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This paper investigates the effects on and responses of five middle‐income Southeast Asian economies to the current global environment of authoritarian populism, the retreat from economic liberalism, and the appeal of anti‐globalization movements. While the political histories and institutional capabilities of the five – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – vary greatly, these economies have a history of at least moderately fast economic growth for extended periods, and of increasing regional and global economic integration. We argue that most of the factors behind the discontent with globalization in the rich economies are not present to the same degree in these countries, and that there has therefore been no major retreat from the economic policy settings that have underpinned their past economic success. However, there are no grounds for complacency. Economic growth is slowing in some of the countries, economic insecurity remains widespread, and the development of durable independent institutions has lagged economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of economic integration on labour income share both at the aggregate as well as at the disaggregate industry levels of Indian economy. The paper uses the ARDL approach for the aggregate level analysis and the panel GMM method for the disaggregate level analysis. The results from both the analysis confirm that global economic integration and technological progress affect the labour income share in India. It also brings out the evidence that a stronger degree of economic integration is associated with the declining labour income share which is accompanied by rising labour productivity, employment, wage rates, and capital income. That means there is a positive correlation of economic integration with the wage rate, employment, capital earnings and labour productivity. However, it also makes an important observation that the labour share is adversely affected, as the wage rate growth lags the labour productivity growth and the compositional shift takes place due to the rising capital income. The increases in employment and wage rate are not enough to offset the adverse effects on the labour share in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the special issue on International Organizations in a New Era of Populist Nationalism. The special issue aims to clarify the stakes for and the politics of international organizations in a time of rising populist nationalism around the world. In this introductory essay, we attempt to disentangle the rise of populism and a resurgence of nationalism as distinct processes and concepts. While neither force is new, we observe significant variation across countries in the type of level of nationalist and populist objections to international institutions. We develop a typology for thinking about how and when populism, nationalism, or their combination might have different effects on international cooperation and organizations. Finally, we review the specific article contributions to the special issue and how they fit with the themes developed in this essay. The final section concludes with questions and ideas for future research on the topic that will enhance our understanding of the complex challenges – and potential opportunities – for international cooperation and organizations in the years ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, in the wake of accelerated globalization, the issue of output coupling/decoupling has assumed considerable importance in academic as well as in policy debates. Special attention has been focussed on the following four issues (i) whether economies are getting increasingly synchronized in their cyclical behaviour and in particular whether EMEs are getting synchronized with the advanced group of countries (or otherwise) and/or among themselves ? (ii) whether similar synchronization is also evident in the growth profiles of EMEs and advanced economies ? (iii) what are the main factors driving this two types of synchronization ? and (iv) are the factors driving growth synchronization different from those driving business cycle co-movements? This is a single-country study which examines the decoupling issue from the perspective of the Indian economy over a fairly long time span viz. 1961-2008, dividing the same into three sub-periods characterized by relative insularity (1961-1978), restricted globalization (1979-1993) and full-scale globalization (1994-2008). Among the important potential determinants of co-movements suggested by the available literature are inter-industry and intra-industry trade intensities, co-ordination of fiscal and monetary policy, financial integration etc. Our key finding is that the economic determinants for India's cyclical synchronization differ across short (16-32 months) and medium cycles (32-64 months) and vis-a-vis growth spillovers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the issue of the relevance in the transnational arena of the concept of patriotic vigilance, as expressed by French Minister Arnaud Montebourg in 2014. Firstly, we examine the globalization paradox with its underpinnings in the literature and its illustration through the recent Alstom saga. Secondly, we review the idea of a paradigm shift in world monetary affairs signaled by the recent crisis. Finally, drawing on Kant’s ideas on cosmopolitism, we sketch out an alternative to the globalization paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the process of currency internationalisation of the Chinese Renminbi (RMB). Aggregated cross-border data provided by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) allows better measurement of the role played by a currency in trade and settlement. RMB transactions are significant and increasing but remain concentrated in key financial centres. Analysis using an asset pricing framework shows that the footprint of Chinese corporations in international markets has at times been significant, with the size of these transactions prompting many to reassess the likely pace of RMB internationalisation and its usage as an alternate vehicle currency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the existence of any relations between globalization and corruption using cross-section data for 127 countries. The estimation results indicate that, under the assumption of a linear model, a positive correlation between corruption and globalization exists, while when linearity is dropped there seems to be no significant effect of globalization on corruption. According to our analysis, linearity is a good approximation only for middle and high income countries. Hence, our main conclusion is that globalization is a powerful weapon against corruption only for middle and high income countries, while for low income countries globalization has no significant impact on corruption. For such countries fighting corruption requires additional global action aiming at the reduction of poverty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using the Standardized World Income Inequality Database, we examine if the KOF Index of Globalization and the Economic Freedom Index of the Fraser institute are related to within-country income inequality using panel data covering around 80 countries 1970–2005. Freedom to trade internationally is robustly related to inequality, also when adding several control variables and controlling for potential endogeneity using GMM. Social globalization and deregulation is also linked to inequality. Reforms towards economic freedom seem to increase inequality mainly in rich countries, and social globalization is more important in less developed countries. Monetary reforms, legal reforms and political globalization do not increase inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The USA and Asia have an enormous stake in each others' continuing prosperity. This outcome is linked to the preservation of the open international economic order, which in turn faces challenges at both the interstate diplomatic level and at the domestic political level. The global financial crisis is probably the worst since the Great Depression and the domestic politics makes it increasingly difficult to formulate a constructive trade policy. In the absence of adequate reform at the global level, the alternative could be further fragmentation into competing regional blocs. Asia holds the key, combining both dissatisfaction with existing global arrangements with the resources to reconstitute, at least at the regional level, an alternative set of institutions and practices. How Asia responds, acting to strengthen reformed global institutions or undermine them in favor of regional alternatives, will partly depend on the policies of the dominant global power, the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emergent paradigm, referred to as Open Economy Politics (OEP), now structures and guides research among many scholars. This essay sketches the general contours of the paradigm. Scientific accumulation is, in my view, the potential and great benefit of a self-conscious understanding of OEP as a single, unifying paradigm. The essay also provides a sympathetic critique of OEP and shows how the paradigm can be extended to capture some of the concerns and insights of other critics. Most important, this critique highlights the role and consequences of certain simplifying assumptions commonly used in OEP and calls for a closer examination of how international institutions and policies structure and change the interests of actors within countries that are now taken as exogenous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates empirically how, in the course of globalization, partisan politics affected social expenditures in a panel of OECD countries. I introduce an updated indicator of government ideology and investigate its interaction with the KOF index of globalization. Two basic results emerge: First, at times when globalization proceeded at an average pace, partisan politics had no effect on social expenditures, but leftist governments increased social expenditures when globalization was proceeding rapidly. Second, policies differed in the 1980s and 1990s: Leftist governments pursued expansionary policies in the 1980s. Yet partisan politics disappeared in the 1990s, but not because of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a 30 years period of trials and errors in creating an Arab economic space for just independent countries and an insufficient implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Agreement (EU-MFTA), the economies of the MENA region have recently relied back on sub-regional trading blocks (Arab Unions) to succeed in opening and developing their economies. From a theoretical point of view this tendency is rising a debate on the possibility, for the Arab countries, to enjoy the dynamic effects that emerge from the internationalization process (like an increasing rate of investment, a higher intra-industry trade and reduced balance of payments distortions), given the structure and the performance of their economies. The aim of the paper is to present the contemporary trends of the economic integration process among the countries of the MENA Region in connection with the wider perspective adopted in the debate on this topic. A closer look at the intra-Arab flows of goods and services will thus enable us to appraise some facts concerning the process of internationalization of MENA economies, revealing an unexpected dynamism in the lights of “deep integration” perspective. On this base an account of the renewed bilateralism in economic relations will be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vito Tanzi [Tanzi, V., 2008. The future of fiscal federalism. European Journal of Political Economy 24, 705-712] makes a case for global government. This comment reconsiders the merits of global government as advocated by Tanzi. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The world has lived through an accelerated globalization process over the last 15 years. Global trade relative to world GDP has grown from 39% in 1992 to 52% in 2005. At the same time, the share of world trade of OECD countries has gone down from 73% in 1992 to 64% in 2005. These shifts have led to changes in the structure of the world trade network and, in particular, how the role and influence of emerging markets on world trade have evolved. This paper is designed to elucidate some aspects of this changing trade architecture using network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There are two opposing views on global imbalances: The “traditional” view, which regards the imbalances as a threat to global economic and financial stability, and the “new paradigm” view, which considers that they are the natural consequence of economic and financial globalization. In terms of their policy implications, the traditional view focuses on monetary and fiscal policy decisions in the United States that need to be urgently reversed to avoid an abrupt unwinding of the imbalances involving a sell-off of dollar assets, a sharp increase in U.S. interest rates, and a hard landing for the global economy. By contrast, the new paradigm view considers that the imbalances will be resolved smoothly through the normal functioning of markets. This paper argues that an abrupt unwinding of imbalances is highly unlikely and advances a number of arguments in support of the new paradigm view. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A perception of declining EU competitiveness has intensified calls for structural reforms within the EU. This paper examines recent evidence on changes in relative EU competitiveness and considers the observed changes in relation to the evolving competitive environment facing EU firms. Our analysis suggests that recent declines in EU competitiveness reflect changes (or lack thereof) within the EU in response to an evolutionary “Third Step” in the process of EU integration: global market integration. Starting from the mid-1990s, we find that the EU began to face unprecedented increases in external sources of competition. The rising competition from external sources and declining export market competitiveness created pressures for EU firms to alter their organizational and product market strategies to meet the challenge of a globally integrating market. While many leading EU firms have responded to this challenge, most EU firms remain hampered by anachronistic EU product and labor market regulations that have inhibited adjustments that could better restore the competitiveness of EU based firms. In particular, our analysis points to labor market rigidities and limited growth in the services sector as factors limiting adjustment to the realities of a global market. The growing calls for structural reforms therefore reflect the rising external competitive pressures on EU firms as they attempt to respond to growing global competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents evidence for a common global pattern in the movement of inequality in national structures of pay, over the years 1963 to 1999. We find a worldwide pattern of declining inequality from 1971 until 1980, followed by a long and sharp period of increasing inequality from 1981 through the end of the century. The existence of a global pattern suggests that the study of inequality, long associated with the disparate effects of technology, trade in local or national labor markets and with national policy choices, would be better treated as a branch of a global macroeconomics, associated with the breakdown of Bretton Woods in 1971–73 and with the onset of the global debt crisis in 1981–82. The work is based on data sets developed by the University of Texas Inequality Project. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This lecture examines whether financial globalization is beneficial to developing countries by first examining the evidence on financial development and economic growth and concludes that financial development is indeed a key element in promoting economic growth. It then asks why if financial development is so beneficial, it often does not occur. It then goes on to examine whether globalization, particularly of the financial kind, can help encourage financial and economic development and argues that it can. However, financial globalization does not always work to encourage economic development because it often leads to devastating financial crises. The issue is thus not whether financial globalization is inherently good or bad, but whether it can be done right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that critics of globalization are mistaken in their criticism of this world economic development. According to the author, the concerns that globalization has generated negative social effects are unjustified. The author asserts that globalization has enabled parents to send more children to primary schools than to farm work.

This paper focuses on the requirements and features of a successful monetary union on the basis of the optimum currency area theory, the “logical roadmap” for integration as proposed by Balassa as well as the economic and institutional framework of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The analysis suggests that monetary union is contingent upon high economic integration and strong political commitment. However, political union is not an ex-ante requirement. Outside factors such as systemic shocks and globalization seem to speed up the pooling of sovereignty in the economic domain. A firm commitment to stability-oriented monetary and fiscal policies is a precondition for gaining credibility and trust within and outside a monetary union. Last, but not least, convergence criteria, fiscal rules and strong institutions are necessary to help ensure and monitor the participants’ compliance. However, the European experience is not a blueprint for regional integration that can be directly and entirely applied to other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's gradual integration with the global market is responsible for exceptional rates of economic growth and for the substantial sociopolitical stability enjoyed by the country over the past decades. Nevertheless, the choice to increasingly adhere to the competitive dynamic of the market has thrown up a battery of problems for China's leadership, as increasing affluence has favored the pluralization and diversification of social interests. In a country where the existence of divergent and competing social claims has traditionally been regarded as a grave threat to stability, marketization, whereas on the one hand acting as a source of political legitimacy, has, on the other, paved the way for a potentially more strained relationship between relevant corporative interests and the central government. By studying China's recent development from the complementary perspectives of the “horizontal” and “vertical” forms of decentralization and devolution, this paper aims to highlight the tensions with which China has had to contend since its adoption of reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s. It aims also to suggest how the Chinese leadership's instinct for continued social control has cut against market reform just enough to effect a process of controlled macroeconomic integration that has been more successful than wholesale resistance or immediate unquestioning acceptance would have been. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Globalization, defined in economic terms as the phenomenon of increased integration of the world economy, generates strong reactions due to some negative effects of the growth of international trade, the internationalization of industrial production, and unrestricted cross-border capital flows, while the overall mobility of labor remains quite limited. Evidence on the growth of international trade and factor mobility is reviewed and analyzed, and problems affecting developed and developing countries are detected. Policy measures to alleviate some of the dislocations from increased globalization are discussed, and measures recommended to avoid social and political disruptions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper represents a critique of that aspect of globalization theory that predicts the convergence of national economic institutions and practices toward some single optimal model. This is done through the examination of the innovative practices of Japanese firms and government within the context of US–Japanese competition in high-technology industries. A profile of Japanese innovative competencies is developed through an overview of competition in consumer electronics and personal computing and the emerging wireless Internet industry. The paper argues that different national systems of innovation result in levels of competitiveness that vary according to the technological profile in a given industry, thus undermining one of the basic premises of convergence theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The recent process of globalisation of international markets has managed to sustain the economic growth of the countries that have actively participated in this process. The available empirical evidence suggests, however, that it has been accompanied by a worldwide increase in environmental degradation and economic inequality. Therefore, there is growing concern that these features of the globalisation process may jeopardise its social and environmental sustainability. In order to clarify to what extent the recent process of globalisation may be considered as sustainable, this paper draws some hints from a critical assessment of the literature on the Kuznets curve and the environmental Kuznets curve. In particular it is argued that the optimistic implications of this literature on the sustainability of globalisation are ungranted and that the Kuznets approach is in principle unable to give reliable answers to the questions raised in this work. These curves, however, may be generalised as Kuznets relations whose analysis allows a clarification of a few basic conditions for sustainable globalisation. We conclude that these conditions can be met by implementing a systematic policy strategy aimed at shifting both Kuznets relations downwards. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]