Measuring globalisation : gauging its consequences / Axel Dreher, Noel Gaston, Pim Martens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dreher, Axel.

Contributor:

Gaston, Noel.

Martens, Willem Jozef Meine, 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Globalization.

Physical Description:

xvi, 224 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Springer, [2008]

Summary:

During the last few decades, human dynamics, institutional change, political relations, and the natural environment have become successively more intertwined. While these phenomena are often collectively referred to as 'globalisation', there is no unanimously-agreed upon definition of the term. Depending on the researcher or commentator, it can mean, among other things, the growing integration of markets and nation-states, receding geographical constraints on social and cultural arrangements, the increased dissemination of ideas and technologies, the threat to national sovereignty by trans-national actors, or the transformation of the economic, political and cultural foundations of societies. Regardless of perspective, globalisation permeates our economic, political, and social institutions to a profound degree. Recently, the issue of 'sustainability' has reached the mainstream: are the forces of globalisation ultimately contributing to growth and opportunity-or to destruction and chaos? Against the chorus of globalisation's proponents and detractors, the authors propose an approach for measuring globalisation and its consequences. Undertaking a comprehensive review of the literature on globalisation and using data from the MGI and KOF indices, the authors build a framework for defining globalisation and analysing the relationships among economic, political, and social variables. In particular, they apply the methodology to analyse the effects of globalisation on tax policy, government spending, economic growth, inequality, union power, and the natural environment, and consider additional avenues for research, analysis, and decision making. In the process, they hope that by introducing objective measures, our insight into the functioning of the complex global system will be enhanced.

Contents:

2 Towards An Understanding of the Concept of Globalisation 5

2.1 Capitalism as the incubator of contemporary globalisation 6

2.2 Technological innovation as the engine of globalisation 7

2.3 Political dimensions of globalisation 9

2.4 The Global Village and the social and cultural aspects of globalisation 10

2.5 Globalisation and the environment 12

2.6 Framing globalisation by its timeline 13

2.7 Digression: The challenge of sustainable development in a globalising world 15

3 The Measurement of Globalisation 25

3.1 The use of indicators to measure globalisation 25

3.2 The literature to date 26

3.3 The MGI and KOF globalisation indices 29

3.4 Comparing the main indices 68

4 Consequences of Globalisation Reconsidered: Applying the KOF Index 75

4.1 Government spending and taxation and the state of the Welfare State 79

4.2 The composition of government spending 96

4.3 Does globalisation spur economic growth? 120

4.4 Globalisation and deunionisation 139

4.5 Globalisation and inequality 149

4.6 Globalisation and the natural environment 158

Appendix A Sources and Definitions 193

Appendix B Descriptive Statistics 205.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [179]-191) and index.

ISBN:

9780387740676

0387740678

OCLC:

178310350