimated.
The sectoral structure of industry reflects the level of industrial development of the country and its economic independence, the degree of technical equipment of the industry and the leading role of this industry in the economy as a whole. The progressiveness of the structure of industry is judged by the composition and specific weight of the branches included in the industry, by how perfect the intra-branch structure of a particular branch of industry is.
Factors determining changes in the sectoral structure of industry: 1) STP and the degree of implementation of its results in production; 2) the level of social division of labor, the development of specialization and cooperation of production; 3) the growth of material needs of the population; 4) socio-historical conditions in which industry is developing; 5) natural resources of the country.
The classification of industries is based on the next principles: economic purpose of manufactured products; the nature of the functioning of products in the production process; the homogeneity of the intended purpose of the manufactured products, the commonality of the processed raw materials, the similarity of the technology used; the nature of the impact on the subject of labor, etc.: 1) V system of national accounts the classification of industries is used according to one of the following signs: the homogeneity of the intended purpose of the manufactured products (engineering, fuel, food), the commonality of the raw materials (metalworking and woodworking), the similarity of the applied technology (chemical industry). Most of the industries are covered by the attribute intended purpose their products; 2) by the nature of the impact on the subject of labor: extractive and processing industries.
30. Dynamics of the sectoral structure of modern industry
The current stage of economic development of the leading countries of the world is characterized by major shifts in the structure of the economy, which leads to irreversibility of the transition to new intersectoral and reproductive proportions. This was also influenced by such factors as the raw materials and energy crises, which contributed to the rise in the cost of raw materials and energy carriers, and, consequently, equipment and construction. The investment process has become more complicated, in general, production costs have increased significantly. All this not only caused, but also intensified the tendency towards an increase in the cost of the reproduction process itself.
Passing structural adjustment is aimed at improvement of quality parameters of production and manufactured products, strengthening of resource-saving type of reproduction, intensification of national economic processes, accelerated development of the latest science-intensive industries. Structural changes are taking place in the sectoral and reproduction sections. Structural transformations began to be carried out at the micro level - the level of subsectors and types of production - mainly due to qualitative changes within traditional sectors of the economy.
Wherein industry remains the leading branch of material production and above all mechanical engineering, where scientific and technical achievements are accumulated. Therefore, it is in it that the tendency towards a decrease in the proportion of raw materials, energy carriers, living labor is most noticeable; in the structure of industry, the share of the latest high-tech industries is rapidly growing.
The share of the mining industry is declining(with an increase in costs for exploration, drilling and production of gas, oil, etc.). At the same time, the latest progressive technological processes are increasingly penetrating into it, microprocessors and microcircuits are being introduced, which have a tremendous impact on the structure of production and contribute to the massive release of labor from the production process.
Complex automation of production, development of "unmanned" technology - the leading directions of scientific and technological progress.
In general, in the last decades in industrially developed countries, the general pattern of sectoral shifts consists in a noticeable decrease in the share of raw materials industries and agriculture, in the technical modernization of industry and the rapid growth of service industries. The most radical changes are taking place at the level of sub-sectors, within which science-intensive industries have the highest dynamics.
31. Fuel and energy complex, development trends
Branches of the fuel and energy complex (FEC) are capital-intensive industries. In industrialized countries, where all its branches are represented, usually the main capital investments within the range of up to 85% are in the oil and gas industry and the electric power industry (approximately in equal shares) and up to 15% in the oil refining and coal industry. Investments in the oil industry have a significant impact on the investment process in the fuel and energy complex as a whole.
The cyclical nature of business development in the oil industry due to the fact that decisions to increase investment in the oil industry are made at a time when there is a shortage of oil on the markets, accompanied by an increase in prices and profits. At this time, there is a revival of the investment process in this industry, and an increase in production volumes begins in about 10 years. An excess of oil supply over demand appears on the oil markets, prices begin to decline, which is also accompanied by a decrease in investment until the excess oil disappears. This period also lasts about 10 years. Over the past 100 years, there have been five such cycles, each lasting from 20 to 22 years, and these cycles did not necessarily coincide with the development cycles of the entire economy.
In the period up to 2010, there will be an increase in oil prices, and capital investments will revive.
Investment in development electric power industry less prone to such cyclical changes. Annual investment in this industry will be (with some fluctuations in one direction or another) in the range of $ 100 billion per year.
In the long term until 2015, according to experts' forecasts, the average annual growth rate of electricity generation in the world will be about 2.7%, however, significant differences have emerged both in the rates of development of the electric power industry in industrialized and developing countries, and in the ratio of the use of various types of fuel for power generation.
In the long term, industrialized countries are expected to see very little growth in their own production. primary energy resources (PER). As a result of this, with a steady downward trend in oil production in these countries emerging, the dependence of these countries on the import of PER from third countries will increase.
In the structure of PER consumption for oil, it is obvious that the first place will remain not only until 2015, but also for many years to come beyond this period. However, the share of oil in the total PER consumption will gradually decrease. Consumption of natural gas will grow at a faster pace. By 2015, in the structure of PER consumption, gas will come to the second place, coal to the third. The main share will remain for PER of organic origin (over 92%).
Share electricity from nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and other energy sources in the total PER consumption of industrialized countries by 2015 will increase to 7.4% compared to 6.5% in 1990. At the same time, the growth rate of the use of nuclear power will be no more than 0.9-1% per year , while from hydroelectric power plants and renewable energy sources will exceed 3% per year.
32. Agro-industrial complex and tendencies of its development
Agro-industrial complex (AIC)- this is a fairly general concept, which means a unified system of agricultural and industrial enterprises and industries that has developed in social production, united by integration (close, long-term) production and commercial ties based on ownership or contractual (contracting) relations and covering the entire agro-industrial chain: production important means of production for agriculture, their transportation, production of initial agricultural products, their storage, transportation, processing and marketing of finished products or products.
The agro-industrial complex is divided into three areas:
1) branches of industry supplying means of production for agriculture and related industries, as well as providing production and technical services to agriculture;
2) agriculture itself;
3) industries engaged in processing and bringing agricultural products to the consumer (procurement, processing, storage, transportation, sale).
A number of industries entirely (or almost entirely) serve the needs of the agro-industrial complex (production of agricultural machinery, fertilizers, equipment for animal husbandry and fodder production, etc.). Other industries are only partially engaged in meeting the needs of the agro-industrial complex. They are included in the functional structure of the agro-industrial complex only to the extent that their products are used for the needs of the agro-industrial complex.
Formation of the agro-industrial complex- a new stage in the development of social production, based on the development of the productive forces of agriculture, the "industrial revolution" in agriculture, which, in this sense, has, as it were, caught up with industry. However, this does not mean that the technical and technological level of millions of peasant farms has reached the level existing in industry. Unfortunately, in the world, and especially in developing countries, tools and implements are still widespread, which have come in our time from time immemorial and do not correspond to modern industrial productive forces. But humanity has created new material means of production for agriculture, close in their parameters (productivity, energy intensity, economy of living labor, etc.) to the means of production of industry, the technological level of world agriculture approached the technological level of industry. In developed countries, they already prevail in agriculture; in the developing world, they spread in enclaves, islands, covering the agriculture of the most economically and socially developed regions and countries.
33. Features of the development of the agro-industrial complex in various groups of countries
The main direction of international agro-industrial integration in the current environment is solving the biggest global problem of our time- problems of meeting the growing needs of the world's population in food products.
The process of development of agro-industrial integration and the formation of the agro-industrial complex has advanced far into industrialized countries, primarily in the United States.
To an immeasurably lesser extent, this process is observed in developing world, where, along with the general trends and forms of its manifestation, specific features and forms appear associated with a significant lag in the agro-industrial sphere of the liberated countries and their economic dependence on the West.
In most developing countries, TNCs play an important role in this and act as integrators. This is due to many factors, including the fact that, creating their processing enterprises in developing countries, TNCs bring with them the forms and methods of activity that have developed in their home countries.
Agricultural production intensification factor in recent decades, it continued to be decisive in relation to the scale of gross grain production in the group of industrialized countries. Cereals, like agriculture as a whole, have essentially become an integral part of the agro-industrial complex, in which direct agricultural production is closely combined with the processing, storage and final sale of products, as well as with the provision of the farm with the means of production. The intensive path of development of grain production in the world will continue to prevail, since only this path can lead to a softening of the crisis in the supply of food to the constantly growing population of the planet.
In many developing countries, archaic forms of agriculture and land use, the implementation of progressive agrarian reforms is delayed. Crop production in many of them, especially in Africa, remains highly dependent on weather conditions. The development of grain production in a group of developing countries is becoming increasingly dependent on the intensive factor, large capital investments in agriculture, infrastructure, related industries, as well as on large-scale reclamation work.
With a significant increase in gross grain production in general in industrialized countries and developing countries, it continues to deepen disproportion in grain farming: growing and multidirectional gap between production and consumption in each of these groups of countries.
In industrialized countries, there is a concentration of "surplus" grain, as production exceeded the consumption of grain. In developing countries, on the contrary, due to increasing food needs, grain deficit increased, per capita production increased insignificantly, and continued to decline in a number of regions.
34. Transport in the world economy. Automobile transport
Transport complex- one of the main branches of material production, carrying out the transportation of passengers and goods. Based on the difference in functions, transport is divided into passenger and freight. It forms the basis of the domestic and international division of labor.
All routes of communication, transport enterprises and vehicles together form world transport system, within which separate modes of transport, countries and regions interact.
Transport systems developed countries account for 78% of the total length of the world transport network, 74% of the world cargo turnover; the density of the transport network is 50–60 km per 100 km 2 of the territory; characterized by a high technical level, close interaction of all types of transport, complex configuration of the transport network, high "mobility" of the population.
Transport systems developing countries account for 22% of the total length of the world transport network, 26% of the world cargo turnover; the density of the transport network is 5–10 km per 100 km 2 of the territory; characterized by a low technical level, the predominance of one or two types (railway, pipeline) transport, the predominance of transport lines connecting the main center (port, capital) with areas of export specialization, low "mobility" of the population.
Most developed are the transport systems of North America and Western Europe. North America ranks first in terms of the total length of roads (30% of all world communications) and the turnover of major modes of transport. Western Europe is leading in terms of network density and traffic frequency, although it is far behind North America in terms of transportation distance. In North America, in Western Europe, the leading role belongs to road, pipeline and air transport.
Types of transport are grouped as follows: land (land and pipeline), water (sea and river) and air.
The leader in terms of the structure of the world cargo and passenger turnover automobile transport, which accounts for 8% of cargo turnover and 80% of passenger turnover of the total world volume (railway - 16% of cargo turnover and 11% of passenger turnover, pipeline - 11% of cargo turnover, sea - 62% of cargo turnover and 1% of passenger turnover, river - 3% of cargo turnover and 1% of passenger turnover, for air - less than 1% of cargo turnover and 8% of passenger turnover).
Automobile transport is the most expensive type of transport with great maneuverability, speed and the ability to deliver goods directly to consumers. The total length of highways is 24 million km (70% of the total length of all communication lines). The density of the world's highways is 180 km per 100 km 2 of territory.
The largest length of highways in the USA, India, Japan, China, Russia, France; the densest road network in Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain; the highest level of motorization in the United States (600 cars per 1000 inhabitants). It also has the highest freight turnover of road transport.
35. Other modes of transport in the world economy
Railway transport provides transportation of goods and passengers over long distances. The greatest length of railways is in the USA, Canada, Russia, India, China. Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic have the densest railway network. In terms of cargo turnover, the leaders are Russia, the USA, China, Canada, and Poland.
In developed countries, there is a tendency to reduce the railway network, in developing countries - to expand.
Pipeline transport. The USA is the leader in the length of oil and gas pipelines. The longest pipelines are in Russia and Canada. The world's largest trunk pipelines have been laid in Russia (Druzhba, Soyuz, Progress, Shining of the North).
Sea transport- an important part of the world transport system, performing intercontinental transportation. Sea transport provides 98% of foreign trade traffic of Japan and Great Britain, 90% of all foreign trade traffic of the USA and the CIS countries. Sea transport has the lowest cost price.
The following countries are leading in terms of sea tonnage: Liberia, Panama, Japan, Norway, USA, Greece, Cyprus, Russia. The tonnage of the developing countries' naval fleet is growing. This is due to the provision of so-called cheap flags: the use of ships and cheap labor by enterprises in developed countries.
An important link in the transport system are seaports: universal (typical for developed countries) and specialized (typical for developing countries).
River transport the most developed in the USA, China, Russia, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, France. These countries are leading in terms of river transport cargo turnover.
International river basins play an important role: Danube (uniting 12 countries), Nile, Congo, Niger (9 countries each), Rhine, Amazon, Zambezi (7 countries each).
Many river basins (Volga, Ob, Lena, Yangtze, Yenisei, Amazonka, Mississippi, etc.) have a much higher carrying capacity than the largest railways.
Air Transport, the youngest and most dynamic, provides transportation of passengers and goods over long distances. The largest passenger turnover is noted in the USA, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany.
The largest airports in the world are located in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, London. There are 34 major airports in the world, and half of them are in the USA, 8 are in Europe.
Financing the transport complex in industrialized countries is traditionally one of the priority functions of the state, because transport, along with energy and communications, is the most important universal basis for the normal operation of production and the social environment in the state.
Under the influence of scientific and technological progress, the role of fixed assets of the transport complex has significantly changed. In this regard, investments are mainly directed to ensure the intensive development of transport.
36. Prospective trends in the development of transport
In the long term, market economies are expected to further development of scientific and technological progress in transport. The structure of the network of communication lines will undergo significant changes.
The length of the inactive and unprofitable railway lines and sections will shrink. At the same time, it is planned to build a number of new, mainly high-speed, lines. The launch of works on the electrification of railways is expected.
Length automotive paved roads will increase. The main focus will be on improving the existing network.
The number of airports(mainly cargo) and the length of domestic airlines.
In the United States, the length of pipelines, first of all - gas and oil pipelines.
Both in the USA and in Western European countries on the domestic water transport hydraulic engineering works, port reconstruction are coming. The modernization of ports is envisaged in maritime transport.
Substantial changes will occur in the vehicle park. Their number will increase slightly and the share of progressive types of traction will noticeably increase. The share of specialized rolling stock, its carrying capacity and power density will increase.
In the field of interaction of various modes of transport existing means will be improved and new means for uninterrupted door-to-door communications will be created, containerization of not only general cargo, but also a significant part of bulk cargo will be covered, automated information systems of different types of transport will be unified, unified systems of different types of transport will be built, unified railway stations and transshipment terminals with improved layout, etc.
NTP in transport will allow significantly improve its economic performance, improve the quality of customer service and traffic safety. In transport, it is planned: the widespread use of marketing, the study of demand, the introduction of accounting for needs, the use of modeling, etc. The development of the Raylink computer system (which currently connects railways, customers and banks) or another similar system to the entire network of communications is expected, which will make it possible to include transport in the network of commercial exchanges.
Work will continue to ensure interoperability of information systems in order to interconnect national computer networks.
37. The main types of states in the world economy. Developed countries with market economies. Countries with economies in transition
In international practice, all countries of the world are divided into three main groups: developed countries with market economies, countries with economies in transition and developing countries. This breakdown into groups was chosen for the convenience of analysis in ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council) and is now being revised, especially in light of the recent cardinal geopolitical changes.
Group of developed market economies includes 23 countries. It is further subdivided for analysis purposes into overlapping classification subgroups of the largest industrialized countries, which include the seven countries with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the developed market economy (EDM) group. These are Germany, Italy, Canada, Great Britain, USA, France and Japan; European Union - EU (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Finland and Austria); European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Austria, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden; Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg); North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): USA, Canada, Mexico.
Group of countries with economies in transition subdivided into the countries of Eastern Europe, which include: Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and new states that emerged after the collapse of the USSR: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as new countries that emerged after the collapse of Yugoslavia.
Practically in all countries of this group, since the beginning of the 90s, economic reforms have been carried out aimed at ensuring sustainable development of the national economy through internal and external macroeconomic stabilization, the creation of competitive market relations and the corresponding price reform, structural restructuring of production and enterprises on the basis of a clear legislative defining property rights - public and private, limiting the domination of monopolies and state interference in the activities of economic entities of a market economy, expanding and deepening international economic integration.
The greatest successes in carrying out economic reforms in this group of countries have been achieved by Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. After three years of a crisis in the economy at the beginning of the reforms (1991-1993), the situation began to stabilize in 1994, and already in 1995-1996. the national income in these countries increased annually by an average of 6%. Since 1995, economic growth began in other countries of Eastern Europe - Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia.
38. Developing countries. Least developed countries
Developing countries usually grouped by region based on their geographic location. For the purposes of the analysis, countries with an active balance of payments and countries that import capital are also singled out separately. The latter, in turn, are subdivided into countries - exporters and countries - importers of energy resources. A country is considered an exporter of energy resources if it simultaneously meets the following two criteria:
1) its production of primary energy resources (including coal, lignite, crude oil, natural gas, hydropower and nuclear energy) exceeds its own consumption by at least 20%;
2) the export of energy resources is at least 20% of the total export volume. Among developing countries - importers of energy resources, there are countries with a newly formed surplus of payments, which include four Asian countries that are considered the first generation of successful exporters of finished goods (Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan).
Among developing countries in modern conditions, there is a process of further economic differentiation. Currently, they find themselves at at least three different levels of economic development. The most industrially developed developing countries have formed a group "Newly industrialized countries" (NIS). These include Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey.
Intermediate group formed countries that significantly lagged behind the NIS both in total production volumes and in the production of goods and services per capita. This group, in particular the countries of the Middle East, is characterized by a large differentiation of sectoral structures, social strata of the population and their position in society.
To the group Least developed countries include about 50 developing countries. As a rule, they have a narrow, even monocultural structure of the economy, a high degree of dependence on external sources of funding for activities in the socio-economic sphere. The UN uses three criteria for assigning countries to this group: the share of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita does not exceed 350 US dollars; the share of the adult population who can read - no more than 20%; the manufacturing industry in GDP is no more than 10%. This group includes 8 countries in Asia, 28 in Africa, 5 in Latin America and Oceania, etc.
39. Indicators characterizing the economic potential of the country
A varied combination of factors of production and conditions for the development of different countries does not allow assessing the level of economic development from any one point of view. To do this, use a number of key indicators. 1. GDP / GNP or ND per capita. 2. The sectoral structure of the national economy. 3. Production of the main types of products per capita (the level of development of individual industries). 4. The level and quality of life of the population. 5. Indicators of economic efficiency.
It should be emphasized that the level of economic development of a country is a historical concept. Each stage of development of the national economy and the entire world community as a whole introduces certain changes in the composition of its main indicators.
The leading indicators in the analysis of the level of economic development are indicators GDP / GNP per capita. They form the basis of international classifications that subdivide countries into developed and developing countries. For example, developed countries in 2000 included countries with a per capita production of GDP of more than 9 thousand dollars per year (countries with a high level of income).
In some developing countries (in Saudi Arabia), the per capita GDP is at a high level, corresponding to the developed industrial countries, but in terms of the totality of other indicators (the sectoral structure of the economy, production of the main types of products per capita, etc.), such countries cannot be classified as developed.
Another indicator is sectoral structure of the economy. Its analysis is carried out on the basis of the GDP indicator calculated by industry. First of all, the ratio between large national economic branches of material and non-material production (in terms of the share of manufacturing in the country's economy) is taken into account.
Characterize the level of economic development of the country and production indicators of some main types of products, which are basic for the development of the national economy; they make it possible to judge the possibilities of satisfying the country's needs in these basic types of products.
First of all, these indicators include the production of electricity per capita. The electric power industry underlies the development of all types of industries, and therefore, behind this indicator, there are also opportunities for technical progress, and the achieved level of production and quality of goods, and the level of services, etc. The current ratio for this indicator between developed countries and least developed countries is 500: 1, and sometimes even more.
The statistics also highlight the production of steel and the production of rolled metal, metal-cutting machines, automobiles, mineral fertilizers, chemical fibers, paper and a number of other goods.
Close to these are indicators of the availability (or production in the country) per 1000 population or per average family of a number of durable goods: refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, cars, video equipment, personal computers, etc.
40. Living standards of the population
The standard of living of the country's population is largely characterized by the structure of GDP by use. Particularly important is the analysis of the structure of private final consumption (personal consumer spending). A large share in the consumption of durable goods and services indicates a higher standard of living of the population and, consequently, a higher overall level of economic development of the country.
An analysis of the standard of living of the population is usually accompanied by an analysis of two interrelated indicators: "consumer basket" and "living wage".
The standard of living is also assessed by indicators:
a) state of labor resources(average life expectancy, education level of the population, per capita consumption of basic foodstuffs in calories, in protein content, skill level of labor resources, number of pupils and students per 10 thousand people of the population, share of education expenditures in GDP);
b) development of the service sector(the number of doctors per 10 thousand people of the population, the number of hospital beds per 1 thousand people of the population, the provision of the population with housing, household appliances, etc.).
Economic efficiency indicators characterize the level of economic development, as they show the quality, condition and level of use of the country's fixed and working capital, labor resources.
Among them are:
1) labor productivity (in general, in industry and agriculture, in individual industries and types of production);
2) the capital intensity of a unit of GDP or a specific type of product;
3) return on assets of a unit of fixed assets;
4) material consumption per unit of GDP or specific types of products.
An important condition in the analysis of this group of indicators is the need to consider their relationship with each other. Thus, high labor productivity can be achieved at the cost of excessive labor intensification or huge capital expenditures and material resources.
Despite all attempts to formulate an aggregate indicator of the efficiency of the functioning of the national economy, which would reflect the level of economic development of the country, such an indicator has not been created due to the numerous difficulties in bringing together value and physical values, the costs of skilled and unskilled labor, etc. However, there is a general approach and consists in constructing an indicator that makes it possible to correlate the aggregate results of the society's labor for the reporting year (GDP / GNP, ND) with the aggregate costs of all factors of production, reduced to the same reporting year.
The higher the level of economic development of the country, the more active and diverse the forms of its foreign economic relations. Consequently, a country's participation in international economic relations may partly reflect the level of its economic development.
41. International economic integration
International economic integration- This is the process of economic and political unification of countries based on the development of deep stable relationships and division of labor between national economies, the interaction of their reproductive structures at various levels and in various forms. On microlevel this process goes through the interaction of the capital of individual economic entities (enterprises, firms) of neighboring countries through the formation of a system of economic agreements between them, the creation of branches abroad. On interstate level integration takes place on the basis of the formation of economic associations of states and the coordination of national policies.
The development of inter-firm ties gives rise to the need for interstate (sometimes supranational) regulation aimed at ensuring the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor between countries within a given region, at coordinating and conducting joint economic, scientific and technical, financial and monetary, social, external and defense policy. The result is the creation integral regional economic complexes with a single currency, infrastructure, common economic proportions, financial funds, common supranational or interstate government bodies.
The simplest form of economic integration is free trade Area, within the framework of which trade restrictions between the participating countries and, above all, customs duties are canceled.
Another form is Customs Union: along with the functioning of the free trade zone, a unified foreign trade tariff and a unified foreign trade policy with respect to third countries are established.
In both cases, interstate relations concern only the sphere of exchange, in order to provide the participating countries with equal opportunities in the development of mutual trade and financial settlements.
A more complex form is Common Market, ensuring its participants, along with free mutual trade and a single external tariff, the freedom of movement of capital and labor, as well as the coordination of economic policy.
But the most difficult form of interstate economic integration is economic (and monetary) union, combining all the above forms with the conduct of a general economic and monetary policy.
Economic integration ensures conditions for the interacting parties: 1) business entities (producers) get wider access to resources: financial, material, labor, to the latest technologies throughout the region, as well as the ability to produce products based on the capacious market of the entire integration group; 2) privileged conditions are created for firms from countries participating in economic integration, they are protected from competition from firms from third countries; 3) integration participants jointly solve the most acute social problems: equalization of conditions for the development of backward regions, mitigation of the situation on the labor market, provision of social guarantees, etc.
42. EU and socio-economic development of countries
Officially, until November 1, 1993, the leading integration grouping of Western European countries was called the European Community (EU). It appeared after the merger in 1967 of the bodies of three previously independent regional organizations: the European Coal and Steel Community - ECSC (1952), the European Economic Community - EEC (1958); European Atomic Energy Community - Euratom (1958).
On February 7, 1992, in the Dutch city of Maastricht, the Maastricht Treaty was signed, which provided for a gradual transition from the already established single market to a full economic and monetary union (EMU), the creation of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the replacement of national banknotes with a single currency, the establishment citizenship of the European Union. WITH November 1, 1993 after the entry into force of the Maastricht agreements, the European group received the official name European Union (EU). Within the EU, a common policy is being implemented in the field of diplomacy, justice, police and defense.
At the end of March 1998, the European Commission announced the final composition of the Economic and Monetary Union - it included 11 EU states (with the exception of Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Greece). On January 1, 1999, the management of monetary policy in these countries passed to the European Central Bank (ECB), located in Frankfurt am Main (Germany).
Since January 1, 2002 euro entered circulation and replaced the national currencies.
Currently full members of the EU there are 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, France, Sweden. The EU's strategic plans envisage expanding its membership in the next 10-15 years to 30 countries. These plans are being embodied in the EU's integration activities. Since 1998, the EU Commission (CES) has been negotiating with officially recognized candidates for accession to the EU - these are 8 states belonging to the "candidates of the first stage" (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey), and 5 states - “candidates of the second stage” (Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria).
A single legal space has been formed within the EU.
In the field of foreign trade and agricultural policy, trade and civil law (freedom of competition, monopolies and cartels), tax law (convergence of income tax systems; turnover tax and direct contributions to the EU budget), European Union legislation replaces national laws.
Jointly carried out structural policy(sectoral and regional). Supranational regulation applies to the least competitive industries and backward regions.
The greatest successes have been achieved in pursuing a joint agricultural policy. Its financing represents the largest item of expenditure in the budget of the Union. The general agricultural policy is based on subsidizing domestic and export prices. As a result, the EU has become the world's second largest agricultural exporter after the United States.
43. Regional Integration in the North American Region
In January 1989 entered into force American-Canadian Free Trade Agreement. As a result, a free trade zone was created, covering bilateral trade of almost $ 200 billion a year. At the same time, both sides reserved the right to impose their own import restrictions on trade with third countries.
In June 1991, on the initiative of Mexico, negotiations began between this country, the United States and Canada, culminating in the signing of an agreement on the establishment of North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA), which entered into force on January 1, 1994. Key elements of the agreement:
Elimination of all customs duties in mutual trade until 2001;
Phased elimination of a significant number of non-tariff barriers to mutual trade in goods and services;
Relaxation of the regime for US-Canadian investment in Mexico;
Liberalization of conditions for the activities of US and Canadian banks in the Mexican market;
Creation of the American-Canadian Arbitration Commission.
Unlike the Western European integration model, NAFTA does not have tools for coordinating economic policy and functioning supranational institutions; significant differences persist in the levels of economic development of states. Unlike the EU, which provides financial assistance from joint budgetary funds to less developed countries and regions, NAFTA does not provide Mexico with such support.
According to experts, participation in NAFTA will allow Mexico to shorten the period of reforming its economy and reaching the level of developed countries from 50 to 10-15 years. Mexico gets the biggest gain from joining NAFTA in the form of a rapid growth in foreign capital inflows, primarily from the United States. In terms of foreign direct investment, which is of paramount importance for the development of production, by the beginning of the XXI century. Mexico ranked first among Latin American countries.
However, the US business community has high hopes for NAFTA, due to the significant expansion of US exports and the associated increase in the number of jobs. The relocation of labor-intensive, material-intensive and environmentally expensive manufacturing from the United States to Mexico can reduce production costs and increase the competitiveness of many American products. In the long term, through participation in NAFTA, American TNCs expect to expand their economic participation in Latin America, and Canada - to expand sales markets, reduce production costs and increase the profitability of new high-tech industries (computers, telecommunications, etc.). In addition, the formation of a liberalized market space on a continental scale stimulates the inflow of direct and portfolio investments to Canada from third countries, mainly from Japan and EU member states.
44. Integration processes in South-East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region
In the Asia-Pacific region, the most significant integration associations are ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and APEC.
ASEAN was established in 1967 following the signing of the Bangkok Declaration; it includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines (currently, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Vietnam are also members of ASEAN). The purpose of this association is to promote the social and economic development of the member countries of the Association, cooperation in industry and agriculture, and research work.
The economic crisis of 1997–1998. left an imprint on the development of the ASEAN member countries. In December 1998, the main ASEAN member countries at a conference in Vietnam discussed and mapped out several ways out of the crisis: 1) financial assistance from Japan (in the amount of $ 30 billion from the Fund for Assistance to Structural Reforms organized by Japan for this purpose). In reality, only Malaysia and Thailand were able to use it, which received $ 1.85 billion each; 2) the introduction of the collective currency of the ASEAN member countries, control over the migration of capital and the strengthening of state regulation of national economies in general. However, this path has not yet received universal approval, but it has not been removed from the agenda for the future development of the region.
In November 1989, the first conference of the ministers of foreign affairs and trade was held in the APR, which established a new integration economic grouping - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which united 18 states of the region (Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Canada, China, Kiribati, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Chile), then to these states were joined by Vietnam, Peru and Russia.
Thus, APEC includes member countries of NAFTA, ASEAN, and the Australian-New Zealand Free Trade Area (ANSERTA).
From the very beginning, APEC was given consultative status, i.e. all decisions are made by consensus. However, in fact, within the framework of its working bodies, regional rules for conducting trade, investment and financial activities are being developed, meetings of industry ministers and experts on cooperation in various fields are held. Such bodies are committees for trade and investment, research and development in industry and technology, telecommunications, transport, human resources development, energy cooperation, etc.
At a meeting of heads of government in 1994 (Indonesia), it was decided to create a free trade zone and liberalize the investment sphere by 2020 (for developed countries - until 2010), reduce barriers to trade in goods and services in accordance with the principles of the WTO ...
APEC surpasses the rest of the world: its share (together with the NAFTA countries) accounts for 40% of the world's population, about 60% of the gross world product and investments, more than 40% of world exports.
45. The place and role of Russia in the internationalization of economic life
The place and role of any country in the world economy, MRI and in the internationalization of economic life depend on the following factors: the level and dynamics of development of the national economy, the degree of its openness and involvement in MRI, the progressiveness and development of foreign economic relations (EEC), the ability of the national economy to adapt to the conditions of international economic life and at the same time to influence them in desired direction.
The inclusion of Russia in MRI and world economic relations will ultimately depend, first, on the recovery of the country's economy along the path of its structural restructuring and transition to market conditions of management, and secondly, on the creation of effective legislative, organizational, material and technical prerequisites for this.
The key to creating a viable transition economy in Russia is its openness. In an open economy, world market prices directly and indirectly determine prices for domestic products and do so much more efficiently than any government agency. In this case, Russian producers are left with one main path to prosperity - improving the quality and competitiveness of products, expanding their production while reducing costs. The transition to an open economy is a purposeful process carried out in stages so that external competition does not turn, instead of a creative factor, into a force that destroys the Russian economy.
The formation of prices for products in the Russian economy in transition under the influence of the world market brings to the fore mechanism for assessing the main factors of production- natural resources, capital and labor. At the same time, however, the estimates will deviate from the criteria of the world market, since a collision with the world market will reveal their uncompetitiveness and unprofitability.
Hence, the task of the state is a centralized redistribution of financial resources aimed at creating conditions that ensure the survival of the domestic economy in conditions of its ever-increasing openness. Needed economic revaluation and economic protection of all public resources- land, natural resources, funds, stocks of raw materials, materials, finished products. The main asset of Russia in the transition period is natural resources. They require rational use, evaluation in accordance with the criteria of the world market.
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Features of modern migration processes:
Unprecedented scale of labor migration. Of particular note is the increase in intracontinental migration.
Industrialized countries continue to be the world's main centers of attraction for labor. They account for 54 million immigrants - almost half of all the world's inhabitants living outside their countries of origin. The leaders in the process of attracting foreign labor are the USA, Canada, Australia.
A circle of states “specializing” in the export of their labor resources has formed: Morocco, Portugal, Pakistan, Turkey, Poland, Spain, many of the countries with economies in transition.
Among migrant workers, young people (up to 35 years old) predominate, predominantly of blue-collar occupations.
The migration of labor resources is facilitated by modern production technologies, which are based on the international division of labor and the active participation of TNCs in it.
The level of illegal immigration is still high in all the world's centers of attraction for the labor force. There are about 4 million permanently in the United States, and about 3 million illegal migrants in Western Europe. In 200, the number of border guards in the United States increased to 10 thousand people (almost three times more than in the early 90s) in order to strengthen border control on the border with Mexico, from where the overwhelming majority of illegal migrants enter ..
"Brain drain" in modern conditions is complemented by their diversification not only to the principle "to capital", but also "simultaneously with capital and after it"
Increasing seasonality of migration flows (agriculture, forestry).
Metropolitan countries (in the past) are guided by the import of labor from their colonies (England - India).
Traditional countries of migration: USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa - by the twentieth century. only Europeans went there, now - their insignificant part, and mainly - from Asia, Latin America.
Increasingly active state intervention in migration processes.
In general, we can talk about the intensification of migration processes in all their manifestations.
- A science that, on the basis of social, economic, biological and geographical factors, explores the patterns of processes occurring in the structure, dynamics, movement and distribution of the population, is called:
a) global studies G) political science
b) sociology e) demography +
v) world economy e) economical geography
2. The current demographic situation in Russia is characterized by:a) an increase in the number of births
b) reduction in mortality among the population
v) depopulation +
G) decrease in life expectancy +
e) increase in life expectancy,
These phenomena cover:E) Central European regions of Russia +
F) Ural +
H) Siberia +
AND) Far East +
Pass more intensively in:TO) Russians +
L) Ukrainians
M) immigrants
H) Chuvash
O) representatives of national minorities
3. According to the calculations of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation and the Center for Economic Conjuncture under the Government of the Russian Federation, the most probable option for forecasting the demographic situation in Russia for the period up to 2005 is:
a) increase in the country's population
b) stabilization of population growth
v) population decline +
4. In industrialized countries, trends are manifested:a) acceleration of population growth rates in megacities
b) population growth in megacities
v) population decline in megacities +
G) population migration from big cities +
e) slowdown in the growth rate of the population of megalopolises +
e)"Overflow" of the rural population into the cities
5. The share of part-time workers in the total number of workers in the PRS:a) shrinks v) stabilized
b) growing +
6. The main feature of external migration of the population:a) change of residence
b) change of job
v) movement of migrants across state borders +
e) change of citizenship
Tasks:Describe the main directions of demographic policy in groups of countries with different levels of economic development.
What are the main features of labor demand in industrialized countries?
What are the characteristics of the use of labor in developing countries?
How do host countries benefit from international migration?
Lomakin V.K. World Economy. - Textbook. Moscow: UNITI, 2000, 727 p., Ch. 12.
International economic relations / Edited by V.E. Rybalkin, M., 1998, ch. 9.
The world labor market: a new reality. - M.: Nauka, 1994.
MEO / Ed. B.P. Suprunovich. M., 1995, ch. 9.
Nukhovich E.S., Smitienko B.M., Eskindarov M.A. World economy at the turn of the 20th century M., 1995, ch. 2.
Fundamentals of Foreign Economic Relations / Ed. I.P. Faminsky. M .: International relations, 1994, ch. 5.
P.V. Sergeev World Economy / Study Guide: Moscow: Jurisprudence, 1999, p. 105 - 113.
Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation" dated August 15, 1996 - Rossiyskaya Gazeta, August 16, 1996.
Additional literature:
Bulletin of foreign commercial information. - 2000. - No. 73-74; 86
International trade. - 1995. - No. 1.
World economy and international relations. - 1995. - No. 1.
World economy and international relations. - 1996. - No. 3.
World economy and international relations. - 2000. - No. 2. - P. 70.
World economy and international relations. 1999. - No. 3. - P. 52; No. 8. - P. 20; No. 10. - P. 66, 74; No. 11. - P. 19
Problems of theory and practice of management. - 2000. - No. 2. - P. 67.
Historical preconditions for the emergence of international finance capital.
Features of international monopolies of the first, second and third generations (colonial raw materials, integration, global).
Modern multinational corporations. Types of TNCs. Forms of development of the world market by transnational corporations.
Scientific and technological revolution and international corporations. General agreements and strategic alliances between leading international finance capital groups.
Financial and industrial groups and the prospects for transnational activities of Russian capital.
Lecture material.
Transnational corporations (TNCs), according to UN experts, are the "engines of the world economy." This is how one of the UN reports on broadcast corporations was named. Today, there are about 65 thousand TNCs in the world, and the number of their foreign branches exceeds 500 thousand. Transnational capital controls up to 1/2 of world industrial production, 65% of foreign trade, 4/5 of patents and licenses for finished equipment, technologies and Know-how.
The core of this system is made up of about 500 TNCs with enormous economic power. The aggregate foreign exchange reserves of TNCs are several times larger than the reserves of all national banks. TNCs are large bureaucratic corporations that overcome risk within the corporate structure, control huge cash flows, act as government contractors, attract world-class technology, and also possess a wealth of classified information.
All these facts make us think about the role and place of transnational corporations in the modern world. Having crossed national borders, transnational capital created a new system of international relations, in which supranational entities, primarily TNCs themselves, began to play a significant, if not decisive role.
The UN, which traditionally studies the activities of international corporations, for a long time referred to them as such firms that had an annual turnover exceeding $ 100 million and branches in at least 6 countries. In recent years, some clarification has been made: the international status of the company is now evidenced by such an indicator as the percentage of its sales sold outside the country of residence. According to this indicator, one of the world leaders is the Swiss company Nestlé (98%).
An international corporation, according to the UN methodology, can also be recognized by the structure of its assets. The largest foreign assets among transnational corporations (except for the financial sector) - transnational banks (TNB) - are owned by the Anglo-Dutch concern Royal Dutch Shell, then 4 firms from the USA: Ford, General Motors, Exxon and "IBM".
One of the criteria for classifying a company as a transnational is the composition of its senior management, which, as a rule, should be formed from residents of different states in order to exclude a one-sided orientation of the company's activities to the interests of any one country. However, practice shows that most often the senior management personnel of the parent company is formed from representatives of the country of its location, and the top management of subsidiaries, using local personnel in ordinary positions, also consists of them.
Considering that the formulation of the concept of "transnational corporation" affects the interests of many states, the compromise version of the definition of this concept in the UN Commission on Transnational Corporations states that TNC is a company:
including units in two or more countries, regardless of the legal form and field of activity;
operating within the framework of a decision-making system that allows for consistent policy and implementation of an overall strategy through one or more governing centers;
in which individual units are linked through property or in some other way so that one or more of them can have a significant impact on the activities of others and, in particular, share knowledge, resources and responsibilities with others.
In Western economic literature, you can find many definitions of international monopolies: multinational corporations, international corporations, multinational companies, global companies, etc. Thus, the famous American marketer F. Kotler identifies these four types of international companies by organizational principles (Figure 4).
Global company
Transnational company
Multinational International
company company
Russian economists, as a rule, offer the following definition:
Transnational corporations Are national monopolies with foreign assets. Their production and trade and marketing activities go beyond the boundaries of one state.
A corporation in the United States is called a joint-stock company, and since most modern transnational corporations arose as a result of the international expansion of American companies, this term entered their definition.
The legal regime of transnational corporations presupposes business activity carried out in various countries through the formation of branches and subsidiaries in them. These companies have relatively independent services for the production and sale of finished products, research and development, consumer services, etc.
In general, they constitute a single large production and sales complex with the right of ownership over the share capital of only representatives of the founder country. At the same time, branches and subsidiaries can be mixed enterprises with predominantly national participation.
Multinational corporations (MNCs) are actually international corporations that unite national companies of a number of states on a production, scientific and technical basis. An example of such a company is usually given by the Anglo-Dutch concern Royal Dutch Shell, which has existed since 1907. The current capital of this company is divided in a ratio of 60:40. An example of a multinational corporation is the Swiss-Swedish company ABB (Asea Brown Bovery), which is well known in Europe and specializes in mechanical engineering and electronic engineering. ABB has several joint ventures in the CIS countries. Among the leading multinational corporations in Europe is the Anglo-Dutch chemical and technological concern Unilever.
From the point of view of international law, distinctive features multinational corporations are: 1) the presence of multinational share capital; 2) the existence of a multinational leadership center; 3) staffing the administration of foreign branches with personnel who know local conditions. The latter, by the way, are also characteristic of many transnational corporations. In general, the boundaries between these two groups of international companies are very fluid, and one firm may move to another.
To transnational and multinational corporations should be added and global corporations (GC), separated from the environment of international companies. They emerged in the 1980s and continue to gain momentum. Global corporations are characterized by a geocentric approach to the relationship between the parent company and its subsidiaries. These TNCs are like a decentralized federation of regional branches. The parent company sees itself not as the center of TNK, but only as one of its parts.
Global corporations represent the full power of today's global financial capital. The chemical, electrical, electronic, oil, automotive, information, banking and some other industries gravitate towards globalization to the greatest extent. In general, the boundaries between these groups of international companies are very fluid, so a transition from one form to another is possible.
The development of TNCs has a direct impact on the growth of the world economy. There are several main areas of influence of TNCs on the world economy:
TNCs largely determine the dynamics and structure, the level of competitiveness in the world market for goods and services.
TNCs control the international movement of capital and foreign direct investment. They are the main investors in developing countries and actively influence the level of their economic development, while at the same time having vast spheres of influence in developed countries. This allows us to say that modern TNCs are able to influence the level of economic development of entire regions.
TNCs play a huge role in the transfer of technology and knowledge, concentrating R&D in their research centers. Thanks to the production and financial capabilities of TNCs, they concentrate in their hands the most knowledge-intensive industries. TNCs develop the latest types of products with the most demanded consumer properties, thereby contributing to the process of technological development of production.
TNCs are a stimulator of international labor migration. They contribute to the dissemination of professional knowledge, the process of exchange of experience between employees from different countries. This creates an international labor market, which is characterized by the processes of convergence of professional training of personnel from different countries.
At the same time, the role of TNCs cannot be assessed unambiguously positively. Their interests often conflict with national states, small and medium-sized businesses.
What are the reasons for the emergence of multinational companies?
The most common reason for their emergence is the internationalization of production and capital based on the development of productive forces that outgrow national-state borders.
The internationalization of capital production takes on the character of the expansion of economic ties through the creation of their own branches abroad by the largest companies and the transformation of national corporations into transnational ones. The export of capital is becoming the most important factor in the formation and development of international corporations.
Among the specific reasons for the emergence of transnational corporations should be attributed to the desire to obtain super-profits. In turn, tough competition, the need to withstand this struggle also contributed to the concentration of production and capital on an international scale and the emergence of TNCs.
As a product of objective economic processes taking place in the world economy, transnational corporations have a number of specific features. TNCs are active participants in the international division of labor and contribute to its development.
Modern trends in the activities of TNK.
The movement of capital of transnational corporations, as a rule, is independent of the processes taking place in the country where the corporations are based. TNCs establish a system of international production based on the placement of branches, subsidiaries, offices in many countries of the world.
In cases where the interests of transnational capital objectively coincide with the interests of certain national states, it can provide them with significant and even decisive advantages in intercountry economic competition. Developed states actively contribute to the development of their own TNCs, which, in turn, ensure the flow of tax funds from international activities and the spread of their economic and political influence.
In relation to "its" TNCs, the state is pursuing a rather contradictory and ambivalent policy. Since these monopolies are "their own", the state provides them with all kinds of loans, subsidies, subsidies, preferential taxation. However, the growth of the power of international monopolies leads to an increase in capital outflow from the country through direct investment channels, which has an undesirable negative impact on the dynamics of employment and unemployment, labor productivity, the growth rate of industrial production and, consequently, the volume of GNP within the economy of the home country. In addition, large corporations are sometimes able to direct the foreign policy of the home country in their own interests. There are many known cases when the governments of the United States, Great Britain and other home countries found themselves drawn into costly international conflicts in order to protect the interests of their own TNCs.
Multinational corporations are entering high-tech, knowledge-intensive industries that require huge investments and highly qualified personnel. At the same time, there is a noticeable tendency towards monopolization of these industries by transnational corporations.
In the 90s, three quarters of industrial products in developed countries were produced by about 2 thousand of the largest corporations. Several hundred of them produced 50 to 80% of the most important types of products. These multinational corporations bear the main production and innovation burden.
Recently, there has been a growing trend towards the consolidation of TNCs. It is primarily associated with the process of mergers and acquisitions, the volume of which in the late 90s amounted to $ 544 billion. The result of numerous mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic alliances, is the formation of new TNCs of an oligopolistic type. Currently, in developed countries, only two or three supergiants occupy a dominant position in each industry, competing with each other in the markets of all countries.
Of the 500 most powerful multinationals, 85 control 70% of all overseas investment. These 500 giants sell 80% of all industrial products in electronics and chemistry, 95% of pharmaceuticals, 76% of engineering products.
By the beginning of the 21st century, the dominance of 300-600 transnational corporations was established in the world economy. At the same time, 300 corporations control 75% of the world's gross product, carry out significant diversification of their production and services. Thus, the Swedish automobile concern Volvo is already producing not only world-famous cars. This multinational corporation, which has more than 30 large subsidiaries of various profiles in Sweden and several dozen abroad, produces motors for boats, aircraft engines, products and even Pripps beer. In turn, each of the 500 largest multinational companies in the United States has, on average, enterprises in 11 industries, and the most powerful ones cover 30-50 industries. In the group of 100 leading industrial firms in England, 96 are diversified, in Germany - 78, in France - 84, in Italy - 90. The number and nature of enterprises belonging to transnational corporations is determined mainly by economic expediency.
In general, TNCs at the beginning of the 21st century are characterized by an increase in investment in the service sector. In particular, more than 5% of direct foreign investments of the largest TNCs in the late 90s were directed to the service sector, including R&D and marketing research.
Innovation and research and development play an increasingly important role for modern TNCs. Companies in all industries are forced to increase their R&D costs in order to gain a competitive advantage. It should be noted that modern TNCs prefer to concentrate research work in the parent company, and to locate production in foreign countries. Since more than 85% of the leading TNCs are based in the United States, Japan and the European Union, these countries accumulate practically all major scientific developments. Thus, the economies of these countries are increasingly focused on the production of intellectual products, rather than material ones.
An essential aspect of the activities of modern TNCs is the unprecedented boom in the development of telecommunication technologies. The global information infrastructure also contributes to the development of TNCs in many ways. Using the capabilities of modern telecommunications, TNCs received unlimited opportunities for the exchange of information both between the parent company and foreign branches, and with other TNCs.
