essay on globalisation and 21st century

YaleGlobal Online

A World Connected: Globalization in the 21st Century

No word has evoked as much passion in recent times as the word “globalization,” which carries an array of meanings among different people and disciplines. But the fact is that globalization is a historical process that has connected the world and influenced it, for better or worse, in every aspect of life. 

is a collection of more than 100 thought-provoking essays by renowned scholars, journalists and leading policymakers published over the past decade by YaleGlobal Online, now published by the MacMillan Center. The essays are grouped by chapters on Global Economy and Trade, Security, Diplomacy, Society, Culture, Health and Environment, Demography and Immigration, Anti-Globalization, Innovation and Global Governance and offer insights about globalization trends for the future. The volume contains an introduction by the editors and a preface by Yale University President Richard C. Levin.

“With intelligent and timely analysis, YaleGlobal and its first e-book, A World Connected: Globalization in the 21st Century, perform the valuable task of raising awareness about our interconnected world and highlighting the need for international cooperation and better governance.” – Richard C. Levin, President, Yale University

“As the story of globalization continues to unfold, reflecting on the lessons and challenges of both the recent and more distant past is critical to understand the options as we move forward – together, as nations, societies, communities and individuals – and the potential impact of our collective choices. This book will serve as an invaluable and thoughtful reference along the journey.” – Tracey Keys, GlobalTrends.com

Globalization and Its Challenges Essay

Globalization is a complex phenomenon which came into existence in the end of the twentieth century. Several decades ago it took days or even weeks for companies located in different countries to make a deal. Now it can be a matter of several hours. Interestingly, the word globalization is not new for people living in the twenty-first century, but sometimes the word is misused or misinterpreted.

Therefore, it is crucial to define the notion. Ukpere (2011, p. 6072) notes that globalization is “a state whereby national boundaries turn totally porous with respect to the movement of goods and capital and, to an extent, porous with respect to people, which is viewed… as cheap labor or, in some cases, cheap human capital”.

In other words, globalization presupposes no boundaries to business activity. The business activity is not confined to purely running business worldwide. Globalization also penetrates in such spheres of people’s life as education and even politics. The development of technology has enabled people to share information without paying any attention to location.

Many companies located in the developed countries shifted their facilities to developing countries. On the other hand, people from developing countries can look for jobs in developed countries. Basically, globalization has made the world smaller and more accessible, so to speak.

However, there are quite many negative effects. For instance, many people argue that globalization led to the global financial crisis in 2000s. These people state that various economies have become too interrelated. It is argued that some countries simply ‘shared’ their financial constraints with the rest of the world. There are many more challenges associated with globalization.

In the first place, people discuss problems developed countries face due to globalization. Thus, Rattner (2011) states that many people in developed countries lose as availability of workforce across the globe (e.g. China, India, Mexico, etc.) contributes greatly to the increase of unemployment within the country.

Rattner (2011) provides an example of the impact of globalization. The author focuses on such manufacturers as General Motors and Volkswagen. These giants shifted their capacities to other countries to reduce their expenditures. Admittedly, Americans are forced to work for lower wages as they understand that manufacturers can easily operate abroad.

Rattner (2011, n.p.) estimates that some workers will get $30,000 per year which can hardly be “the American dream of great middle-class jobs”. In fact, this is the major challenge for developed countries. Businesses are under constant pressure as growing economies of developing countries become more and more competitive.

Seemingly, developing countries benefit from globalization, but in reality globalization leads to great disproportions. On the one hand, many plants and factories are being built on the territory of these countries. Of course, this leads to new working places. However, these people do not obtain very big salaries. The conditions people have to work in are often very difficult or sometimes simply intolerable. Besides, the big enterprises coming to developing countries often become monopolies which dictate their own rules.

Ukpere (2011) also notes that globalization has led to increased levels of poverty and inequality. Admittedly, well-paid jobs are not available for the majority of people living in the developing countries. Those who manage to get a good job soon become much wealthier than the rest. This disproportion is caused by different opportunities. Thus, some people have access to information, knowledge, education, while others remain far from these ‘achievements of civilization’.

Therefore, it is possible to state that globalization has quite controversial effects. It helps some countries develop whereas other countries experience certain decline in their economy. Of course, economies have become interrelated, which is quite dangerous. As the global crisis has shown all economies become vulnerable if some country fails to keep the necessary balance.

It is also important to note that globalization contributes to marginalization of some countries (Ukpere, 2011). It is acknowledged that some countries lag behind due to some factors. They can be unattractive for investment. These countries may lack for professionals in some fields due to inaccessibility of education and training. Scarce resources also make countries unattractive for investors. Thus, it is possible to state that one of the major negative effects of globalization is that it creates disproportions.

Nonetheless, globalization should not be seen as something negative. People who simply oppose globalization (arrange protest walks) waste their time. First of all, the process is inevitable. Globalization can be regarded as a synonym to development. The development of technology has already removed boundaries. Besides, globalization has many positive effects which cannot be ignored. Thus, it is necessary to take advantage of positive effects, while trying to diminish negative effects of globalization.

Of course, government should cooperate to work out specific policies concerning global market. It is important to allocate funds wisely. No country should be left aside. Admittedly, all countries have something particularly valuable for the global market. Though, at first not all the countries can be involved in the operations on the global market. However, the boundaries should expand gradually. The example of the European Union is one of the illustrations that global market can be real. The experience of the EU can also be really valuable when developing the policies. Admittedly, these policies should be quite strict to make businesses comply with the rules.

In this case, all countries will benefit from globalization. All countries will be involved in the development of the global market. This will lead to equal development of countries. Thus, developing countries will be able to reach the level of developed countries. Admittedly, such problems as famine or unemployment can be solved. It is only necessary to allocate resources (natural as well as human) appropriately. It has been acknowledged that people produce enough food and goods for the entire planet, but these goods are distributed disproportionately. Globalization will address the problem.

On balance, it is possible to note that globalization presupposes no boundaries for economic activities. Globalization is seen differently by different people. Some say it is a process which should be stopped. Some claim that globalization is a positive process which should be fostered. People have not come to a single conclusion on the matter. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that globalization is still a promising process.

It can help people address such problems as disproportion of various resources. Eventually, globalization will help humanity develop. Of course, people will have to work together to benefit from globalization. This process presupposes mutual work of all governments. This may seem somewhat idealistic but people have no other choice. It is a fact that if a country in some part of the world experiences financial constraints, other countries of the globe will eventually experience the same problems. Thus, to succeed people will have to cooperate.

Reference List

Rattner, S. (2011). Let’s admit it: Globalization has losers . The New York Times . Web.

Ukpere, W.I. (2011). Globalization and the challenges of unemployment, income inequality and poverty in Africa. African Journal of Business Management, 5 (15).

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 26). Globalization and Its Challenges. https://ivypanda.com/essays/globalization-and-its-challenges/

"Globalization and Its Challenges." IvyPanda , 26 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/globalization-and-its-challenges/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'Globalization and Its Challenges'. 26 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "Globalization and Its Challenges." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/globalization-and-its-challenges/.

1. IvyPanda . "Globalization and Its Challenges." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/globalization-and-its-challenges/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Globalization and Its Challenges." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/globalization-and-its-challenges/.

• Threats to Globalization
• Democratic Globalization and Its Benefits
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Working Across Boundaries
• Globalization and Development
• Politics of Development: Globalization Challenges
• Globalization Negative Effects: Developed and Developing Countries
• Globalization and Its Discontents
• Working Across Boundaries Analysis
• Globalization and the World Economy
• Globalization
• Stability Strategies - Global Business Management
• Management of New Establishment in China
• Cultural Variation Across International Organisations
• Safety Management Systems in the Aviation Industry
• Recruitment Strategies - Global Business Management

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

The State of Globalization in 2021

• Steven A. Altman
• Caroline R. Bastian

Trade, capital, and information flows have stabilized, recovered, and even grown in the past year.

As the coronavirus swept the world, closing borders and halting international trade and capital flows, there were questions about the pandemic’s lasting impact on globalization. But a close look at the recent data paints a much more optimistic picture. While international travel remains significantly down and is not expected to rebound until 2023, cross-border trade, capital, and information flows have largely stabilized, recovered, or even grown over the last year. The bottom line for business is that Covid-19 has not knocked globalization down to anywhere close to what would be required for strategists to narrow their focus to their home countries or regions.

Cross-border flows plummeted in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world, reinforcing doubts about the future of globalization. As we move into 2021, the latest data paint a clearer — and more hopeful — picture. Global business is not going away, but the landscape is shifting, with important implications for strategy and management.

• Steven A. Altman is a senior research scholar, adjunct assistant professor, and director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at the NYU Stern Center for the Future of Management .
• CB Caroline R. Bastian is a research scholar at the DHL Initiative on Globalization.

Partner Center

Trade and Globalization

How did international trade and globalization change over time? What is the structure today? And what is its impact?

By Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, Diana Beltekian and Max Roser

This page was first published in 2014 and last revised in April 2024.

On this topic page, you can find data, visualizations, and research on historical and current patterns of international trade, as well as discussions of their origins and effects.

Other research and writing on trade and globalization on Our World in Data:

• Is globalization an engine of economic development?
• Is trade a major driver of income inequality?

Related topics

Economic Growth

See all our data, visualizations, and writing on economic growth.

Economic Inequality

See all our data, visualizations, and writing on economic inequality.

See all our data, visualizations, and writing on migration.

See all interactive charts on Trade and Globalization ↓

Trade has changed the world economy

Trade has grown remarkably over the last century.

One of the most important developments of the last century has been the integration of national economies into a global economic system. This process of integration, often called globalization, has resulted in a remarkable growth in trade between countries.

The chart here shows the growth of world exports over more than the last two centuries. These estimates are in constant prices (i.e. have been adjusted to account for inflation) and are indexed at 1913 values.

The chart shows an extraordinary growth in international trade over the last couple of centuries: Exports today are more than 40 times larger than in 1913.

You can switch to a logarithmic scale under ‘Settings’. This will help you see that, over the long run, growth has roughly followed an exponential path.

The increase in trade has even outpaced economic growth

The chart above shows how much more trade we have today relative to a century ago. But what about trade relative to total economic output?

Over the last couple of centuries the world economy has experienced sustained positive economic growth , so looking at changes in trade relative to GDP offers another interesting perspective.

The next chart plots the value of traded goods relative to GDP (i.e. the value of merchandise trade as a share of global economic output).

Up to 1870, the sum of worldwide exports accounted for less than 10% of global output. Today, the value of exported goods around the world is around 25%. This shows that over the last hundred years, the growth in trade has even outpaced rapid economic growth.

Trade expanded in two waves

The first "wave of globalization" started in the 19th century, the second one after ww2.

The following visualization presents a compilation of available trade estimates, showing the evolution of world exports and imports as a share of global economic output .

This metric (the ratio of total trade, exports plus imports, to global GDP) is known as the “openness index”. The higher the index, the higher the influence of trade transactions on global economic activity. 1

As we can see, until 1800 there was a long period characterized by persistently low international trade – globally the index never exceeded 10% before 1800. This then changed over the course of the 19th century, when technological advances triggered a period of marked growth in world trade – the so-called “first wave of globalization”.

This first wave came to an end with the beginning of World War I, when the decline of liberalism and the rise of nationalism led to a slump in international trade. In the chart we see a large drop in the interwar period.

After World War II trade started growing again. This new – and ongoing – wave of globalization has seen international trade grow faster than ever before. Today the sum of exports and imports across nations amounts to more than 50% of the value of total global output. 2

Before the first wave of globalization, trade was driven mostly by colonialism

Over the early modern period, transoceanic flows of goods between empires and colonies accounted for an important part of international trade. The following visualizations provide a comparison of intercontinental trade, in per capita terms, for different countries.

As we can see, intercontinental trade was very dynamic, with volumes varying considerably across time and from empire to empire.

Leonor Freire Costa, Nuno Palma, and Jaime Reis, who compiled and published the original data shown here, argue that trade, also in this period, had a substantial positive impact on the economy. 3

The first wave of globalization was marked by the rise and collapse of intra-European trade

The following visualization shows a detailed overview of Western European exports by destination. Figures correspond to export-to-GDP ratios (i.e. the sum of the value of exports from all Western European countries, divided by the total GDP in this region). You can use “Settings” to switch to a relative view and see the proportional contribution of each region to total Western European exports.

This chart shows that growth in Western European trade throughout the 19th century was largely driven by trade within the region: In the period 1830-1900 intra-European exports went from 1% of GDP to 10% of GDP, and this meant that the relative weight of intra-European exports doubled over the period. However, this process of European integration then collapsed sharply in the interwar period.

After the Second World War trade within Europe rebounded, and from the 1990s onwards exceeded the highest levels of the first wave of globalization. In addition, Western Europe then started to increasingly trade with Asia, the Americas, and to a smaller extent Africa and Oceania.

The next graph, using data from Broadberry and O'Rourke (2010) 4 , shows another perspective on the integration of the global economy and plots the evolution of three indicators measuring integration across different markets – specifically goods, labor, and capital markets.

The indicators in this chart are indexed, so they show changes relative to the levels of integration observed in 1900. This gives us another perspective on how quickly global integration collapsed with the two World Wars. 5

The second wave of globalization was enabled by technology

The worldwide expansion of trade after the Second World War was largely possible because of reductions in transaction costs stemming from technological advances, such as the development of commercial civil aviation, the improvement of productivity in the merchant marines, and the democratization of the telephone as the main mode of communication. The visualization shows how, at the global level, costs across these three variables have been going down since 1930.

Reductions in transaction costs impacted not only the volumes of trade but also the types of exchanges that were possible and profitable.

The first wave of globalization was characterized by inter-industry trade. This means that countries exported goods that were very different from what they imported – England exchanged machines for Australian wool and Indian tea. As transaction costs went down, this changed. In the second wave of globalization, we are seeing a rise in intra -industry trade (i.e. the exchange of broadly similar goods and services is becoming more and more common). France, for example, now both imports and exports machines to and from Germany.

The following visualization, from the UN World Development Report (2009) , plots the fraction of total world trade that is accounted for by intra-industry trade, by type of goods. As we can see, intra-industry trade has been going up for primary, intermediate, and final goods.

This pattern of trade is important because the scope for specialization increases if countries are able to exchange intermediate goods (e.g. auto parts) for related final goods (e.g. cars).

Trade and trade partners by country

Above, we examined the broad global trends over the last two centuries. Let's now examine country-level trends over this long and dynamic period.

This chart plots estimates of the value of trade in goods, relative to total economic activity (i.e. export-to-GDP ratios).

These historical estimates obviously come with a large margin of error (in the measurement section below we discuss the data limitations); yet they offer an interesting perspective.

You can edit the countries and regions selected. Each country tells a different story. 7

In the next chart we plot, country by country, the regional breakdown of exports. India is shown by default, but you can edit the countries and regions shown.

When switching to displaying relative values under ‘Settings’, we see the proportional contribution of purchases from each region. For example, we see that more than a third of Indian exports went to Asian countries in recent decades.

This gives us an interesting perspective on the changing nature of trade partnerships. In India, we see the rising importance of trade with Africa—a pattern that we discuss in more detail below .

Trade around the world today

How much do countries trade, trade openness around the world.

The metric trade as a share of GDP gives us an idea of global integration by capturing all incoming and outgoing transactions of a country.

The charts shows that countries differ a lot in the extent to which they engage in trade. Trade, for example, is much less important to the US economy than for other rich countries.

If you press the play button on the map, you can see changes over time. This reveals that, despite the great variation between countries, there is a common trend: over the last couple of decades trade openness has gone up in most countries.

Exports and imports in real dollars

Expressing the value of trade as a share of GDP tells us the importance of trade in relation to the size of economic activity. Let's now take a look at trade in monetary terms – this tells us the importance of trade in absolute, rather than relative terms.

The chart shows the value of exports (goods plus services) in dollars, country by country.

The main takeaway here is that the trend towards more trade is more pronounced than in the charts showing shares of GDP. This is not surprising: most countries today produce more than a couple of decades ago , and at the same time they trade more of what they produce. 8

What do countries trade?

Trade in goods vs. trade in services.

Trade transactions include goods (tangible products that are physically shipped across borders by road, rail, water, or air) and services (intangible commodities, such as tourism, financial services, and legal advice).

Many traded services make merchandise trade easier or cheaper—for example, shipping services, or insurance and financial services.

Trade in goods has been happening for millennia , while trade in services is a relatively recent phenomenon.

In some countries services are today an important driver of trade: in the UK services account for around half of all exports; and in the Bahamas, almost all exports are services.

In other countries, such as Nigeria and Venezuela, services account for a small share of total exports.

Globally, trade in goods accounts for the majority of trade transactions. But as this chart shows, the share of services in total global exports has slightly increased in recent decades. 9

How are trade partnerships changing?

Bilateral trade is becoming increasingly common.

If we consider all pairs of countries that engage in trade around the world, we find that in the majority of cases, there is a bilateral relationship today: most countries that export goods to a country also import goods from the same country.

The interactive visualization shows this. 10 In the chart, all possible country pairs are partitioned into three categories: the top portion represents the fraction of country pairs that do not trade with one another; the middle portion represents those that trade in both directions (they export to one another); and the bottom portion represents those that trade in one direction only (one country imports from, but does not export to, the other country).

As we can see, bilateral trade is becoming increasingly common (the middle portion has grown substantially). However, many countries still do not trade with each other at all.

South-South trade is becoming increasingly important

The next visualization here shows the share of world merchandise trade that corresponds to exchanges between today's rich countries and the rest of the world.

The 'rich countries' in this chart are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. 'Non-rich countries' are all the other countries in the world.

As we can see, up until the Second World War, the majority of trade transactions involved exchanges between this small group of rich countries. But this has changed quickly over the last couple of decades, and today, trade between non-rich countries is just as important as trade between rich countries.

In the past two decades, China has been a key driver of this dynamic: the UN Human Development Report (2013) estimates that between 1992 and 2011, China's trade with Sub-Saharan Africa rose from $1 billion to more than $140 billion. 11

The majority of preferential trade agreements are between emerging economies

The last few decades have not only seen an increase in the volume of international trade, but also an increase in the number of preferential trade agreements through which exchanges take place. A preferential trade agreement is a trade pact that reduces tariffs between the participating countries for certain products.

The visualization here shows the evolution of the cumulative number of preferential trade agreements in force worldwide, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO). These numbers include notified and non-notified preferential agreements (the source reports that only about two-thirds of the agreements currently in force have been notified to the WTO) and are disaggregated by country groups.

This figure shows the increasingly important role of trade between developing countries (South-South trade), vis-a-vis trade between developed and developing countries (North-South trade). In the late 1970s, North-South agreements accounted for more than half of all agreements – in 2010, they accounted for about one-quarter. Today, the majority of preferential trade agreements are between developing economies.

Trading patterns have been changing quickly in middle-income countries

An important change in the composition of exported goods in these countries has accompanied the increase in trade among emerging economies over the last half century.

The next visualization plots the share of food exports in each country's total exported merchandise. These figures, produced by the World Bank, correspond to the Standard International Trade Classification, in which 'food' includes, among other goods, live animals, beverages, tobacco, coffee, oils, and fats.

Two points stand out. First, the relative importance of food exports has substantially decreased in most countries since the 1960s (although globally, it has gone up slightly more recently). Second, this decrease has been largest in middle-income countries, particularly in Latin America.

Regarding levels, as one would expect, in high-income countries, food still accounts for a much smaller share of merchandise exports than in most low- and middle-income-countries.

Trade generates efficiency gains

The raw correlation between trade and growth.

Over the last couple of centuries, the world economy has experienced sustained positive economic growth , and over the same period, this process of economic growth has been accompanied by even faster growth in global trade .

In a similar way, if we look at country-level data from the last half century we find that there is also a correlation between economic growth and trade: countries with higher rates of GDP growth also tend to have higher rates of growth in trade as a share of output. This basic correlation is shown in the chart here, where we plot the average annual change in real GDP per capita, against growth in trade (average annual change in value of exports as a share of GDP). 12

Is this statistical association between economic output and trade causal?

Among the potential growth-enhancing factors that may come from greater global economic integration are: competition (firms that fail to adopt new technologies and cut costs are more likely to fail and be replaced by more dynamic firms); economies of scale (firms that can export to the world face larger demand, and under the right conditions, they can operate at larger scales where the price per unit of product is lower); learning and innovation (firms that trade gain more experience and exposure to develop and adopt technologies and industry standards from foreign competitors). 13

Are these mechanisms supported by the data? Let's take a look at the available empirical evidence.

Evidence from cross-country differences in trade, growth, and productivity

When it comes to academic studies estimating the impact of trade on GDP growth, the most cited paper is Frankel and Romer (1999). 14

In this study, Frankel and Romer used geography as a proxy for trade to estimate the impact of trade on growth. This is a classic example of the so-called instrumental variables approach . The idea is that a country's geography is fixed, and mainly affects national income through trade. So if we observe that a country's distance from other countries is a powerful predictor of economic growth (after accounting for other characteristics), then the conclusion is drawn that it must be because trade has an effect on economic growth. Following this logic, Frankel and Romer find evidence of a strong impact of trade on economic growth.

Other papers have applied the same approach to richer cross-country data, and they have found similar results. A key example is Alcalá and Ciccone (2004). 15

This body of evidence suggests trade is indeed one of the factors driving national average incomes (GDP per capita) and macroeconomic productivity (GDP per worker) over the long run. 16

Evidence from changes in labor productivity at the firm level

If trade is causally linked to economic growth, we would expect that trade liberalization episodes also lead to firms becoming more productive in the medium and even short run. There is evidence suggesting this is often the case.

Pavcnik (2002) examined the effects of liberalized trade on plant productivity in the case of Chile, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She found a positive impact on firm productivity in the import-competing sector. She also found evidence of aggregate productivity improvements from the reshuffling of resources and output from less to more efficient producers. 17

Bloom, Draca, and Van Reenen (2016) examined the impact of rising Chinese import competition on European firms over the period 1996-2007 and obtained similar results. They found that innovation increased more in those firms most affected by Chinese imports. They also found evidence of efficiency gains through two related channels: innovation increased and new existing technologies were adopted within firms, and aggregate productivity also increased because employment was reallocated towards more technologically advanced firms. 18

Trade does not only increase efficiency gains

Overall, the available evidence suggests that trade liberalization does improve economic efficiency. This evidence comes from different political and economic contexts and includes both micro and macro measures of efficiency.

This result is important because it shows that there are gains from trade. But of course, efficiency is not the only relevant consideration here. As we discuss in a companion article , the efficiency gains from trade are not generally equally shared by everyone. The evidence from the impact of trade on firm productivity confirms this: "reshuffling workers from less to more efficient producers" means closing down some jobs in some places. Because distributional concerns are real it is important to promote public policies – such as unemployment benefits and other safety-net programs – that help redistribute the gains from trade.

Trade has distributional consequences

The conceptual link between trade and household welfare.

When a country opens up to trade, the demand and supply of goods and services in the economy shift. As a consequence, local markets respond, and prices change. This has an impact on households, both as consumers and as wage earners.

The implication is that trade has an impact on everyone. It's not the case that the effects are restricted to workers from industries in the trade sector; or to consumers who buy imported goods. The effects of trade extend to everyone because markets are interlinked, so imports and exports have knock-on effects on all prices in the economy, including those in non-traded sectors.

Economists usually distinguish between "general equilibrium consumption effects" (i.e. changes in consumption that arise from the fact that trade affects the prices of non-traded goods relative to traded goods) and "general equilibrium income effects" (i.e. changes in wages that arise from the fact that trade has an impact on the demand for specific types of workers, who could be employed in both the traded and non-traded sectors).

Considering all these complex interrelations, it's not surprising that economic theories predict that not everyone will benefit from international trade in the same way. The distribution of the gains from trade depends on what different groups of people consume, and which types of jobs they have, or could have. 19

The link between trade, jobs and wages

Evidence from chinese imports and their impact on factory workers in the us.

The most famous study looking at this question is Autor, Dorn and Hanson (2013): "The China syndrome: Local labor market effects of import competition in the United States". 20

In this paper, Autor and coauthors examined how local labor markets changed in the parts of the country most exposed to Chinese competition. They found that rising exposure increased unemployment, lowered labor force participation, and reduced wages. Additionally, they found that claims for unemployment and healthcare benefits also increased in more trade-exposed labor markets.

The visualization here is one of the key charts from their paper. It's a scatter plot of cross-regional exposure to rising imports, against changes in employment. Each dot is a small region (a 'commuting zone' to be precise). The vertical position of the dots represents the percent change in manufacturing employment for the working-age population, and the horizontal position represents the predicted exposure to rising imports (exposure varies across regions depending on the local weight of different industries).

The trend line in this chart shows a negative relationship: more exposure goes along with less employment. There are large deviations from the trend (there are some low-exposure regions with big negative changes in employment); but the paper provides more sophisticated regressions and robustness checks, and finds that this relationship is statistically significant.

This result is important because it shows that the labor market adjustments were large. Many workers and communities were affected over a long period of time. 21

But it's also important to keep in mind that Autor and colleagues are only giving us a partial perspective on the total effect of trade on employment. In particular, comparing changes in employment at the regional level misses the fact that firms operate in multiple regions and industries at the same time. Indeed, Ildikó Magyari found evidence suggesting the Chinese trade shock provided incentives for US firms to diversify and reorganize production. 22

So companies that outsourced jobs to China often ended up closing some lines of business, but at the same time expanded other lines elsewhere in the US. This means that job losses in some regions subsidized new jobs in other parts of the country.

On the whole, Magyari finds that although Chinese imports may have reduced employment within some establishments, these losses were more than offset by gains in employment within the same firms in other places. This is no consolation to people who lost their jobs. But it is necessary to add this perspective to the simplistic story of "trade with China is bad for US workers".

Evidence from the expansion of trade in India and the impact on poverty reductions

Another important paper in this field is Topalova (2010): "Factor immobility and regional impacts of trade liberalization: Evidence on poverty from India". 23

In this paper, Topalova examines the impact of trade liberalization on poverty across different regions in India, using the sudden and extensive change in India's trade policy in 1991. She finds that rural regions that were more exposed to liberalization experienced a slower decline in poverty and lower consumption growth.

Analyzing the mechanisms underlying this effect, Topalova finds that liberalization had a stronger negative impact among the least geographically mobile at the bottom of the income distribution and in places where labor laws deterred workers from reallocating across sectors.

The evidence from India shows that (i) discussions that only look at "winners" in poor countries and "losers" in rich countries miss the point that the gains from trade are unequally distributed within both sets of countries; and (ii) context-specific factors, like worker mobility across sectors and geographic regions, are crucial to understand the impact of trade on incomes.

Evidence from other studies

• Donaldson (2018) uses archival data from colonial India to estimate the impact of India’s vast railroad network. He finds railroads increased trade, and in doing so they increased real incomes (and reduced income volatility). 24
• Porto (2006) looks at the distributional effects of Mercosur on Argentine families, and finds this regional trade agreement led to benefits across the entire income distribution. He finds the effect was progressive: poor households gained more than middle-income households because prior to the reform, trade protection benefitted the rich disproportionately. 25
• Trefler (2004) looks at the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and finds there was a group who bore "adjustment costs" (displaced workers and struggling plants) and a group who enjoyed "long-run gains" (consumers and efficient plants). 26

The link between trade and the cost of living

The fact that trade negatively affects labor market opportunities for specific groups of people does not necessarily imply that trade has a negative aggregate effect on household welfare. This is because, while trade affects wages and employment, it also affects the prices of consumption goods. So households are affected both as consumers and as wage earners.

Most studies focus on the earnings channel and try to approximate the impact of trade on welfare by looking at how much wages can buy, using as a reference the changing prices of a fixed basket of goods.

This approach is problematic because it fails to consider welfare gains from increased product variety, and obscures complicated distributional issues such as the fact that poor and rich individuals consume different baskets so they benefit differently from changes in relative prices. 27

Ideally, studies looking at the impact of trade on household welfare should rely on fine-grained data on prices, consumption, and earnings. This is the approach followed in Atkin, Faber, and Gonzalez-Navarro (2018): "Retail globalization and household welfare: Evidence from Mexico". 28

Atkin and coauthors use a uniquely rich dataset from Mexico, and find that the arrival of global retail chains led to reductions in the incomes of traditional retail sector workers, but had little impact on average municipality-level incomes or employment; and led to lower costs of living for both rich and poor households.

The chart here shows the estimated distribution of total welfare gains across the household income distribution (the light-gray lines correspond to confidence intervals). These are proportional gains expressed as a percent of initial household income.

As we can see, there is a net positive welfare effect across all income groups; but these improvements in welfare are regressive, in the sense that richer households gain proportionally more (about 7.5 percent gain compared to 5 percent). 29

Evidence from other countries confirms this is not an isolated case – the expenditure channel really seems to be an important and understudied source of household welfare. Giuseppe Berlingieri, Holger Breinlich, Swati Dhingra, for example, investigated the consumer benefits from trade agreements implemented by the EU between 1993 and 2013; and they found that these trade agreements increased the quality of available products, which translated into a cumulative reduction in consumer prices equivalent to savings of €24 billion per year for EU consumers. 30

Implications of trade’s distributional effects

The available evidence shows that, for some groups of people, trade has a negative effect on wages and employment opportunities; at the same time, it has a large positive effect via lower consumer prices and increased product availability.

Two points are worth emphasizing.

For some households, the net effect is positive. But for some households that's not the case. In particular, workers who lose their jobs can be affected for extended periods of time, so the positive effect via lower prices is not enough to compensate them for the reduction in earnings.

On the whole, if we aggregate changes in welfare across households, the net effect is usually positive. But this is hardly a consolation for the worse off.

This highlights a complex reality: There are aggregate gains from trade , but there are also real distributional concerns. Even if trade is not a major driver of income inequalities , it's important to keep in mind that public policies, such as unemployment benefits and other safety-net programs, can and should help redistribute the gains from trade.

Explaining trade patterns: Theory and Evidence

Comparative advantage, theory: what is 'comparative advantage' and why does it matter to understand trade.

In economic theory, the 'economic cost' – or the 'opportunity cost' – of producing a good is the value of everything you need to give up in order to produce that good.

Economic costs include physical inputs (the value of the stuff you use to produce the good), plus forgone opportunities (when you allocate scarce resources to a task, you give up alternative uses of those resources).

A country or a person is said to have a 'comparative advantage' if it can produce something at a lower opportunity cost than its trade partners.

The forgone opportunities of production are key to understanding this concept. It is precisely this that distinguishes absolute advantage from comparative advantage.

To see the difference between comparative and absolute advantage, consider a commercial aviation pilot and a baker. Suppose the pilot is an excellent chef, and she can bake just as well, or even better than the baker. In this case, the pilot has an absolute advantage in both tasks. Yet the baker probably has a comparative advantage in baking, because the opportunity cost of baking is much higher for the pilot.

The freely available economics textbook The Economy: Economics for a Changing World explains this as follows: "A person or country has comparative advantage in the production of a particular good, if the cost of producing an additional unit of that good relative to the cost of producing another good is lower than another person or country’s cost to produce the same two goods."

At the individual level, comparative advantage explains why you might want to delegate tasks to someone else, even if you can do those tasks better and faster than them. This may sound counterintuitive, but it is not: If you are good at many things, it means that investing time in one task has a high opportunity cost, because you are not doing the other amazing things you could be doing with your time and resources. So, at least from an efficiency point of view, you should specialize on what you are best at, and delegate the rest.

The same logic applies to countries. Broadly speaking, the principle of comparative advantage postulates that all nations can gain from trade if each specializes in producing what they are relatively more efficient at producing, and imports the rest: “do what you do best, import the rest”. 31

In countries with a relative abundance of certain factors of production, the theory of comparative advantage predicts that they will export goods that rely heavily upon those factors: a country typically has a comparative advantage in those goods that use its abundant resources. Colombia exports bananas to Europe because it has comparatively abundant tropical weather.

Is there empirical support for comparative-advantage theories of trade?

The empirical evidence suggests that the principle of comparative advantage does help explain trade patterns. Bernhofen and Brown (2004) 32 , for instance, provide evidence using the experience of Japan. Specifically, they exploit Japan’s dramatic nineteenth-century move from a state of near complete isolation to wide trade openness.

The graph here shows the price changes of the key tradable goods after the opening up to trade. It presents a scatter diagram of the net exports in 1869 graphed in relation to the change in prices from 1851–53 to 1869. As we can see, this is consistent with the theory: after opening to trade, the relative prices of major exports such as silk increased (Japan exported what was cheap for them to produce and which was valuable abroad), while the relative price of imports such as sugar declined (they imported what was relatively more difficult for them to produce, but was cheap abroad).

Trade diminishes with distance

The resistance that geography imposes on trade has long been studied in the empirical economics literature – and the main conclusion is that trade intensity is strongly linked to geographic distance.

The visualization, from Eaton and Kortum (2002), graphs 'normalized import shares' against distance. 33 Each dot represents a country pair from a set of 19 OECD countries, and both the vertical and horizontal axes are expressed on logarithmic scales.

The 'normalized import shares' in the vertical axis provide a measure of how much each country imports from different partners (see the paper for details on how this is calculated and normalized), while the distance in the horizontal axis corresponds to the distance between central cities in each country (see the paper and references therein for details on the list of cities). As we can see, there is a strong negative relationship. Trade diminishes with distance. Through econometric modeling, the paper shows that this relationship is not just a correlation driven by other factors: their findings suggest that distance imposes a significant barrier to trade.

The fact that trade diminishes with distance is also corroborated by data on trade intensity within countries. The visualization here shows, through a series of maps, the geographic distribution of French firms that export to France's neighboring countries. The colors reflect the percentage of firms that export to each specific country.

As we can see, the share of firms exporting to each of the corresponding neighbors is the largest close to the border. The authors also show in the paper that this pattern holds for the value of individual-firm exports – trade value decreases with distance to the border.

Institutions

Conducting international trade requires both financial and non-financial institutions to support transactions. Some of these institutions are fairly obvious (e.g. law enforcement); but some are less obvious. For example, the evidence shows that producers in exporting countries often need credit in order to engage in trade.

The scatter plot, from Manova (2013), shows the correlation between levels in private credit (specifically exporters’ private credit as a share of GDP) and exports (average log bilateral exports across destinations and sectors). 35 As can be seen, financially developed economies – those with more dynamic private credit markets – typically outperform exporters with less evolved financial institutions.

Other studies have shown that country-specific institutions, like the knowledge of foreign languages, for instance, are also important to promote foreign relative to domestic trade. 36

Increasing returns to scale

The concept of comparative advantage predicts that if all countries had identical endowments and institutions, there would be little incentive for specialization because the opportunity cost of producing any good would be the same in every country.

So you may wonder: why is it then the case that in the last few years, we have seen such rapid growth in intra-industry trade between rich countries?

The increase in intra-industry between rich countries seems paradoxical under the light of comparative advantage because in recent decades we have seen convergence in key factors, such as human capital , across these countries.

The solution to the paradox is actually not very complicated: Comparative advantage is one, but not the only force driving incentives to specialization and trade.

Several economists, most notably Paul Krugman, have developed theories of trade in which trade is not due to differences between countries, but instead due to "increasing returns to scale" – an economic term used to denote a technology in which producing extra units of a good becomes cheaper if you operate at a larger scale.

The idea is that specialization allows countries to reap greater economies of scale (i.e. to reduce production costs by focusing on producing large quantities of specific products), so trade can be a good idea even if the countries do not differ in endowments, including culture and institutions.

These models of trade, often referred to as “New Trade Theory”, are helpful in explaining why in the last few years we have seen such rapid growth in two-way exchanges of goods within industries between developed nations.

In a much-cited paper, Evenett and Keller (2002) show that both factor endowments and increasing returns help explain production and trade patterns around the world. 37

You can learn more about New Trade Theory, and the empirical support behind it, in Paul Krugman's Nobel lecture .

Measurement and data quality

There are dozens of official sources of data on international trade, and if you compare these different sources, you will find that they do not agree with one another. Even if you focus on what seems to be the same indicator for the same year in the same country, discrepancies are large.

Such differences between sources can also be found in rich countries where statistical agencies tend to follow international reporting guidelines more closely.

There are also large bilateral discrepancies within sources: the value of goods that country A exports to country B can be more than the value of goods that country B imports from country A.

Here we explain how international trade data is collected and processed, and why there are such large discrepancies.

What data is available?

The data hubs from several large international organizations publish and maintain extensive cross-country datasets on international trade. Here's a list of the most important ones:

• World Bank Open Data
• WTO Statistics
• UN Comtrade
• UNCTAD World Integrated Trade Solutions

In addition to these sources, there are also many other academic projects that publish data on international trade. These projects tend to rely on data from one or more of the sources above, and they typically process and merge series in order to improve coverage and consistency. Three important sources are:

• The Correlates of War Project . 38
• The NBER-United Nations Trade Dataset Project .
• The CEPII Bilateral Trade and Gravity Data Project . 39

How large are the discrepancies between sources?

In the visualization here, we compare the data published by several of the sources listed above, country by country, from 1955 to today.

For each country, we exclude trade in services, and we focus only on estimates of the total value of exported goods, expressed as shares of GDP. 40

As this chart clearly shows, different data sources often tell very different stories. If you change the country or region shown you will see that this is true, to varying degrees, across all countries and years.

Constructing this chart was demanding. It required downloading trade data from many different sources, collecting the relevant series, and then standardizing them so that the units of measure and the geographical territories were consistent.

All series, except the two long-run series from CEPII and NBER-UN, were produced from data published by the sources in current US dollars and then converted to GDP shares using a unique source (World Bank).

So, if all series are in the same units (share of national GDP) and they measure the same thing (value of goods exported from one country to the rest of the world), what explains the differences?

Let's dig deeper to understand what's going on.

Why doesn't the data add up?

Differences in guidelines used by countries to record and report trade data.

Broadly speaking, there are two main approaches used to estimate international merchandise trade:

• The first approach relies on estimating trade from customs records , often complementing or correcting figures with data from enterprise surveys and administrative records associated with taxation. The main manual providing guidelines for this approach is the International Merchandise Trade Statistics Manual (IMTS).
• The second approach relies on estimating trade from macroeconomic data , typically National Accounts . The main manual providing guidelines for this approach is the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), which was drafted in parallel with the 2008 System of National Accounts of the United Nations (SNA 2008). The idea behind this approach is to record changes in economic ownership. 41

Under these two approaches, it is common to distinguish between 'traded merchandise' and 'traded goods'. The distinction is often made because goods simply being transported through a country (i.e., goods in transit) are not considered to change a country's stock of material resources and are hence often excluded from the more narrow concept of 'merchandise trade'.

Also, adding to the complexity, countries often rely on measurement protocols developed alongside approaches and concepts that are not perfectly compatible to begin with. In Europe, for example, countries use the 'Compilers guide on European statistics on international trade in goods'.

Measurement error and other inconsistencies

Even when two sources rely on the same broad accounting approach, discrepancies arise because countries fail to adhere perfectly to the protocols.

In theory, for example, the exports of country A to country B should mirror the imports of country B from country A. But in practice this is rarely the case because of differences in valuation. According to the BPM6, imports, and exports should be recorded in the balance of payments accounts on a ' free on board (FOB) basis', which means using prices that include all charges up to placing the goods on board a ship at the port of departure. Yet many countries stick to FOB values only for exports, and use CIF values for imports (CIF stands for 'Cost, Insurance and Freight', and includes the costs of transportation). 42

The chart here gives you an idea of how large import-export asymmetries are. Shown are the differences between the value of goods that each country reports exporting to the US, and the value of goods that the US reports importing from the same countries. For example, for China, the figure in the chart corresponds to the “Value of merchandise imports in the US from China” minus the “Value of merchandise exports from China to the US”.

The differences in the chart here, which are both positive and negative, suggest that there is more going on than differences in FOB vs. CIF values. If all asymmetries were coming from FOB-CIF differences, then we should only see positive values in the chart (recall that, unlike FOB values, CIF values include the cost of transportation, so CIF values are larger).

What else may be going on here?

Another common source of measurement error relates to the inconsistent attribution of trade partners. An example is failure to follow the guidelines on how to treat goods passing through intermediary countries for processing or merchanting purposes. As global production chains become more complex, countries find it increasingly difficult to unambiguously establish the origin and final destination of merchandise, even when rules are established in the manuals. 43

And there are still more potential sources of discrepancies. For example differences in customs and tax regimes, and differences between "general" and "special" trade systems (i.e. differences between statistical territories and actual country borders, which do not often coincide because of things like 'custom free zones'). 44

Even when two sources have identical trade estimates, inconsistencies in published data can arise from differences in exchange rates. If a dataset reports cross-country trade data in US dollars, estimates will vary depending on the exchange rates used. Different exchange rates will lead to conflicting estimates, even if figures in local currency units are consistent.

A checklist for comparing sources

Asymmetries in international trade statistics are large and arise for a variety of reasons. These include conceptual inconsistencies across measurement standards and inconsistencies in the way countries apply agreed-upon protocols. Here's a checklist of issues to keep in mind when comparing sources.

• Differences in underlying records: is trade measured from National Accounts data rather than directly from custom or tax records?
• Differences in import and export valuations: are transactions valued at FOB or CIF prices?
• Inconsistent attribution of trade partners: how is the origin and final destination of merchandise established?
• Difference between 'goods' and 'merchandise': how are re-importing, re-exporting, and intermediary merchanting transactions recorded?
• Exchange rates: how are values converted from local currency units to the currency that allows international comparisons (most often the US-$)?
• Differences between 'general' and 'special' trade system: how is trade recorded for custom-free zones?
• Other issues: Time of recording, confidentiality policies, product classification, deliberate mis-invoicing for illicit purposes.

Many organizations producing trade data have long recognized these factors. Indeed, international organizations often incorporate corrections in an attempt to improve data quality.

The OECD's Balanced International Merchandise Trade Statistics , for example, uses its own approach to correct and reconcile international merchandise trade statistics. 45

The corrections applied in the OECD's 'balanced' series make this the best source for cross-country comparisons. However, this dataset has low coverage across countries, and it only goes back to 2011. This is an important obstacle since the complex adjustments introduced by the OECD imply we can't easily improve coverage by appending data from other sources. At Our World in Data we have chosen to rely on CEPII as the main source for exploring long-run changes in international trade, but we also rely on World Bank and OECD data for up-to-date cross-country comparisons.

There are two key lessons from all of this. The first lesson is that, for most users of trade data out there, there is no obvious way of choosing between sources. And the second lesson is that, because of statistical glitches, researchers and policymakers should always take analyses of trade data with a pinch of salt. For example, in a recent high-profile report , researchers attributed mismatches in bilateral trade data to illicit financial flows through trade mis-invoicing (or trade-based money laundering). As we show here, this interpretation of the data is not appropriate, since mismatches in the data can, and often do arise from measurement inconsistencies rather than malfeasance. 46

Hopefully, the discussion and checklist above can help researchers better interpret and choose between conflicting data sources.

Interactive charts on Trade and Globalization

The openness index, when calculated for the world as a whole, includes double-counting of transactions: When country A sells goods to country B, this shows up in the data both as an import (B imports from A) and as an export (A sells to B).

Indeed, if you compare the chart showing the global trade openness index and the chart showing global merchandise exports as a share of GDP , you find that the former is almost twice as large as the latter.

Why is the global openness index not exactly twice the value reported in the chart plotting global merchandise exports? There a three reasons.

First, the global openness index uses different sources. Second, the global openness index includes trade in goods and services, while merchandise exports include goods but not services. And third, the amount that country A reports exporting to country B does not usually match the amount that B reports importing from A.

We explore this in more detail in our measurement section below .

Klasing and Milionis (2014), one of the sources in the chart, published an additional set of estimates under an alternative specification. Similarly, for the period 1960-2015, the World Bank's World Development Indicators published an alternative set of estimates similar but not identical to those included from the Penn World Tables (9.1). You find all these alternative overlapping sources in this comparison chart .

Leonor Freire Costa, Nuno Palma, and Jaime Reis (2015) – The great escape? The contribution of the empire to Portugal's economic growth, 1500–1800 Leonor Freire Costa Nuno Palma Jaime Reis European Review of Economic History, Volume 19, Issue 1, 1 February 2015, Pages 1–22, https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heu019

Broadberry and O'Rourke (2010) - The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe: Volume 2, 1870 to the Present. Cambridge University Press.

Integration in the goods markets is measured here through the 'trade openness index', which is defined by the sum of exports and imports as a share of GDP. In our interactive chart you can explore trends in trade openness over this period for a selection of European countries.

Broadberry and O'Rourke (2010) - The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe: Volume 2, 1870 to the Present. Cambridge University Press. The graph depicts the “evolution of three indicators measuring integration in commodity, labor, and capital markets over the long run. Commodity market integration is measured by computing the ratio of exports to GDP. Labor market integration is measured by dividing the migratory turnover by population. Financial integration is measured using Feldstein–Horioka estimators of current account disconnectedness.”

We also have the same chart but showing imports .

We also have the same chart, but showing imports .

This interactive chart shows trade in services as a share of GDP across countries and regions.

This chart was inspired by a chart from Helpman, E., Melitz, M., & Rubinstein, Y. (2007). Estimating trade flows: Trading partners and trading volumes (No. w12927). National Bureau of Economic Research.

We also have the same data, but as a stacked-area chart .

There are different ways of capturing this correlation. I focus here on all countries with data over the period 1945-2014. You can find a similar chart using different data sources and time periods in Ventura, J. (2005). A global view of economic growth. Handbook of economic growth, 1, 1419-1497. Online here .

The textbook The Economy: Economics for a Changing World explains this in more detail.

Frankel, J. A., & Romer, D. H. (1999). Does trade cause growth? American Economic Review, 89(3), 379-399.

Alcalá, F., & Ciccone, A. (2004). Trade and productivity . The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 119(2), 613-646.

There are many papers that try to answer this specific question with macro data. For an overview of papers and methods see: Durlauf, S. N., Johnson, P. A., & Temple, J. R. (2005). Growth econometrics. Handbook of economic growth, 1, 555-677.

Pavcnik, N. (2002). Trade liberalization, exit, and productivity improvements: Evidence from Chilean plants . The Review of Economic Studies, 69(1), 245-276.

Bloom, N., Draca, M., & Van Reenen, J. (2016). Trade induced technical change? The impact of Chinese imports on innovation, IT and productivity. The Review of Economic Studies, 83(1), 87-117. Available online here .

You can read more about these economic concepts, and the related predictions from economic theory, in Chapter 18 of the textbook The Economy: Economics for a Changing World .

David, H., Dorn, D., & Hanson, G. H. (2013). The China syndrome: Local labor market effects of import competition in the United States . American Economic Review, 103(6), 2121-68.

It's important to mention here that the economist Jonathan Rothwell wrote a paper suggesting these findings are the result of a statistical illusion. Rothwell's critique received some attention from the media , but Autor and coauthors provided a reply , which I think successfully refutes this claim.

Magyari, I. (2017). Firm Reorganization, Chinese Imports, and US Manufacturing Employment . US Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies.

Topalova, P. (2010). Factor immobility and regional impacts of trade liberalization: Evidence on poverty from India . American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4), 1-41.

Donaldson, D. (2018). Railroads of the Raj: Estimating the impact of transportation infrastructure . American Economic Review, 108(4-5), 899-934.

Porto, G (2006). Using Survey Data to Assess the Distributional Effects of Trade Policy. Journal of International Economics 70 (2006) 140–160.

Trefler, D. (2004). The long and short of the Canada-US free trade agreement . American Economic Review, 94(4), 870-895.

See: (i) Feenstra, R. C., & Weinstein, D. E. (2017). Globalization, markups, and US welfare . Journal of Political Economy, 125(4), 1040-1074. (ii) Fajgelbaum, P. D., & Khandelwal, A. K. (2016). Measuring the unequal gains from trade . The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(3), 1113-1180.

Atkin, David, Benjamin Faber, and Marco Gonzalez-Navarro. "Retail globalization and household welfare: Evidence from Mexico." Journal of Political Economy 126.1 (2018): 1-73.

In the paper, Atkin and coauthors explore the reasons for this and find that the regressive nature of the distribution is mainly due to richer households placing higher weight on the product variety and shopping amenities on offer at these new foreign stores.

Berlingieri, G., Breinlich, H., & Dhingra, S. (2018). The Impact of Trade Agreements on Consumer Welfare—Evidence from the EU Common External Trade Policy. Journal of the European Economic Association.

Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson (1969) was once challenged by the mathematician Stanislaw Ulam: "Name me one proposition in all of the social sciences which is both true and non-trivial." It was several years later than he thought of the correct response: comparative advantage. "That it is logically true need not be argued before a mathematician; that is is not trivial is attested by the thousands of important and intelligent men who have never been able to grasp the doctrine for themselves or to believe it after it was explained to them."

(NB. This is an excerpt from https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/cadv_e.htm)

Bernhofen, D., & Brown, J. (2004). A Direct Test of the Theory of Comparative Advantage: The Case of Japan. Journal of Political Economy, 112(1), 48-67. doi:1. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/379944 doi:1

Eaton, J., & Kortum, S. (2002). Technology, geography, and trade. Econometrica, 70(5), 1741-1779.

Crozet, M., & Koenig, P. (2010). Structural Gravity Equations with Intensive and Extensive Margins. The Canadian Journal of Economics / Revue Canadienne D'Economique, 43(1), 41-62. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40389555

Manova, Kalina. "Credit constraints, heterogeneous firms, and international trade." The Review of Economic Studies 80.2 (2013): 711-744.

Melitz, J. (2008). Language and foreign trade. European Economic Review, 52(4), 667-699.

Evenett, S. J., & Keller, W. (2002). On theories explaining the success of the gravity equation . Journal of Political Economy, 110(2), 281-316.

For more information on how the COW trade datasets were constructed see: (i) Barbieri, Katherine, and Omar M. G. Omar Keshk. 2016. Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set Codebook, Version 4.0. Available at http://correlatesofwar.org and (ii) Barbieri, Katherine, Omar M. G. Keshk, and Brian Pollins. 2009. TRADING DATA: Evaluating our Assumptions and Coding Rules. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 26(5): 471–491.

Further information on CEPII's methodology can be found in their working paper .

The chart includes series labeled by the sources as 'merchandise trade' and 'goods trade'. As we explain below, part of the asymmetries in trade data comes from the fact that, although 'merchandise' and 'goods' are equivalent in the dictionary, these two terms often measure related but different things.

For example, if there is no change in ownership (e.g. a firm exports goods to its factory in another country for processing, and then re-imports the processed goods) the manual says that statistical agencies should only record the net difference in value. You can find more details about this in an OECD Statistics Briefing .

This issue is actually also a source of disagreement between National Accounts data and customs data. You can read more about it in this report: Harrison, Anne (2013) FOB/CIF Issue in Merchandise Trade/Transport of Goods in BPM6 and the 2008 SNA, Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics, Washington, D.C .

Precisely because of the difficulty that arises when trying to establish the origin and final destination of merchandise, some sources distinguish between national and dyadic (i.e. 'directed') trade estimates.

For more details about general and special trade see the Eurostat glossary .

The OECD approach consists of four steps, which they describe as follows: "First, data are collected and organized, and imports are converted to FOB prices to match the valuation of exports. Secondly, data are adjusted for several specific large problems known to drive asymmetries. Presently these include “modular” adjustments for unallocated and confidential trade; for exports by Hong Kong, China; for Swiss non-monetary gold; and for clear-cut cases of product misclassifications. The list of modules is expected to grow over time. In the third step, adjusted data are balanced using a “Symmetry Index” that weights exports and imports. As the final step, the data are also converted to Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) products to better align with National Accounts statistics, such as in national Supply-Use tables." You can read more about it here . In addition to the OECD, other sources also use corrections. The IMF's DOTS dataset, for example, uses a 6 percent rule for converting import valuations (in CIF) into export values (in FOB). More information can be found in the IMF's (2018) working paper on 'New Estimates for Direction of Trade Statistics'.

For more details on this see Forstater, M. (2018) Illicit Financial Flows, Trade Misinvoicing, and Multinational Tax Avoidance: The Same or Different? , CGD Policy Paper 123.

Cite this work

Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. This topic page can be cited as:

BibTeX citation

Reuse this work freely

All visualizations, data, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license . You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

The data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. We will always indicate the original source of the data in our documentation, so you should always check the license of any such third-party data before use and redistribution.

All of our charts can be embedded in any site.

Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone.

Help us do this work by making a donation.

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

8 Globalization and Technology in Twenty-First-Century Education

Samuel Leong (Ph. D) is Associate Dean (Quality Assurance and Enhancement) of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and professor and head of the Cultural and Creative Arts Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He is also Director of the UNESCO Observatory for Research in Local Cultures & Creativity in Education. He was Director of Music Education at the University of Western Australia and codirected the Australian National Review for School Music Education (2004–5) prior to moving to Hong Kong. He has been awarded competitive research grants from the Australian Research Council, Hong Kong Research Grants Council and Arts Development Council of Hong Kong. Leong is Director of Research of the International Drama and Theatre Education Association and serves on the boards of nine refereed journals. His professional and research interests are in the areas of creativity and arts assessment, performance wellness, metacognition, cultural policy, and cross-cultural learning.

• Published: 10 August 2017
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Information and communication technology has created a global “network society”. A new type of space created by rearranged global interactions have allowed for distant synchronous, real-time interaction between people, territories, and organizations in diverse educational, culture, economic, and political domains. This chapter surveys the inclusion of technology in twenty-first-century education policy and national curriculums. It discusses how learners and teachers can benefit from hardware and software that are increasingly complementing and converging to create products capable of multiple functions. But the emphasis on the possibilities offered by the electronic-digital and cyber dimensions should not come at the expense of the human dimension as the world becomes increasingly characterized and dominated by technology. Technology should never be allowed to define who we are or drive human choices and actions in an era of incomprehensible technological complexity and change.

The 2013 Global Information Technology Report ranked the “network readiness” of 144 countries based on their capacity to benefit from new information and communication technologies (ICTs). The top 10 countries, in descending order, were Finland, Singapore, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United States, and Taiwan. Information and communication technology has created a “space of flows,” where global interactions have been rearranged to create “a new type of space that allows distant synchronous, real-time interaction” ( Castells, 2004 , p. 146). This new kind of interaction has enabled the creation of a global “network society” that increasingly expands the connections and interdependency between people, territories, and organizations in the educational, cultural, economic, and political domains ( Barney, 2004 ). The rapid advancement of technologies has facilitated and driven the spread of globalization and the growth of the global knowledge economy. These have opened up the world and facilitated the flow of information and knowledge. In the mid-1970s, it took more than two months for my book order from England to arrive in Singapore, and a photocopy then was 60 cents (US) a page. I remember that my first computer videoconference between Australia and the United States in 1998 was virtually an Internet version of walkie-talkie communication, and Hypercard and hypermedia were aiding music educators as interactive technologies then. Today’s technologies have enabled people across the world to be connected educationally and socially via media and telecommunications, educationally and culturally through movements of people, economically through commerce and trade, environmentally through dependency on the planet’s resources, and politically through international relations and systems of regulation. For my students in Hong Kong, these provide many new and increasingly common ways and platforms for them to share, consume, and produce information. And today’s education policies and practices have connected with the globalization trend that has expanded the scope of how, when, and where learning takes place.

As the product and driver of globalization, ICT has enabled the international transfer of knowledge and the creation of a transnational private market of education provision that complements and competes against local and national education providers. It has also propelled the popularization of neoliberalism, the dominant political-economic ideology worldwide. This has impacted policies that support market mechanisms, including choice, competition and decentralization, the liberalization and privatization of the education sector, and the transplantation of management techniques from the corporate sector. Globalization has also fostered transnational attention to education as a global public good and a human right while contesting the neoliberal education agenda. UNESCO’s recent global monitoring report has focused on the applications of ICT and associative technologies to empower persons with disabilities so as to widen access to information and knowledge for all ( UNESCO, 2013 ). It calls for applying accessibility standards to the development of content, products, and services and for creating classrooms that are more inclusive, physical environments that are more accessible, teaching and learning content and techniques that are more in tune with learners’ needs. The Education for All agenda of UNESCO has acknowledged the innovative use of technology to help improve learning by enriching teachers’ curriculum delivery and encouraging flexibility in pupil learning but cautions that new technology is not a substitute for good teaching. UNESCO’s 2013/14 Education for All Global Monitoring Report ( UNESCO, 2014 ) notes that ICT can be more effective as a means of improving learning and addressing learning disparities if it plays a complementary role, serving as an additional resource for teachers and students. Careful consideration should be given to students’ access to technology, as those from low-income groups are less likely to have experience of ICT outside school and may thus take longer to adapt to it. It also notes that the use of mobile phones and other portable electronic devices, such as MP3 players, is a promising way of increasing the accessibility of ICT for teaching and learning. While mobile learning can increase learning opportunities, these new technologies need to tailor content and delivery to the varying needs of learners, especially weaker students. Considerations of these issues are now being integrated into the music teacher education program at my current workplace in Hong Kong.

The advent of powerful computer technologies has ushered in the so-called new information age, in which human knowledge is said to double every 13 months, nanotechnology knowledge every 2 years, and clinical knowledge every 18 months ( Schilling, 2013 ). Digital literacies have emerged as being as essential as reading literacy; these include e-literacy, screen literacy, multimedia literacy, information literacy, ICT literacies, and new literacies. Today’s literates are expected to possess the ability to interpret and write various codes, “such as icons, symbols, visuals, graphics, animation, audio and video” ( Nallaya, 2010 , p. 48). While passive entertainment, such as standard television, typified Web 1.0, Web 2.0 has seen a rise in audience-generated content, such as blogs and podcasts. Users are engaged at an ever deeper level of engagement in the Web 3.0 era of virtual worlds—where the content seeks out the users, and users’ activities and interests determine what finds them, and it is delivered how and where they want. Since the World Wide Web was made available to the public in 1991, technological advances and concomitant services have provided new possibilities for users in a globalized and mobile world, including those with implications for music and education:

1991: World Wide Web launched to the public

1995: Amazon.com bookstore appears

1996: First mobile phone with Internet connectivity

1998: Google named the search engine of choice by PC magazine

1999: Blackberry launched

2001: Wikipedia opened

2003: Apple introduced online music service iTunes

2003: Intel incorporated Wi-Fi (wireless Internet receiving capability) in their Centrino chip

2004: Podcasting commenced

2004: Facebook launched

2005: YouTube, the first video sharing site, came online

2006: Twitter launched

2006: Google purchased YouTube

2007: iPhone, the first of the smartphones, introduced

2008: App Store opened as an update to iTunes

2008: OpenNebula, enhanced in the European Commission–funded project RESERVOIR (Resources and Services Virtualization without Barriers), became the first open source software for deploying private and hybrid clouds, and for the federation of clouds

2010: iPad tablet computer released

2011: Amazon released the Kindle Fire tablet

2011: iCloud, free online synchronization and backup service, launched by Apple

2012: 1.7 billion mobile phones (722 million smartphones) sold worldwide

2012: 5.2 billion mobile subscriptions in the developing world (76.6% of global subscriptions)

2013: 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide

2014: Apple Watch released

2015: 3D touchable holograms made of iodized air that pulsed at one quadrillionth of a second created

2016: China’s Sunway TaihuLight becomes the world’s fastest supercomputer at theoretical peak performance of 125 petaflops, 10,649,600 cores, and 1.31 petabytes of primary memory

New technological developments are challenging my institution’s music and music teacher education programs to evaluate their impact on established education approaches. These include: (1) cloud–based services such as G-mail, Google+, iTunes, Twitter, and YouTube, which are becoming the standard repositories for educational content; (2) Open Educational Resources, such as MIT OpenCourseWare, Khan Academy, iTunes U, MOOCs (massive open online courses), and other repositories that provide massive amounts of quality online learning materials that can be leveraged to supplement and assist the classroom regardless of delivery modality; (3) social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+, which offer opportunities for creating a sense of connectedness among students at course, program, and institutional levels; and (4) blending/merging of classroom and online approaches, including the increasingly popular “flipped classroom,” that are helping students achieve success and reduce dropout rates.

Information and Communication Technology and Education 3.0

Information and communication technology and education policy.

The global knowledge explosion has seen a proliferation of government policy statements on the role of ICT in education. Governments and education systems in a number of Western and Asian countries have attempted to transform schools and their practices through the incorporation of ICT. Many schools have been wired up and networked, fitted with hardware and software, and given sets of policies and curriculum guides, as well as some professional development courses.

Australia’s National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty First Century ( Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 1999 ) and Learning in an Online World: The School Action Plan for the Information Economy ( Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000 ) recognized the role of ICT in improving student learning, offering flexible learning opportunities, and improving the efficiency of school practices. These two documents were followed by an information and competency framework for Australian teachers ( Department of Education, Science, & Training, 2002 ). In 2005, the role of ICT in education was sealed in a “national vision” to build an Australian knowledge culture and create an innovative society where all learners could achieve their potential, efficiencies could be achieved through the sharing of resource and expertise, and education could be internationalized ( Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2005 ). The new Australian Curriculum has recognized the importance of ICT both as a “general capability” and as a learning area in partnership with design and technology ( Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2013 ). In the United Kingdom, technology is recognized in “a national plan for music education” ( Department of Education [UK], 2011 ) for its important role in supporting, extending, and enhancing music teaching—helping to connect communities in ways that rely less on location, being used to inspire, motivate, and stretch pupils, extending musical experiences, and helping children with additional needs to further engage in music making. In the United States, the National Education Technology Plan of 2010 recognizes technology-based learning and assessment systems as pivotal in improving student learning and generating data that could be used to continuously improve the education system at all levels. Technology enables the execution of collaborative teaching strategies combined with professional learning that could better prepare and enhance educators’ competencies and expertise over the course of their careers.

The Singapore government launched its initial 5-year “Masterplan for IT in Education” in 1997, with subsequent Masterplans in 2002 and 2008. Together with another education reform initiative, Thinking Schools, Learning Nation, the three IT-in-education policies worked in tandem to address both hardware-software provision and pedagogical issues related to ICT integration into a more flexible and dynamic curriculum. The “iN2015 Masterplan” ( Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore, 2006 ) aimed to secure a digital future for everyone in an intelligent nation and global city that caters for the elderly, the less privileged, and people with disability, enabling them to enjoy connected and enriched lives for self-improvement and lifelong learning. At about the same time, the Hong Kong government launched two 5-year master plans for ICT in education, in 1998 and 2004, respectively. Skills in ICT are essential to a new culture of learning and teaching that emphasizes “learning how to learn,” “integrated learning,” and “integrated and flexible arrangement of learning time.” Information communication technology serves as a powerful educational tool and plays a catalyst role in transforming school education from a largely teacher-centered approach to a more interactive and learner-centered approach; e-learning is considered central to the learner-centered mode of education ( Chen, 2012 ; see fig. 8.1 ).

E-learning at the core of education

Information Communication Technology and Education Practices

Progress, convergence, and integration in ICT have driven fundamental changes in the kinds of ICT competencies that faculty, students, colleges, and universities have or might be expected to acquire. Many of today’s young people are familiar with playing Nintendo games in three dimensions without 3D glasses, and the days of 3D television, 3D screens, 3D projectors, and 3D printing have arrived (see Leong, 2011 ). Popular video games such as Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, and Rock Band provide music-themed action games for players who push buttons in a sequence dictated on the screen in time to a soundtrack, causing the player’s avatar to dance or to play a virtual instrument correctly (see Peppler, chapter 18 in this book). With programs capable of compiling and converting television broadcasts and other recordings, the traditional distinction between class time and nonclass time is disappearing; soon search engines will yield both text and spoken results (“Top ten forecasts for 2011,” retrieved from http://www.wfs.org/page/futuristmagazine ).

Information communication technology poses significant challenges for modern educational practices, and there are concerns about the “digital divide” between those who have ready access to ICT and those who do not. Advanced and emerging technologies are blurring and even merging boundaries that have traditionally separated disciplines, organizations, structures, and peoples. Today’s digital media enables the combining of text, graphics, sound, and data in an integrated multisensory, multimedia, and multinetworked manner to transport people into new experiences of new realities. Technologies such as lecture capture, smart classrooms, response clickers, and tablet computers have become more popular, user-friendly, and seamless. E-portfolios are becoming mainstream and being integrated into course management systems and web applications. There has been an increased demand for mobile access to institutional web-based services and instructional content; and e-collaboration tools are driving the technology plans at some educational institutions. However, instructional effectiveness and learning enhancement depend on whether available technology tools can be integrated and sustained without major adoption, training, and support challenges (see Ingerman & Yang, 2011 ).

The new “Education 3.0” paradigm emphasizes technology as a key enabler of young people’s ability to build their “personalized learning spaces,” in which they can “amass a wealth of education resources, in rich multimedia format, gain access to world experts in multiple disciplines, enjoy authentic learning using online data, receive instant feedback from team mates and teachers on their ideas and their performance, and interact with students from all over the world as they collaborate on group projects” ( CISCO, 2008 , p. 13). Today’s educators are coming to terms with technologies used by the Net generation to socialize, work, and learn. These learners prefer to work in teams rather than in competition, and to engage in collaborative forms of learning beyond formal class settings, facilitated by social networking technologies. As today’s children and young people are prosumers, they engage in self-directed arts projects solely because they want to ( Gauntlett, 2011 ). This requires “holistic transformation” in the way teachers and students learn through innovative pedagogy, increased creativity and collaboration, creation of learning communities, provision of real-time feedback and assessment, and harnessing of the potential of digital participatory cultures to transform individuals and societies so as to develop engaged citizenries.

New technologies are making it possible for college students to live wherever they want and take many (if not all) of their courses online, earning degrees that are accredited by international accrediting agencies ( Dew, 2010 ). In the United States, university student enrollment in at least one online course has doubled between 2005 and 2010 ( Allen & Seaman, 2011 ). The era of hyperconnectivity is enabling many professionals to weave their careers and personal lives into a blended mosaic of activity. As work and leisure are interlaced throughout the waking hours every day of the week, student life is also reflecting this trend. The social networking lifestyle has brought on a critical need for social skills such as self-discipline, responsibility, and media literacy, and curricula need to broaden to include the development of these interpersonal skills. With the explosion of information made available by ICT, new skills are also needed for accessing, evaluating, and organizing information in digital environments. Knowledge societies and economies also require people who are able to transform information into new knowledge or to apply it to the devising of new ideas, as well as people who possess research and problem solving skills for defining, searching, evaluating, selecting, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting globally accessible information.

Technology and Music Education

Technology has played a vital role in music education for a long time, and a number of useful texts to assist music teachers have been produced over the years (e.g., Leong & Robinson, 1995 ; Reese, McCord, & Walls, 2001 ; Rudolph, 2004 ; Williams & Webster, 2006 ; Burns, 2008 ; Rudolph & Frankel, 2009 ; Dillon & Hirche, 2010 ). From the early use of the phonograph with stylus, magnetic tape recorders, and chalk and blackboards to the more recent use of MIDI synthesizers, sound modules, sequencers, and samplers and wireless microphones, musicians and music educators have always embraced technology. In fact, all musical instruments can be considered “technology,” as they are outcomes of the tools (“hardware”) and the skills (“software”) by means of which humans produce and use them (see Bain, 1937 ). Until more recently, knowledge creation and transfer have oriented around the individual and involved the oral-aural, writing-printing, and inventions-products dimensions. While music technology associated with electronic- and digital-based technology (e.g., computer, effects unit, or piece of software) used in the process of making music (e.g., recording and playback, storage, mixing, editing, analysis, and performance) is important, it is the individual who is central in playing the key roles of producer-creator, communicator-transmitter, and valuer-interpreter of knowledge. As the world becomes increasingly characterized and dominated by technology, the emphasis on the possibilities offered by the electronic-digital and cyber dimensions should not come at the expense of the human dimension.

Indeed the learner/teacher today can benefit from hardware and software that are increasingly complementing and converging to create products capable of multiple functions. This is augmenting pedagogy that emphasizes positive learning experiences and performance outcomes of individual learners. An example is the SmartMusic program, which is used by many students. As an interactive application for teachers and students, it provides instrumental and vocal students with practice opportunities for accompaniment by a piano or synthesized band or orchestra. Besides offering a less “lonely” musical practice experience, the accompaniment can adapt to the individual student’s tempo changes; the keys and tempi of pieces can be changed to suit specific learning and performance purposes. SmartMusic also has a built-in tuner, metronome, and source of information that includes fingering charts, musical terms dictionary, and notes on composers and compositions. It can also serve as a recording, home practice, and assessment tool. A record of students’ efforts can be made and graded using rhythm and pitch data, and the recording and accompanying grade can be emailed to the teacher and automatically entered into the teacher’s database grade book. Another example is the visual feedback voice training software system Sing & See. It enables singers to actually see their voices on a computer screen—providing real-time spectrographic analysis of the quality of their voices in terms of pitch and timbre. It can help to highlight vocal issues such as overshooting or scooping, vibrato, and roughness in a nonconfrontational way, as well as providing focus for self-directed learning. The visual feedback can be obtained while singers are singing or during playback. A research study has found evidence of its usefulness among my undergraduate music and music education students (see Leong & Cheng, 2014 ).

Today’s technological advancement has necessitated the ability to negotiate the increasingly complex and shared knowledge spaces beyond the confines of school classroom, rehearsal, and studio settings. The titles of 20 sessions for a recent music education conference focusing on using technology creatively in music learning reveal some of the changes characterizing the evolving field of music education in a fast-changing world, and show the range of professional development needs of today’s music educators:

Social networking and composition

Remix isn’t copy and paste

Live looping on your iPad

Connecting and learning 24/7: the importance of Twitter and Facebook

Composing online

Make your own website in 90 minutes

Online resources test drive

Awesome ideas for interactive whiteboards in primary and middle school music

Music ICT pedagogy

Making music with new media

Creating effective systems: How technology can benefit instrumental teaching

Songwriting made simple using technology

World music using technology

Online resources for teaching theory, aural skills, music literacy, and music history

You can be a film composer: Scoring with Sibelius

World Café: Interconnected world

The self-publishing teacher

Using the cloud to teach and learn about instruments and ensembles

QR (Quick Response) codes in music education

This list will change and grow as new music hardware and software products are released into the marketplace. New technological development has greatly expanded the possibilities of integrating technology in a variety of music learning settings and activities, including music reading, vocal, choral, and instrumental performance, musical improvisation and composition, analysis and evaluation of music, combination of music and other art forms, and music history and culture. New sounds and musical styles are being created every day, and the wide array of options that music technology provides is expanding all the time. For example, a wealth of musical styles can be created by the combination of a synthesizer, acoustic guitar, and recording software with a computer. The Internet, music technology, and open file sharing have brought about a huge change in the way people discover new music and new artists. Even children with little or no formal musical training are able to find ways to compose and record their own music, share it with the world from their own rooms, and offer judgments about music and performances by artists they have heard. These technological advances have enlarged the potential for creative individuals to find their voices and satisfaction through music either as a hobby or a profession. They have also enabled global connections between people who would otherwise never meet.

Novice musicians are now able to produce professional-sounding work with widely available programs. There are also new mobile apps that have expanded the opportunities for creating music. It is now possible to create original compositions featuring realistic virtual instruments, radio-ready beats, and audio engineering effects with a little more than an electronic keyboard and a laptop, thus blurring the traditional divide between artist, record company, and distributor. The widespread availability of inexpensive recording hardware and software (e.g., Aviary, Audacity, and Digidesign’s Pro Tools), coupled with the expanding opportunities for amateurs to distribute and share their work online, has caused tremendous shifts in the music industry.

The globalization of music practices has also made if possible for social learning networks, such as Remix Learning, to empower youth, including disadvantaged middle-school youth, to publish their original music, images, and videos, as well as to post comments and maintain an embedded blog. Youth are able to work in a simulated recording industry via NuMu, a supportive online community that allows them to showcase their music, collaborate, compete, and develop their talents as performers, producers, managers, and engineers. From the NuMu homepage, youth can search for music by artist or genre, listen to tracks, review and comment on artists’ work, enter into competitions, and communicate and collaborate with like-minded peers. In collaboration with Musical Futures, these youth develop skills in the process of managing their school’s (or organization’s) “record label” on NuMu, which may include creating music, publishing, or marketing and promoting.

Despite significant developments in globalization, education policies and technologies, the process of technology uptake in schools has been unsatisfactorily slow ( Buckingham, 2011 ). A 2012 government report on UK schools found music technology underused across all levels. This was a significant barrier to pupils’ musical progress, and an example given was the insufficient use made of audio recording to assess and improve students’ work. The report noted the need for greater emphasis on using technology to nurture pupils’ musical development and making more creative use of music technology to more effectively create, perform, record, appraise, and improve students’ work. In the United States, a major survey of over 1,800 high schools found that only 14% of responding schools offered technology-based music classes ( Dammers, 2012 ). Recent graduates surveyed indicated a lack of music technology classes in U.S.college music education curricula that make the connection between technology usage, enhancement of music learning, and assistance with assessment ( Nielsen, 2011 ). The types of technology used by music teachers for assessment purposes tend to be notation software and digital recording devices. Teacher respondents described using notation software for making quizzes or tests based on music knowledge content as well as performance excerpts either for face‐to‐face assessment or in conjunction with SmartMusic. Implementation of new technologies, such as interactive whiteboards or web-based tools such as rubrics and e-portfolios, seems to be still developing within the music education profession, as was indicated in another survey ( Williams & Webster, 2011 ), which identified eight music technology competencies of undergraduates rated highly by music faculty. These were not musically or pedagogically profound: use a notation program; record and mix a performance with digital audio; understand copyright and fair use; burn a CD or DVD; edit digital audio; basic understanding of acoustics and audiology; use presentation software and connect to a projector or smartboard; set up a computer music workstation and troubleshoot problems.

The situation does not appear to be better in Australia, with Southcott and Crawford (2011) reporting that ICT in the Australian music education curriculum is perceived as “a different set of tools to support music education, much as a new set of percussion instruments might do” (p. 124), or as computer-aided instruction might do ( Mark & Madura, 2010 ). In this tool-oriented approach, the potential benefits of technology in music teaching and learning are reduced simply to assisting with aural training and the acquisition of notational and music composition skills. An earlier study of preservice and early-career music teachers found that technology skills and knowledge were not mentioned as an attribute necessary for teaching music effectively ( Harrison & Ballantyne, 2005 ). Another study found that preservice teachers’ experiences in music and technology did not develop into confidence, knowledge, and motivation to teach music ( Capaldo & Bennett 2013 ). My study in the 1990s found that lack of confidence and lack of expertise were reasons cited by Australian music teachers for not using technology in their teaching ( Leong, 1995 ). A Hong Kong study of BA and MA students in a tertiary institution found that only less than half the respondents would expect a music classroom to be equipped with multimedia equipment ( Ho, 2009 ). Although nearly all of them had their own computers, their online learning was infrequent, and their use of AV media/technology and email communications was limited to assignments and presentations. While computers were considered to be useful tools for teaching musical composition in primary schools, only 14 of over 800 Hong Kong primary schools had secure government funding to set up computer-based music teaching rooms ( Tang, 2009 ). However, the provision of IT training for music teachers by the government was found by a researcher to be “practically adequate in terms of quantity and content” as a whole ( Lee, 2010 , p. 25).

Sustaining a Human-Techno Future

An online survey of US-based musicians by the Future of Music Coalition found that most of the respondents used Internet-based technologies for their work, including collaboration with other musicians and producing/recording their music. The top five technology-based tools used by them to create their work were, in descending order: Finale, Pro Tools, GarageBand, Sibelius, and Logic. These reflect the types of software used in the music classroom to teach composition with technology as a tool with which students create, edit, save, and reproduce music ( Freedman, 2013 ). My involvement as codirector of the Australian National Review for School Music Education found that in order to improve and sustain the quality and status of music education needs to work in supportive and productive partnerships and networking with the music industry, musicians, music organizations, and the community ( Pascoe, Leong, MacCallum, Mackinlay, Marsh, Smith, Church, & Winterton, 2005 ). Indeed many music industry players, such as Roland Music, Apple, and local music suppliers and retailers, have contributed greatly to the music education community through their sponsorships of music education events and conferences and provision of professional development workshops and materials. In addition, some companies, such as Roland and Apple, provide web-based resources that support and supplement the teaching and learning of music.

As seen above, the growing array of technologies are useful as tools for teaching, learning, and assessment purposes. When they are used skillfully and implemented properly, ICT and associated technology can serve as:

Complementary tools that can be adapted to work with various learning approaches

Information tools for enhancing access to resources in a variety of formats

Communication tools that facilitate communication among the community of learners, practitioners, researchers, etc.

Assistive tools that enhance the efficiency of both teacher and learner in tasks such as, among others, searching, storing, preparing, editing, producing, capturing, transcribing, and transposing music

Construction tools that facilitate the construction of knowledge and understanding through hands-on investigation, inquiry, and discussion

Tutorial tools (similar to computer-assisted instruction) that cater to the various learning skill levels, providing differentiated and targeted practice, feedback, and tracking and recording of learners’ achievements

Situating tools that enable the situating of musical knowledge, skills, and activities in the context of real-world practices

Simulation tools that provide virtual environments (including gaming) for applying and executing real-world tasks free from the constraints of time and space

Based on my experiences with technologies over the past three decades, the integration of technology in music education could be said to have undergone three stages of development:

Computer-assisted learning (CAL), which emphasized drill and practice, tutorials, simulation, and instructional games that were learner centered with self-paced instruction and limited interactivity

Multimedia-based instruction, which extended CAL to include multimodal instruction (such as printed text, spoken words, pictures, illustrations, or animations) and modeling, with enhanced interactivity and some level of learner’s construction of knowledge.

Web-based instruction, which features on-demand and just-in-time learning in asynchronous and synchronous virtual collaborative learning environments that are primarily constructive in nature

My adventures with ICT have shown how software, hardware, and connectivity are becoming more global, powerful, and sophisticated so as to allow for enhanced integration of ICT in music education, but practices in schools have not always reflected this. Educational systems and schools are often unable to adopt and execute ICT-facilitated teaching and learning, and there may be a lack of access to the expertise necessary for setting in place appropriate infrastructure and processes. As such, partnerships with universities and the music industry, as well as building up professional networks, are essential. I have learnt the importance of preservice teacher education and professional development being tailored to cater to the needs of real-world teachers and classrooms. The possibilities, advantages, and limitations of using ICT should be included as the key content focus of teacher education, which should emphasize ICT as the core technology for delivering teacher education courses. Its use should also be embedded in music teaching-learning approaches, and it should be used to facilitate professional development and networking. My involvement with a number of different systems and levels has taught me that for successful and sustainable uptake and adoption of ICT in music education to be realized, synergies need to be created at a number of levels—government, school, teacher education, music industry, and individual teacher. These include:

Government: policy initiation, development, and implementation

Music teacher education: ICT-infused preservice education; professional development; postgraduate education; research and knowledge transfer

School music education: integrating ICT; supporting ICT-rich pedagogy and ICT infrastructure; industry-university linkages

Music industry: development of products and services; support for development of music learning pedagogy; school-university linkages

Individual music teacher: updating ICT-related pedagogies; professional development; postgraduate education; school-industry linkages

The issues of uptake, adoption, and use of ICT by educational systems, individual institutions, and individual teachers are realities to be addressed. It can play two different but overlapping roles in any system-wide development: enabling gradual change in established mechanisms and processes, and transforming or replacing those mechanisms and processes. A UNESCO study has identified four broad stages that systems would need to undergo, and these may be conceived as a continuum or series of steps ( Anderson & van Weert, 2002 ). The first emerging stages would see teachers beginning to become aware of the potential of ICT. The second, applying stages would see teachers learning how to use ICT for teaching and learning purposes. The infusing stages would see a variety of ICT tools being integrated into the curriculum. The final transforming stages would involve new ways of approaching teaching and learning contexts and situations with specialized ICT tools to explore a variety of real-world problems through innovative learning.

With ICT becoming more accessible now than ever before, the future is certainly bright for its expanded use in music education in a globalized and hyper-connected world and for music educators to make a difference as digital citizens. I am mindful that the learning curve will always be there, but the journey is exciting, being full of surprises, challenges, gee-whiz technologies, and amazing new products. Music education is blessed with the opportunity and ability to offer learners an education that can transform how they value, think, and act. I believe it’s crucial that technology should never be allowed to define who we are or drive human choices and actions in an era of incomprehensible technological complexity and change. As Einstein allegedly put it: “the human spirit must prevail over technology.” Indeed, it is humans living in a globalized world who should apply and design technology that works in tandem with innovative pedagogies in open learning communities.

Allen, I. E. , & Seaman, J. (2011). Going the distance: Online education in the United States . New York: Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/going_distance_2011?date=121011 .

Anderson, J. , & van Weert, T. (Eds). ( 2002 ). Information and communication technology in education: A curriculum for schools and programme of teacher development . Paris: UNESCO.

Google Scholar

Google Preview

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). General capabilities in the Australian curriculum . Sydney: Author. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/general-capabilities-in-the-australian-curriculum .

Bain, R. ( 1937 ). Technology and state government.   American Sociological Review , 2 (6), 860–874.

Barney, D. ( 2004 ). The network society . Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Buckingham, D. ( 2011 ). Beyond technology: Children’s learning in the age of digital culture . London: Polity Press.

Burn, A. M. ( 2008 ). Technology integration in the elementary music classroom . Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard.

Capaldo, S. , & Bennett, S. ( 2013 ). Examining pre-service primary teachers’ experiences of music and technology. In Proceedings of the World Conference on Educational Media & Technology (pp. 484–493). Chesapeake, MD: AACE.

Castells, M. ( 2004 ). An introduction to the Information Age. In F. Webster , R. Blom , E. Karvonen , H. Melin , K. Nordenstreng , and E. Puoskari (Eds.), The Information Society Reader (pp. 138–149). London and New York: Routledge.

Chan, K. (2012, April 18). ICT in education: A Hong Kong perspective . Presentation at the Open Educational Resource Symposium 2012, Open University of Hong Kong. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://oer.ouhk.edu.hk/ppt/oer2012_chen.ppt .

CISCO. ( 2008 ). Equipping every learner for the 21st century . San Jose, CA: CISCO Systems, Inc.

Dammers, R. J. ( 2012 ). Technology-based music classes in high schools in the United States.   Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education , 194 , 73–90.

Department of Education (UK). (2011). The importance of music: A national plan for music education . London: Author. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-importance-of-music-a-national-plan-for-music-education .

Department of Education, Science, & Training. ( 2002 ). Raising the standards: A proposal for the development of an ICT competency framework for teachers . Canberra, Australia: Author.

Dew, J. (2010). Global, mobile, virtual, and social: The college campus of tomorrow. Futurist , March-April 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2133/is_201003/ai_n52370702/ .

Dillon, S. , & Hirche, K. ( 2010 ). Navigating technological contexts and experience design in music education. In J. Ballantyne & B. Bartleet (Eds.), Navigating music and sound education (pp. 175–192). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars.

Freedman, B. ( 2013 ). Teaching music through composition: A curriculum using technology . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Gauntlett, D. (2011). Making is connecting: The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0 . Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://www.makingisconnecting.org/ .

Gordon, D. G. , Rees, F. , & Leong, S. ( 2000 ). An evolving technology: Interactive televised instruction’s challenge to music education.   Australian Journal of Music Education , 1 , 40–51.

Harrison, S. , & Ballantyne, J. (2005, July 6–9). Effective teacher attributes: Perceptions of early-career and pre-service music teachers . Paper presented at Australian Teacher Education Association Conference, Gold Coast.

Ho, W. C. (2009). The role of multimedia technology in Hong Kong higher education music programs. Visions of Research in Music Education, 13 . Retrieved from http://www-usr.rider.edu/~vrme/ .

Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore. (2006). iN2015 Masterplan offers a digital future for everyone . Retrieved January 5, 2017, from https://www.imda.gov.sg/infocomm-and-media-news/buzz-central/2006/9/in2015-masterplan-offers-a-digital-future-for-everyone .

Ingerman, B. L. , & Yang, C. (2011, May 31). Top-ten IT issues 2011. Educause Review , 1–44. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2011/5/topten-it-issues-2011 .

Lee, B. K. Y. (2010). ICT integration in primary school music education: Experience of pioneering countries and its implications for implementation in Hong Kong. Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education, 8 (4). Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://www.ied.edu.hk/cca/apjae/Vol8_No4.pdf .

Leong, S. ( 1995 ). Music technology competency and effective teacher preparation.   Australian Journal of Music Education , 1 , 21–25.

Leong, S. ( 2011 ). Navigating the emerging futures in music education.   Journal of Music, Technology and Education , 4 (2), 2–22.

Leong, S. , & Cheng, L. ( 2014 ). Effects of real-time visual feedback on pre-service teachers’ singing.   Journal of Computer Assisted Learning , 30 (3), 285–296. doi:10.1111/jcal.12046.

Leong, S. , & Robinson, G. ( 1995 ). Using computer technology in music education . Perth, Australia: CIRCME.

Long, M. K. (2011). The effectiveness of the SmartMusic ® assessment tool for evaluating trombone student performance . Unpublished Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation, University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Mark, M. , & Madura, P. ( 2010 ). Music education in your hands . New York: Routledge.

Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. ( 1999 ). National goals for schooling in the twenty first century . Carlton South, Victoria: Curriculum Corporation.

Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2000). Learning in an online world: The school action plan for the information economy . Canberra: Author. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://www.scseec.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Reports%20and%20publications/Archive%20Publications/ICT/LOW-ContemporaryLearning.pdf

Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. ( 2005 ). An education and training action plan for the information economy . Carlton South, Victoria: Curriculum Corporation.

Nallaya, S. (2010). The impact of multi-modal texts on the development of English language proficiency. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Adelaide, Australia.

Nielsen, L. D. ( 2011 ). A study of K–12 music educators’ attitudes toward technology-assisted assessment tools (Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance Series, Paper 43). Lincoln, NE: School of Music, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Pascoe, R. , Leong, S. , MacCallum, J. , Mackinlay, E. , Marsh, K. , Smith, B. , Church, T. , & Winterton, A. (2005). National review of school music education: Augmenting the diminished. Department of Education, Science and Training . Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/9459/

Reese, S. , McCord, K. , & Walls, K. ( 2001 ). Strategies for teaching: Technology . Reston, VA: MENC, National Association for Music Education.

Rudolph, T. , & Frankel, J. ( 2009 ). YouTube in music education . Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation.

Schilling, D. R. (2013, April 19). Knowledge doubling every 12 months, soon to be every 12 hours. Industry Taps into News. Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://www.industrytap.com/knowledge-doubling-every-12-months-soon-to-be-every-12-hours/3950 .

Southcott, J. , & Crawford, R. ( 2011 ). The intersections of curriculum development: Music, ICT and Australian music education.   Australasian Journal of Educational Technology , 27 (1), 122–136.

Tang, P. H. (2009). Teaching music composition with computer-based technology in Hong Kong primary schools: Critiques of present pedagogical practices and recommendations for future development . Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Deakin University, Australia.

Top ten forecasts for 2011. (n.d.) The Futurist Magazine . Retrieved January 5, 2017, from http://www.wfs.org/page/futuristmagazine .

UNESCO. ( 2013 ). UNESCO global report: Opening new avenues for empowerment ICTs to access information and knowledge for persons with disabilities . Paris: Author.

UNESCO. ( 2014 ). Global monitoring report: Education for all . Paris: Author.

Williams, D. B. , & Webster, P. R. ( 2006 ). Experiencing music technology: Software, data, and hardware (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Schirmer.

Williams, D. B. , & Webster, P. R. ( 2011 ). Music Technology Skills and Conceptual Understanding for Undergraduate Music Students: A National Survey . College Music Society National Conference/Association for Technology in Music Instruction, Richmond, VA.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• About Project
• Testimonials

Business Management Ideas

Essay on Globalisation

List of essays on globalisation, essay on globalisation – definition, existence and impact (essay 1 – 250 words), essay on globalisation (essay 2 – 250 words), essay on globalisation – in india (essay 3 – 400 words), essay on globalisation – objectives, advantages, disadvantages and conclusion (essay 4 – 500 words), essay on globalisation – for school students (class 6,7,8,9 and 10) (essay 5 – 600 words), essay on globalisation (essay 6 – 750 words), essay on globalisation – for college and university students (essay 7 – 1000 words), essay on globalisation – for ias, civil services, ips, upsc and other competitive exams (essay 8 – 1500 words).

The worldwide integration of people, services and interests is what globalisation is all about. Since the last decade, there has been a tremendous focus on globalisation with everyone trying to have a reach at even the remotest locations of the world. This has probably been possible due to the advancement in technology and communication.

Audience: The below given essays are especially written for school, college and university students. Furthermore, those students preparing for IAS, IPS, UPSC, Civil Services and other competitive exams can also increase their knowledge by studying these essays.

The word ‘Globalization’ is often heard in the business world, in corporate meetings, in trade markets, at international conferences, in schools, colleges and many other places. So what does globalization symbolize? Is it a new concept or did it exist earlier? Let’s see.

Definition:

Globalization refers to the integration of the world nations by means of its people, goods, and services. The statement – ‘ globalization has made the world a small village ’ is very true.

Countries inviting foreign investment, free trade and relaxation in the visa rules to allow seamless movement of people from one country to another are all part of globalization.

In a nutshell, globalization has reduced the distance between nations and its people.

Many among us refer to the current period that we live in as ‘The Era of Globalization’ and think that the process of globalization has started only recently. But the real fact is that globalization is not a new phenomenon . The world was moving towards globalization from a very long time. The term globalization was in existence since mid-1980s. But it was only from the early 21 st century that globalization picked up momentum due to the advancements in technology and communication.

Impact of Globalization:

Globalization has more positive outcomes than the negative ones. The impact of globalization on the developing countries such as India, China and some African countries are overwhelming. Foreign investments have created a lot of employment opportunities in the developing countries and have boosted their economy. Globalization has also enabled people to interchange their knowledge and culture.

Conclusion:

Although the world is not completely globalized, we can very well say that globalization is the best way to achieve equality among nations.

In simple words, globalization means the spreading of a business, culture, or any technology on an international level. When the boundaries of countries and continents matter no more, and the whole world becomes one global village in itself. Globalization is an effort to reduce the geographical and political barriers for the smooth functioning of any business.

There are four main factors that form the four pillars of globalization. These are the free flow of goods, capitals, technology, and labors, all across the world. Although, many of the experts that support globalization clearly refuse to acknowledge the free flow of labor as their work culture.

The international phenomenon of global culture presents many implications and requires a specific environment to flourish. For instance, it needs the other countries to come to a mutual agreement in terms of political, cultural, and economic policies. There is greater sharing of ideas and knowledge and liberalization has gained a huge importance.

Undoubtedly, globalization helps in improving the economic growth rate of the developing countries . The advanced global policies also inspire businesses to work in a cost-effective way. As a result, the production quality is enhanced and employment opportunities are also rising in the domestic countries.

However, there are still some negative consequences of globalization that are yet to be dealt with. It leads to greater economic and socio-cultural disparities between the developed and the developing countries. Due to the MNC culture, the small-scale industries are losing their place in the market.

Exchanges and integration of social aspect of people along with their cultural and economic prospects is what we term as Globalization. It is considered as a relatively new term, which has been in discussion since the nineties.

Initial Steps towards Globalization:

India has been an exporter of various goods to other countries since the earlier times. Hence Globalization, for India, is not something new. However, it was only around in the early nineties that India opened up its economy for the world as it faced a major crisis of severe crunch of foreign exchange. Since then, there has been a major shift in the government’s strategies while dealing with the PSUs along with a reduction in the monopoly of the government organisations perfectly blended with the introduction of the private companies so as to achieve a sustainable growth and recognition across the world.

The Measurement of Success:

The success of such measures can be measured in the form of the GDP of India which hovered around 5.6% during the year 1990-91 and has been now around 8.9% during the first quarter of 2018-19. In fact, in the year 1996-97, it was said to have peaked up to as high as 77.8%. India’s global position is improved tremendously due to the steady growth in the GDP thus furthering the impact of globalization on India. As on date, India is ranked as the sixth biggest economy in the world. This globalization leading to the integration and trade has been instrumental in reducing the poverty rate as well.

However, given the fact that India is the second most populated country of the world, after China, this growth cannot be considered as sufficient enough as other countries such as China have increased their growth rates at much faster pace than India. For instance, the average flow of FDI in India, over the past few years has been around 0.5% of the GDP while for countries such as China it has been around 5% and Brazil has had a flow of around 5.5%. In fact, India is considered among the least globalized economy among the major countries.

Summarily, there has been a tremendous increase in the competition and interdependence that India faces due to Globalization, but a lot is yet to be done. It is not possible for a country to ignore the developments and globalization occurring in the rest of the world and one need to keep the pace of growth at a steady rate or else you may be left far behind.

The twentieth century witnessed a revolutionary global policy aiming to turn the entire globe into a single market. The motive of globalization can broadly define to bring substantial improvement in the living condition of people all around the world, education, and shelter to everybody, elimination of poverty, equal justice without any race or gender consideration, etc. Globalization also aims to lessen government involvement in various development activities, allowing more direct investors/peoples’ participation cutting across border restrictions thus expected to reap reasonable prosperity to human beings.

Main Objectives of Globalization:

The four main aspects of globalization are; Capital and Investment movements, Trade and Transactions, Education and Spread of knowledge, along with Migration and Unrestricted Movement of People.

In simpler terms, globalization visualizes that one can purchase and sell goods from any part of the world, communicate and interact with anyone, anywhere in the world and also enables cultural exchange among the global population. It is operational at three levels namely, economic globalization, cultural globalization, and political globalization. Right from its inception, the impact of globalization has both advantages and disadvantages worldwide.

Advantages of Globalization:

As the word itself suggests, this policy involves all the nations across the globe. The lifting of trade barriers can have a huge impact especially in developing countries. It augments the flow of technology, education, medicines, etc., to these countries which are a real blessing.

Globalization expects to create ample job opportunities as more and more companies can extend their presence to different parts of the world. Multinational companies can establish their presence in developing countries. Globalization gives educational aspirants from developing and underdeveloped countries more quality learning opportunities. It leads not only to the pursuit of best higher education but also to cultural and language exchanges.

Globalization also enhances a faster flow of information and quick transportation of goods and services. Moreover one can order any item from anywhere merely sitting at home. Another plus point of globalization is the diminishing cultural barriers between nations as it offers free access and cultural interactions . Also, it has been observed that there is a considerable reduction of poverty worldwide due to globalization . In addition to this, it also enables the effective use of resources.

Disadvantages of Globalization:

Globalization turned out to be a significant threat to the cottage and small-scale industries as they have to compete with the products of multi-national companies. Another dangerous effect of globalization is the condition of weak sections of the society, as they are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. The situation leads to the domination of economically rich countries over emerging countries and the increase of disparity.

The actions of multi-national companies are deplorable and always facing criticism from various social, government and world bodies as they are incompetent in offering decent working conditions for the workers. Irrational tapping of natural resources which are instrumental in causing ecological imbalance is another major accusation against multi-national companies.

Globalization is also blamed to have paved the way for human trafficking, labor exploitation and spread of infectious diseases too. In addition to all these, if any economic disaster hit a country and if they subsequently suffer from economic depression, its ripples are felt deeply in other countries as well.

Despite all its disadvantages, globalization has transformed the entire globe into a single market irrespective of its region, religion, language, culture, and diversity differences. It also leads to an increase in demand for goods, which in turn calls for more production and industrialization. Our focus should be to minimize the risks and maximize the positive outcome of global policy, which in turn can help for a sustainable long-standing development for people all around the world.

Introduction:

Globalization is the procedure of global political, economic, as well as cultural incorporation of countries . It lets the producers and manufacturers of the goods or products to trade their goods internationally without any constraint.

The businessman fetches huge profit as they easily get low price workforce in developing nations with the concept of globalization. It offers a big prospect to the firms who wish to deal with the global market. Globalization assists any nation to contribute, set up or amalgamate businesses, capitalize on shares or equity, vending of services or products in any country.

How does the Globalization Work?

Globalization benefits the international market to the entire deliberate world like a solitary marketplace. Merchants are spreading their extents of trade by aiming world as a worldwide community. In the 1990s, there was a limit of importing some goods that were already mass-produced in India such as engineering goods, agricultural products, toiletries, food items, etc.

But, in the 1990s the rich countries pressurize the WTO (World Trade Organization), World Bank (affianced in improvement financing activities), and IMF (International Monetary Fund) to let other nations spread their trades by introducing market and trade in the deprived and emerging countries. The process of liberalization and globalization in India began in the year 1991 below the Union Finance Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh.

After numerous years, globalization has fetched major uprising inside the Indian marketplace when international brands arrived in India such as KFC, PepsiCo, Mc. Donald, Nokia, IBM, Aiwa, Ericsson, etc., and began the delivery of an extensive variety of quality goods at low-cost rates.

The entire leading brands presented actual uprising of globalization at this time as a marvellous improvement to the economy of an industrial sector. Rates of the quality goods were also getting low owing to the cut-throat war happening in the marketplace.

Liberalization and globalization of the businesses in the Indian marketplace is submerging the quality of imported goods but influencing the local Indian businesses badly in large part causing the job loss of illiterate and poor labors. Globalization has remained a goldmine for the customers, but it is also a burial ground for the small-scale manufacturers in India.

Positive Influences of Globalisation:

Globalization has influenced the education sectors and students of India predominantly by making accessible the education material and enormous info on the internet. Association of Indian universities with the overseas universities has fetched a massive modification in the education business.

The health industries are too influenced enormously by the globalization of health observing electronic apparatuses, conventional drugs, etc. The trade globalization in the agricultural sector has provided a range of high-quality seeds possessing disease-fighting property. But, it is not beneficial for the underprivileged Indian agriculturalists owing to the reason of expensive seeds as well as agricultural equipment.

Globalization has given an enormous rebellion to the occupation sector by increasing the growth of trades related to the handloom , cottage, artisans and carving, carpet, jewellery, ceramics, and glassware, etc.

Globalization is definitely required by the people and nation to progress and turn into an established society and country. It benefits in expanding our visualization and thoughts. It also aids in endorsing the philosophy that we fit in a huge crowd of persons, i.e., the humankind. Once the two nations congregate, they flourish by sharing their beliefs, thoughts, opinions, customs, and behaviors. People come to know new things and also acquire a chance to discover and get acquainted with other values.

Globalization has provided many reasonably priced valued goods and complete economic welfares to the emerging nations in addition to the employment. But, it has also given growth to the crime, competition, terrorism, anti-national activities, etc. Thus, along with the pleasure it has supplied some grief too.

Globalization is a term that we hear about every now and then. Question is; do we really know what it is all about? Globalization is defined as the process of integration and interaction among people, cultures and nations who come together in order to get things done easily through contact. Globalization began with the migration of people from Africa to different parts of the world. Global developments have been achieved in various sectors through the different types of globalization. The effects of globalization have been felt in every part of the world and more people continue to embrace it. Globalization has some of its core elements that help in the process.

Types of Globalization:

Globalization does not just transform a sector unless the strategies are related to that specific sector. The first type of globalization is financial and economic globalization whereby interaction takes place in the financial and economic sectors especially through stock market exchange and international trade. The other type is technological globalization which involves the integration and connection of different nations through technological methods like the internet. Political globalization transforms the politics of a nation through interactions with adoption of policies and government that cut across other nations. Cultural globalization is basically the interaction of people from different cultures and sharing. Ecological globalization is the viewing of the earth as one ecosystem and sociological globalization is on equality for all people.

Elements of Globalization:

Globalization works with characteristic elements. Trade agreements is one of the components that significantly benefits the economic and financial globalization. These trade agreements have been designed to promote and sustain globalization by preventing barriers that inhibit trade among nations or regions. Another element is capital flow that is concerned with the measures of either a decline or a rise in domestic or foreign assets. Migration patterns is a socio-economical and cultural element that monitors the impacts of immigration and emigration actively. The element of information transfer involves communications and maintains the functioning of the markets and economies. Spread of technology is an element of globalization that facilitates service exchanges. Without these elements, globalization would have faced many challenges, which would even stagnate the process of globalization.

Impacts of Globalization:

The impact of globalization is felt differently among individuals but the end result will be either positive or negative. Globalization has impacts on the lives of individuals, on the aspects of culture, religions and education. The positive impacts of globalization include the simplification of business management through efficiency. In business, the quality of goods and services has increased due to global competition. Foreign investment has been facilitated by globalization and the global market has been able to expand. Cultural growth has been experienced through intermingling and accommodation. Interdependence among nations has developed and more people have been exposed to the exchange program between nations. Improvement of human rights and legal matters has improved through media and technology sharing. Poverty has been alleviated in developing countries due to globalization and also employment opportunities are provided. Through technology, developments have been positively influenced in most parts of the world.

Although globalization has positive impacts, the negative impacts will remain constant unless solutions are sought. One of the negative effects of globalization is job insecurity for some people. Through globalization, more innovations are achieved, for e.g., technology causes automation and therefore people get replaced and they lack jobs. Another negative impact is the frequent fluctuation of prices of commodities that arises from global competitions. On the cultural side, the fast food sector has become wide spread globally, which is an unhealthy lifestyle that was adopted due to globalization. Also, Culture has been negatively affected for people in Africa because they tend to focus more on adopting the western culture and ignore their cultural practices.

Possible Solutions to the Negative Impacts of Globalization:

Globalization has impacted the society negatively and some of the solutions might help to mitigate the impacts. When adopting cultures from other people, it is important to be keen on the effects of the culture on the people and the existing culture being practiced. For example, Africans should not focus more of the western culture such that they ignore their own culture.

In conclusion, it is evident that globalization results in both negative and positive consequences. The society should embrace the positive and mitigate the negative impacts. Globalisation is a dynamic process which involves change, so flexibility among people is a must.

The buzzword befitted to describe the growth of Modern Indian economy is ‘Globalization’. But what exactly is Globalization? Globalization can be defined as integrating the economy of a country with the rest of the countries of the world. From the Indian perspective, this implies encouraging free trade policies, opening up our economy to foreign direct investment, removing constraints and obstacles to the entry of multinational corporations in India, also allowing Indian companies to set up joint ventures abroad, eliminating import restrictions, in-short encouraging Free Trade policies.

India opened its markets to Global Trade majorly during the early Nineties after a major economic crisis hit the country. New economic reforms were introduced in 1991 by then Prime Minister Shri. P V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister at the time, Dr. Manmohan Singh. In many ways, the new economic policies positively contributed to the implementation of the concept of Globalization in India.

It’s Impact:

1. Economic Impact :

Globalization in India targets to attract Multinational Companies and Institutions to approach Indian markets. India has a demography with a large workforce of young citizens who  are in need of jobs. Globalization has indeed left a major impact in the jobs sector. Indian companies are also expanding their business all over the world. They are driving funds from the bigwigs of the Global economy.

The Best example in today’s time is OYO Rooms, a budding Indian company in the hospitality sector. OYO Rooms recently made headlines when it declared to raise a fund close to $1 Billion from Japan’s Soft Bank Vision Fund. Globalization has also led the Indian Consumer market on the boom. The Giant of FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) sector WALMART is also enthusiastic and actively investing in the India market.

2. Socio-Cultural impact on the Indian Society:

The world has become a smaller place, thanks to the social networking platforms blooming of the internet. India is a beautiful country which takes immense pride in “Unity in Diversity” as it is home to many different cultures and traditions. Globalization in India has left a lasting impression on the socio-cultural aspect of Indian society.

Food chains like McDonald’s are finding its way to the dining tables. With every passing day, Indians are indulging more and more in the Western culture and lifestyle. But Globalization in India has also provided a vibrant World platform for Indian Art, Music, Clothing, and Cuisine.

The psychological impact on a common Indian Man: The educated youth in India is developing a pictorial identity where they are integrating themselves with the fast-paced, technology-driven world and at the same time they are nurturing the deep roots of Indian Culture. Indians are fostering their Global identity through social media platforms and are actively interacting with the World community. They are more aware of burning issues like Climate Change, Net neutrality, and LGBT rights.

Advantages:

India has taken the Centre Stage amongst the Developing Nations because of its growing economy on the World Map. Globalization in India has brought tremendous change in the way India builds its National and International policies. It has created tremendous employment opportunities with increased compensations.

A large number of people are hired for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Processing Zones (EPZs), etc., are set up across the country in which hundreds of people are hired. Developed western countries like USA and UK outsource their work to Indian companies as the cost of labour is cheap in India. This, in turn, creates more employment. This has resulted in a better standard of living across the demographic of young educated Indians. The Indian youth is definitely empowered in a big way.

Young lads below the age of 20 are now aspiring to become part of global organizations. Indian culture and morals are always strengthening their roots in modern world History as the world is now celebrating ‘International Yoga Day’ on 21st June every year. Globalization in India has led to a tremendous cash flow from Developed Nations in the Indian market. As a positive effect, India is witnessing the speedy completion of Metro projects across the country. Another spectacular example of newly constructed High-end Infrastructure in the country is the remarkable and thrilling ‘Chenani-Nashri Tunnel’, Longest Tunnel in India constructed in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Globalization has greatly contributed in numerous ways to the development of Modern India.

Disadvantages:

As there are so many pros we cannot turn a blind eye to the cons of Globalization which are quite evident with the Indian perspective. The worst impact is seen in the environment across Indian cities due to heavy industrialization. Delhi, the capital of India has made headlines for the worst ever air pollution, which is increasing at an alarming rate.

India takes pride in calling itself an Agriculture oriented nation, but now Agriculture contributes to fragile 17% of the GDP. Globalization in India has been a major reason for the vulnerable condition of Indian Farmers and shrinking Agriculture sector. The intrusion of world players and import of food grains by the Indian Government has left minimal space for Indian farmers to trade their produce.

The impact of westernization has deeply kindled individualism and ‘Me factor’ and as a result, the look of an average Indian family has changed drastically where a Nuclear family is preferred over a traditional Joint family. The pervasive media and social networking platforms have deeply impacted the value system of our country where bigotry and homophobia are becoming an obvious threat.

One cannot clearly state that the impact of Globalization in India has been good or bad as both are quite evident. From the economic standpoint, Globalization has indeed brought a breath of fresh air to the aspirations of the Indian market. However, it is indeed a matter of deep concern when the Indian traditions and value system are at stake. India is one of the oldest civilizations and World trade has been the keystone of its History. Globalization must be practiced as a way towards development without compromising the Indian value system.

Globalisation can simply be defined as the process of integration and interaction between different people, corporations and also governments worldwide. Technology advancement which has in turn advanced means of communication and transportation has helped in the growth of globalisation. Globalisation has brought along with it an increase in international trade, culture and exchange of ideas. Globalisation is basically an economic process that involves integration and interaction that deals also with cultural and social aspects. Important features of globalisation, both modern and historically are diplomacy and conflicts.

In term of economy, globalisation involves services and goods, and the resources of technology, capital and data. The steamship, steam locomotive, container ship and jet engine are a few of the many technological advances in transportation while the inception of the telegraph and its babies, mobile phones and the internet portray technological advances in communications. These advancements have been contributing factors in the world of globalisation and they have led to interdependence of cultural and economic activities all over the world.

There are many theories regarding the origin of globalisation, some posit that the origin is in modern times while others say that it goes way back through history before adventures to the new world and the European discovery age. Some have even taken it further back to the third millennium. Globalisation on a large-scale began around the 1820s. Globalisation in its current meaning only started taking shape in the 1970s. There are four primary parts of globalisation, they are: transactions and trade, investments and capital movement, movement and migration of people and the circulation of knowledge and information. Globalization is subdivided into three: economic globalisation, political globalisation and cultural globalisation.

There are two primary forms of globalisation: Archaic and Modern Globalisations. Archaic globalisation is a period in the globalisation history from the period of the first civilisations until around the 1600s. Archaic globalisation is the interaction between states and communities and also how they were incepted by the spread by geography of social norms and ideas at different levels.

Archaic globalisation had three major requirements. First is the Eastern Origin idea, the second is distance, the third is all about regularity, stability and inter-dependency. The Silk Road and trade on it was a very important factor in archaic globalisation through the development of various civilisations from Persia, China, Arabia, Indian subcontinent and Europe birthing long distance economic and political relationships between them. Silk was the major item from China along the Silk Road; other goods such as sugar and salt were also traded.

Philosophies, different religious beliefs and varying technologies and also diseases also moved along the Silk Road route. Apart from economic trade, the Silk Road also was a means of cultural exchange among the various civilisations along its route. The cultural exchange was as a result of people’s movement including missionaries, refugees, craftsmen, robbers, artists and envoys, resulting in religions, languages, art and new technologies being exchanged.

Modern globalisation can be sub-divided into early modern and Modern. Early modern globalisation spans about 200 years of globalisation between 1600 and 1800. It is the period of cultural exchange and trade links increasing just before the modern globalisation of the late 19 th century. Early modern globalisation was characterised by Europeans empires’ maritime of the 16 th and 17 th centuries. The Spanish and Portuguese Empires were the first and then we had the British and Dutch Empires. The establishment of chartered companies (British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company) further developed world trade.

Modern Globalisation of the 19 th century was as a result of the famed Industrial Revolution. Railroads and steamships made both local and international transportation easier and a lot less expensive which helped improve economic exchange and movement of people all over the world, the transportation revolution happened between 1820 and 1850. A lot more nations have embraced global trade. Globalisation has been shaped decisively by the imperialism in Africa and in Asia around the 19 th century. Also, the ingenious invention in 1956 of the shipping container has really helped to quicken the advancement of globalisation.

The Bretton Woods conference agreement after the Second World War helped lay the groundwork for finance, international monetary policy and commerce and also the conception of many institutions that are supposed to help economic growth through lowering barriers to trade. From the 1970s, there has been a drop in the affordability of aviation to middle class people in countries that are developed. Also, around the 1990s, the cost of communication networks also drastically dropped thus lowering the cost of communicating between various countries. Communication has been a blessing such that much work can be done on a computer in different countries and the internet and other advanced means of communications has helped remove the boundary of distance and cost of having to travel and move from place to place just to get business done.

One other thing that became popular after the Second World War is student exchange programmes which help the involved students learn about, understand and tolerate another culture totally different from theirs, it also helps improve their language skills and also improve their social skills. Surveys have shown that the number of exchange students have increased by about nine times between 1963 and 2006.

Economic globalisation is differentiated from modern globalisation by the information exchange level, the method of handling global trade and expansionism.

Economic Globalisation:

Economic globalisation is just the ever increasing interdependence of economies of nations worldwide caused by the hike in movement across borders of goods, services, capital and technology. Economic globalisation is basically the means of increasing economic relationships between countries, giving rise to the birth of a single or global market. Based on the worldview, Economic globalisation can be seen as either a negative or positive thing.

Economic globalisation includes: Globalisation of production; which is getting services and goods from a source from very different locations all over the world to gain from the difference in quality and cost. There is globalisation of markets; which is the coming together of separate and different markets into one global market. Economic globalisation includes technology, industries, competition and corporations.

Globalisation today is all about less developed countries and economies receiving FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) from the more developed countries and economies, reduction in barriers to trade and to particular extent immigration.

Political Globalisation:

Political globalisation is going to on-the-long-run drop the need for separate nation or states. Institutions like the International Criminal court and WTO are beginning to replace individual nations in their functions and this could eventually lead to a union of all the nations of the world in a European Union style.

Non-governmental organisations have also helped in political globalisation by influencing laws and policies across borders and in different countries, including developmental efforts and humanitarian aid.

Political globalisation isn’t all good as some countries have chosen to embrace policies of isolation as a reactionary measure to globalisation. A typical example is the government of North Korea which makes it extremely difficult and hard for foreigners to even enter their country and monitor all of the activities of foreigners strictly if they allow them in. Citizens are not allowed to leave the country freely and aid workers are put under serious scrutiny and are not allowed in regions and places where the government does not want them to enter.

Intergovernmentalism is the treatment of national governments and states as the major basic factors for integration. Multi-level governance is the concept that there are many structures of authority interacting in the gradual emergence of political globalisation.

Cultural Globalisation:

Cultural globalisation is the transmission of values, ideas and meanings all over the world in a way that intensify and extend social relations. Cultural globalisation is known by the consumption of different cultures that have been propagated on the internet, international travel and culture media. The propagation of cultures helps individuals to engage in social relations which break regional boundaries. Cultural globalisation also includes the start of shared knowledge and norm which people can identify their cultures collectively; it helps foster relationships between different cultures and populations.

It can be argued that cultural globalisation distorts and harms cultural diversity. As one country’s culture is inputted into another country by the means of globalisation, the new culture becomes a threat to the cultural diversity of the receiving country.

Globalisation has made the world into one very small community where we all interact and relate, learn about other cultures and civilisations different from ours. Globalisation has helped improve the ease of doing business all around the world and has made the production of goods and services quite easy and affordable. Globalisation isn’t all good and rosy as it can be argued that Globalisation is just westernisation as most cultures and beliefs are being influenced by the western culture and belief and this harms cultural diversity. Nevertheless, the good of globalisation outweighs the bad so globalisation is actually a very good thing and has helped shape the world as we know it.

Economics , Globalisation

Get FREE Work-at-Home Job Leads Delivered Weekly!

Join more than 50,000 subscribers receiving regular updates! Plus, get a FREE copy of How to Make Money Blogging!

Message from Sophia!

Like this post? Don’t forget to share it!

Here are a few recommended articles for you to read next:

• Which is More Important in Life: Love or Money | Essay
• Essay on My School
• Essay on Solar Energy
• Essay on Biodiversity

No comments yet.

Leave a reply click here to cancel reply..

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Billionaires

• Donald Trump
• Warren Buffett
• Email Address
• Free Stock Photos
• Keyword Research Tools
• URL Shortener Tools
• WordPress Theme

Book Summaries

• How To Win Friends
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• The Code of the Extraordinary Mind
• The Luck Factor
• The Millionaire Fastlane
• The ONE Thing
• Think and Grow Rich
• 100 Million Dollar Business
• Business Ideas

Digital Marketing

• Mobile Addiction
• Social Media Addiction
• Computer Addiction
• Drug Addiction
• Internet Addiction
• TV Addiction
• Healthy Habits
• Morning Rituals
• Wake up Early
• Cholesterol
• Reducing Cholesterol
• Fat Loss Diet Plan
• Reducing Hair Fall
• Sleep Apnea
• Weight Loss

Internet Marketing

• Email Marketing

Law of Attraction

• Subconscious Mind
• Vision Board
• Visualization

Law of Vibration

• Professional Life

Motivational Speakers

• Bob Proctor
• Robert Kiyosaki
• Vivek Bindra
• Inner Peace

Productivity

• Not To-do List
• Project Management Software
• Negative Energies

Relationship

• Getting Back Your Ex

Self-help 21 and 14 Days Course

Self-improvement.

• Body Language
• Complainers
• Emotional Intelligence
• Personality

Social Media

• Project Management
• Anik Singal
• Baba Ramdev
• Dwayne Johnson
• Jackie Chan
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Narendra Modi
• Nikola Tesla
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Sandeep Maheshwari
• Shaqir Hussyin

Website Development

Wisdom post, worlds most.

• Expensive Cars

Our Portals: Gulf Canada USA Italy Gulf UK

Privacy Overview

The Globalization of Advanced Art in the Twentieth Century

The twentieth century was a time of rapid globalization for advanced art. Artists from a larger number of countries made important contributions than in earlier periods, and they did so in a larger number of places. Many important innovations also diffused more rapidly, and more widely, than in earlier times. The dominance for much of the century of conceptual forms of art, from Cubism and Dada to Pop and Conceptual Art, was largely responsible for the greater speed with which innovations spread: conceptual techniques are communicated more readily, and are generally more versatile in their uses, than experimental methods. There is no longer a single dominant place in the art world, comparable to Paris for the first century of modern art, but it is unlikely that a large number of places will join New York and London as centers of artistic innovation in the future.

I thank Robert Jensen for discussions. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

Download Citation Data

Published Versions

The Globalization of Advanced Art in the Twentieth Century , David W. Galenson. in Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art , Galenson. 2009

More from NBER

In addition to working papers , the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter , the NBER Digest , the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability , the Bulletin on Health , and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship  — as well as online conference reports , video lectures , and interviews .

Flash Points: A New Age of Empires

Create an FP account to save articles to read later and in the FP mobile app.

ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN

World Brief

• Editors’ Picks
• Africa Brief

China Brief

• Latin America Brief

South Asia Brief

Situation report.

• Flash Points
• War in Ukraine
• Israel and Hamas
• U.S.-China competition
• Biden's foreign policy
• Trade and economics
• Artificial intelligence
• Asia & the Pacific
• Middle East & Africa

Reimagining Globalization

Fareed zakaria on an age of revolutions, ones and tooze, foreign policy live.

Spring 2024 Issue

Print Archive

FP Analytics

• In-depth Special Reports
• Issue Briefs
• Power Maps and Interactive Microsites
• FP Simulations & PeaceGames
• Graphics Database

From Resistance to Resilience

The atlantic & pacific forum, redefining multilateralism, principles of humanity under pressure, fp global health forum 2024.

By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.

Your guide to the most important world stories of the day

Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent

The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week

Weekly update on what’s driving U.S. national security policy

Evening roundup with our editors’ favorite stories of the day

One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture

Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors

A curated selection of our very best long reads

A New Age of Empires

What makes a modern empire, from russia to cyberspace..

• Science and Technology
• United States

We often think of the age of empire as in the past—the Roman Empire, the Qing Dynasty, British imperialism. But as the essays below argue, empires are alive and well in the 21st century. Some take new forms, such as the corporate titans of the internet age. Others are directly inspired by imperial histories and a revanchist spirit.

This edition of Flash Points considers the mythmaking, ambitions, and follies of today’s empires, and how they are (and aren’t) changing the world order.

Foreign Policy illustration

The New Empires of the Internet Age

Cyberspace has upended the old world order, Daniel W. Drezner writes.

Chinese President Xi Jinping waits in front of a painting of the Great Wall at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Sept. 3, 2018. Andy Wong/Getty Images

Xi’s Imperial Ambitions Are Rooted in China’s History

Myths of peacefulness belie a record as expansionist as any other power, Michael Sobolik writes.

A depiction of the fall of Constantinople, the capture of the Byzantine Empire’s capital under by an invading Ottoman army in 1453. The Print Collector via Getty Images

The Inevitable Fall of Putin’s New Russian Empire

What history tells us about collapsed empires trying to restore their former possessions, according to Alexander J. Motyl.

The ruins of the ancient Roman Forum in Rome on Nov. 3 2017. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images

Getting Rome Right and America Wrong

A new history of empire is far too British, Bret Devereaux writes.

Joan Wong illustration for Foreign Policy

The Rise and Fall and Rise (and Fall) of the U.S. Financial Empire

It is far from obvious to critics that dollar hegemony is an unalloyed blessing, FP’s Adam Tooze writes.

Chloe Hadavas is a senior editor at Foreign Policy . Twitter:  @Hadavas

Join the Conversation

Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.

Already a subscriber? Log In .

Subscribe Subscribe

View Comments

Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now.

Not your account? Log out

Please follow our comment guidelines , stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs.

Change your username:

I agree to abide by FP’s comment guidelines . (Required)

Confirm your username to get started.

The default username below has been generated using the first name and last initial on your FP subscriber account. Usernames may be updated at any time and must not contain inappropriate or offensive language.

Sign up for Editors' Picks

A curated selection of fp’s must-read stories..

You’re on the list! More ways to stay updated on global news:

North Macedonia’s Political Future Is on the Line

Kyiv thwarts alleged russian-backed assassination attempt on zelensky, get ready for trump trade wars 2.0, why are more chinese migrants arriving at the u.s. southern border, putin begins fifth term with nuclear drills, editors’ picks.

• 1 How Georgia Sided With Its Enemy
• 2 Why Are More Chinese Migrants Arriving at the U.S. Southern Border?
• 3 Putin Begins Fifth Term With Nuclear Drills
• 4 No, This Is Not a Cold War—Yet
• 5 Biden Should Not Stand in the Way of the ICC
• 6 Can the ICC Actually Arrest Netanyahu?

Zelensky Assassination Plot: Ukraine Thwarts Alleged Russia-Backed Attempt

What would trump's second-term trade policy look like, putin inauguration: fifth term begins amid russian tactical nuclear drills, more from foreign policy, nobody is competing with the u.s. to begin with.

Conflicts with China and Russia are about local issues that Washington can’t win anyway.

The Very Real Limits of the Russia-China ‘No Limits’ Partnership

Intense military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is a problem for the West. Their bilateral trade is not.

What Do Russians Really Think About Putin’s War?

Polling has gotten harder as autocracy has tightened.

Can Xi Win Back Europe?

The Chinese leader’s visit follows weeks of escalating tensions between China and the continent.

Can the ICC Actually Arrest Netanyahu?

Biden should not stand in the way of the icc, china wants to ‘divide and conquer’ europe, no, this is not a cold war—yet, how iran’s attack could change israel’s strategy.

Sign up for World Brief

FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day, written by Alexandra Sharp . Delivered weekdays.

• Share full article

For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio , a new iOS app available for news subscribers.

The Protesters and the President

Over the past week, thousands of students protesting the war in gaza have been arrested..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

Free, free, Palestine!

Free, free Palestine!

Free, free, free Palestine!

Over the past week, what had begun as a smattering of pro-Palestinian protests on America’s college campuses exploded into a nationwide movement —

United, we’ll never be defeated!

— as students at dozens of universities held demonstrations, set up encampments, and at times seized academic buildings.

[PROTESTERS CLAMORING]:

response, administrators at many of those colleges decided to crack down —

Do not throw things at our officers. We will use chemical munitions that include gas.

— calling in local police to carry out mass detentions and arrests. From Arizona State —

In the name of the state of Arizona, I declare this gathering to be a violation of —

— to the University of Georgia —

— to City College of New York.

[PROTESTERS CHANTING, “BACK OFF”]:

As of Thursday, police had arrested 2,000 students on more than 40 campuses. A situation so startling that President Biden could no longer ignore it.

Look, it’s basically a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of what’s right. There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos.

Today, my colleagues Jonathan Wolfe and Peter Baker on a history-making week. It’s Friday, May 3.

Jonathan, as this tumultuous week on college campuses comes to an end, it feels like the most extraordinary scenes played out on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles, where you have been reporting. What is the story of how that protest started and ultimately became so explosive?

So late last week, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles.

From the river to the sea!

Palestine will be free!

Palestine —

It was right in front of Royce Hall, which I don’t know if you are familiar with UCLA, but it’s a very famous, red brick building. It’s on all the brochures. And there was two things that stood out about this encampment. And the first thing was that they barricaded the encampment.

The encampment, complete with tents and barricades, has been set up in the middle of the Westwood campus. The protesters demand —

They have metal grates. They had wooden pallets. And they separated themselves from the campus.

This is kind of interesting. There are controlling access, as we’ve been talking about. They are trying to control who is allowed in, who is allowed out.

They sort of policed the area. So they only would let people that were part of their community, they said, inside.

I’m a UCLA student. I deserve to go here. We paid tuition. This is our school. And they’re not letting me walk in. Why can’t I go? Will you let me go in?

We’re not engaging with that.

Then you can move. Will you move?

And the second thing that stood out about this camp was that it immediately attracted pro-Israel counterprotesters.

And what did the leadership of UCLA say about all of this, the encampment and these counterprotesters?

So the University of California’s approach was pretty unique. They had a really hands-off approach. And they allowed the pro-Palestinian protesters to set up an encampment. They allowed the counterprotesters to happen. I mean, this is a public university, so anyone who wants to can just enter the campus.

So when do things start to escalate?

So there were definitely fights and scuffles through the weekend. But a turning point was really Sunday —

[SINGING IN HEBREW]:

— when this group called the Israeli American Council, they’re a nonprofit organization, organized a rally on campus. The Israeli American Council has really been against these pro-Palestinian protests. They say that they’re antisemitic. So this nonprofit group sets up a stage with a screen really just a few yards from the pro-Palestinian encampment.

We are grateful that this past Friday, the University of California, stated that they will continue to oppose any calls for boycott and divestment from Israel!

[PROTESTERS CHEERING]

And they host speakers and they held prayers.

Jewish students, you’re not alone! Oh, you’re not alone! We are right here with you! And we’re right here with you in until —

[WORDLESS SINGING]:

And then lots of other people start showing up. And the proximity between protesters and counterprotesters and even some agitators, makes it really clear that something was about to happen.

And what was that? What ended up happening?

On Monday night, a group of about 60 counterprotesters tried to breach the encampment there. And the campus police had to break it up. And things escalated again on Tuesday.

They stormed the barricades and it’s a complete riot.

[PROTESTER SHOUTING]:

Put it down! Put it down! Put it down!

I went to report on what happened just a few hours after it ended.

And I spoke to a lot of protesters. And I met one demonstrator, Marie.

Yeah, my first name is Marie. M-A-R-I-E. Last name, Salem.

And Marie described what happened.

So can you just tell me a little bit about what happened last night?

Last night, we were approached by over a hundred counterprotesters who were very mobilized and ready to break into camp. They proceeded to try to breach our barricades extremely violently.

Marie said it started getting out of hand when counterprotesters started setting off fireworks towards the camp.

They had bear spray. They had Mace. They were throwing wood and spears. Throwing water bottles, continuing fireworks.

So she said that they were terrified. It was just all hands on deck. Everyone was guarding the barricades.

Every time someone experienced the bear spray or Mace or was hit and bleeding, we had some medics in the front line. And then we had people —

And they said that they were just trying to take care of people who were injured.

I mean, at any given moment, there was 5 to 10 people being treated.

So what she described to me sounded more like a battlefield than a college campus.

And it was just a complete terror and complete abandonment of the university, as we also watched private security watch this the entire time on the stairs. And some LAPD were stationed about a football field length back from these counterprotesters, and did not make a single arrest, did not attempt to stop any violence, did not attempt to get in between the two groups. No attempt.

I should say, I spoke to a state authorities and eyewitnesses and they confirmed Marie’s account about what happened that night, both in terms of the violence that took place at the encampment and how law enforcement responded. So in the end, people ended up fighting for hours before the police intervened.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

So in her mind, UCLA’s hands-off approach, which seemed to have prevailed throughout this entire period, ends up being way too hands off in a moment when students were in jeopardy.

That’s right. And so at this point, the protesters in the encampment started preparing for two possibilities. One was that this group of counterprotesters would return and attack them. And the second one was that the police would come and try to break up this encampment.

So they started building up the barricades. They start reinforcing them with wood. And during the day, hundreds of people came and brought them supplies. They brought food.

They brought helmets, goggles, earplugs, saline solution, all sorts of things these people could use to defend themselves. And so they’re really getting ready to burrow in. And in the end, it was the police who came.

[PROTESTERS SHOUTING]:

So Wednesday at 7:00 PM, they made an announcement on top of Royce Hall, which overlooks the encampment —

— administrative criminal actions up to and including arrest. Please leave the area immediately.

And they told people in the encampment that they needed to leave or face arrest.

[DRUM BEATING]: [PROTESTERS CHANTING]

And so as night falls, they put on all this gear that they’ve been collecting, the goggles, the masks and the earplugs, and they wait for the police.

[DRUM BEATING]:

And so the police arrive and station themselves right in front of the encampment. And then at a certain point, they storm the back stairs of the encampment.

[PROTESTERS CHANTING]:

And this is the stairs that the protesters have been using to enter and exit the camp. And they set up a line. And the protesters do this really surprising thing.

The people united!

They open up umbrellas. They have these strobe lights. And they’re flashing them at the police, who just slowly back out of the camp.

[PROTESTERS CHEERING]:

And so at this point, they’re feeling really great. They’re like, we did it. We pushed them out of their camp. And when the cops try to push again on those same set of stairs —

[PROTESTER SHOUTS]:

Hold your ground!

— the protesters organized themselves with all these shields that they had built earlier. And they go and confront them. And so there’s this moment where the police are trying to push up the stairs. And the protesters are literally pushing them back.

Push them back! Push them back!

Push them back!

And at a certain point, dozens of the police officers who were there, basically just turn around and leave.

So how does this eventually come to an end?

So at a certain point, the police push in again. Most of the conflict is centered at the front of these barricades. And the police just start tearing them apart.

[METAL CLANGING]

[CLAMORING]

They removed the front barricade. And in its place is this group of protesters who have linked arms and they’re hanging on to each other. And the police are trying to pull protesters one by one away from this group.

He’s just a student! Back off!

But they’re having a really hard time because there’s so many protesters. And they’re all just hanging on to each other.

We’re moving back now.

So at a certain point, one of the police officers started firing something into the crowd. We don’t exactly know what it was. But it really spooked the protesters.

Stop shooting at kids! Fuck you! Fuck them!

They started falling back. Everyone was really scared. The protesters were yelling, don’t shoot us. And at that point, the police just stormed the camp.

Get back. Get back.

Back up now!

And so after about four hours of this, the police pushed the protesters out of the encampment. They had arrested about 200 protesters. And this was finally over.

And I’m just curious, Jonathan, because you’re standing right there, you are bearing witness to this all, what you were thinking, what your impressions of this were.

I mean, I was stunned. These are mostly teenagers. This is a college campus, an institution of higher learning. And what I saw in front of me looked like a war zone.

[TENSE MUSIC]

The massive barricade, the police coming in with riot gear, and all this violence was happening in front of these red brick buildings that are famous for symbolizing a really open college campus. And everything about it was just totally surreal.

Well, Jonathan, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Thanks, Michael.

We’ll be right back.

Peter, around 10:00 AM on Thursday morning as the smoke is literally still clearing at the University of California Los Angeles, you get word that President Biden is going to speak.

Right, exactly. It wasn’t on his public schedule. He was about to head to Andrews Air Force base in order to take a trip. And then suddenly, we got the notice that he was going to be addressing the cameras in the Roosevelt Room.

They didn’t tell us what he was going to talk about. But it was pretty clear, I think. Everybody understood that it was going to be about these campus protests, about the growing violence and the clashes with police, and the arrests that the entire country had been watching on TV every night for the past week, and I think that we were watching just that morning with UCLA. And it reached the point where he just had to say something.

And why, in his estimation and those of his advisors, was this the moment that Biden had to say something?

Well, it kind of reached a boiling point. It kind of reached the impression of a national crisis. And you expect to hear your president address it in this kind of a moment, particularly because it’s about his own policy. His policy toward Israel is at the heart of these protests. And he was getting a lot of grief. He was getting a lot of grief from Republicans who were chiding him for not speaking out personally. He hadn’t said anything in about 10 days.

He’s getting a lot of pressure from Democrats, too, who wanted him to come out and be more forceful. It wasn’t enough, in their view, to leave it to his spokespeople to say something. Moderate Democrats felt he needed to come out and take some leadership on this.

And so at the appointed moment, Peter, what does Biden actually say in the Roosevelt Room of the White House?

Good morning.

Before I head to North Carolina, I wanted to speak for a few moments about what’s going on, on our college campuses here.

Well, it comes in the Roosevelt Room and he talks to the camera. And he talks about the two clashing imperatives of American principle.

The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld.

One is freedom of speech. The other is the rule of law.

In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But, but, neither are we a lawless country.

In other words, what he’s saying is, yes, I support the right of these protesters to come out and object to even my own policy, in effect, is what he’s saying. But it shouldn’t trail into violence.

Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses —

It shouldn’t trail into taking over buildings and obstructing students from going to class or canceling their graduations.

Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law.

And he leans very heavily into this idea that what he’s seeing these days goes beyond the line.

I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions. In America, we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that. But it doesn’t mean anything goes.

It has crossed into harassment and expressions of hate in a way that goes against the national character.

As president, I will always defend free speech. And I will always be just as strong and standing up for the rule of law. That’s my responsibility to you, the American people, and my obligation to the Constitution. Thank you very much.

Right, as I watched the speech, I heard his overriding message to basically be, I, the president of the United States, am drawing a line. These protests and counterprotests, the seizing and defacing of campus buildings, class disruption, all of it, name calling, it’s getting out of hand. That there’s a right way to do this. And what I’m seeing is the wrong way to do it and it has to stop.

That’s exactly right. And as he’s wrapping up, reporters, of course, ask questions. And the first question is —

Mr. President, have the protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region?

— will this change your policy toward the war in Gaza? Which, of course, is exactly what the protesters want. That’s the point.

And he basically says —

— no. Just one word, no.

Right. And that felt kind of important, as brief and fleeting as it was, because at the end of the day, what he’s saying to these protesters is, I’m not going to do what you want. And basically, your protests are never going to work. I’m not going to change the US’s involvement in this war.

Yeah, that’s exactly right. He is saying, I’m not going to be swayed by angry people in the streets. I’m going to do what I think is right when it comes to foreign policy. Now, what he thinks is that they’re not giving him enough credit for trying to achieve what they want, which is an end of the war.

He has been pressuring Israel and Hamas to come to a deal for a ceasefire that will, hopefully, in his view, would then lead to a more enduring end of hostilities. But, of course, this deal hasn’t gone anywhere. Hamas, in particular, seems to be resisting it. And so the president is left with a policy of arming Israel without having found a way yet to stop the war.

Right. I wonder, though, Peter, if we’re being honest, don’t these protests, despite what Biden is saying there, inevitably exert a kind of power over him? Becoming one of many pressures, but a pressure nonetheless that does influence how he thinks about these moments. I mean, here he is at the White House devoting an entire conversation to the nation to these campus protests.

Well, look, he knows this feeds into the political environment in which he’s running for re-election, in which he basically has people who otherwise might be his supporters on the left disenchanted with him. And he knows that there’s a cost to be paid. And that certainly, obviously, is in his head as he’s thinking about what to do.

But I think his view of the war is changing by the day for all sorts of reasons. And most of them having to do with realities on the ground. He has decided that Israel has gone far enough, if not too far, in the way it has conducted this operation in Gaza.

He is upset about the humanitarian crisis there. And he’s looking for a way to wrap all this up into a move that would move to peacemaking, beginning to get the region to a different stage, maybe have a deal with the Saudis to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for some sort of a two-state solution that would eventually resolve the Palestinian issue at its core.

So I think it’s probably fair to say that the protests won’t move him in an immediate kind of sense. But they obviously play into the larger zeitgeist of the moment. And I also think it’s important to know who Joe Biden is at heart.

Explain that.

He’s not drawn to activism. He was around in 1968, the last time we saw this major conflagration at Columbia University, for instance. At the time, Joe Biden was a law student in Syracuse, about 250 miles away. And he was an institutionalist even then.

He was just focused on his studies. He was about to graduate. He was thinking about the law career. And he didn’t really have much of an affinity, I think, for his fellow students of that era, for their activist way of looking at things.

He tells a story in his memoir about walking down a street in Syracuse one day to go to the pizza shop with some friends. And they walk by the administration building. And they see people hanging out of the windows. They’re hanging SDS banners. That’s the Students for a Democratic Society, which was one of the big activist groups of the era.

And he says, they were taking over the building. And we looked up and said, look at those assholes. That’s how far apart from the antiwar movement I was. That’s him writing in his memoir.

So to a young Joe Biden, those who devote their time and their energy to protesting the war are, I don’t need to repeat the word twice, but they’re losers. They’re not worth his time.

Well, I think it’s the tactics they’re using more than the goals that he disagreed with. He would tell you he disagreed with the Vietnam War. He was for civil rights. But he thought that taking over a building was performative, was all about getting attention, and that there was a better way, in his view, to do it.

He was somebody who wanted to work inside the system. He said in an interview quite a few years back, he says, look, I was wearing sports coats in that era. He saw himself becoming part of the system, not somebody trying to tear it down.

And so how should we think about that Joe Biden, when we think about this Joe Biden? I mean, the Joe Biden who, as a young man, looked upon antiwar protesters with disdain and the one who is now president and his very own policies have inspired such ferocious campus protests?

Yeah, that Joe Biden, the 1968 Joe Biden, he could just throw on a sports coat, go to the pizza shop with his friends, make fun of the activists and call them names, and then that’s it. They didn’t have to affect his life. But that’s not what 2024 Joe Biden can do.

Now, wherever he goes, he’s dogged by this. He goes to speeches and people are shouting at him, Genocide Joe! Genocide Joe! He is the target of the same kind of a movement that he disdained in 1968. And so as much as he would like to ignore it or move on or focus on other things, I think this has become a defining image of his year and one of the defining images, perhaps, of his presidency. And 2024 Joe Biden can’t simply ignore it.

Well, Peter, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

Here’s what else you need to know today. During testimony on Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, jurors heard a recording secretly made by Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, in which Trump discusses a deal to buy a woman’s silence. In the recording, Trump asks Cohen about how one payment made by Trump to a woman named Karen McDougal would be financed. The recording could complicate efforts by Trump’s lawyers to distance him from the hush money deals at the center of the trial.

A final thing to know, tomorrow morning, we’ll be sending you the latest episode from our colleagues over at “The Interview.” This week, David Marchese talks with comedy star Marlon Wayans about his new stand-up special.

It’s a high that you get when you don’t know if this joke that I’m about to say is going to offend everybody. Are they going to walk out? Are they going to boo me? Are they going to hate this. And then you tell it, and everybody cracks up and you’re like, woo.

Today’s episode was produced by Diana Nguyen, Luke Vander Ploeg, Alexandra Leigh Young, Nina Feldman, and Carlos Prieto. It was edited by Lisa Chow and Michael Benoist. It contains original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.

• May 7, 2024   •   27:43 How Changing Ocean Temperatures Could Upend Life on Earth
• May 6, 2024   •   29:23 R.F.K. Jr.’s Battle to Get on the Ballot
• May 3, 2024   •   25:33 The Protesters and the President
• May 2, 2024   •   29:13 Biden Loosens Up on Weed
• May 1, 2024   •   35:16 The New Abortion Fight Before the Supreme Court
• April 30, 2024   •   27:40 The Secret Push That Could Ban TikTok
• April 29, 2024   •   47:53 Trump 2.0: What a Second Trump Presidency Would Bring
• April 26, 2024   •   21:50 Harvey Weinstein Conviction Thrown Out
• April 25, 2024   •   40:33 The Crackdown on Student Protesters
• April 24, 2024   •   32:18 Is $60 Billion Enough to Save Ukraine?
• April 23, 2024   •   30:30 A Salacious Conspiracy or Just 34 Pieces of Paper?
• April 22, 2024   •   24:30 The Evolving Danger of the New Bird Flu

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jonathan Wolfe and Peter Baker

Produced by Diana Nguyen ,  Luke Vander Ploeg ,  Alexandra Leigh Young ,  Nina Feldman and Carlos Prieto

Edited by Lisa Chow and Michael Benoist

Original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Warning: this episode contains strong language.

Over the past week, students at dozens of universities held demonstrations, set up encampments and, at times, seized academic buildings. In response, administrators at many of those colleges decided to crack down and called in the local police to detain and arrest demonstrators.

As of Thursday, the police had arrested 2,000 people across more than 40 campuses, a situation so startling that President Biden could no longer ignore it.

Jonathan Wolfe, who has been covering the student protests for The Times, and Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent, discuss the history-making week.

On today’s episode

Jonathan Wolfe , a senior staff editor on the newsletters team at The New York Times.

Peter Baker , the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times covering President Biden and his administration.

Background reading

As crews cleared the remnants of an encampment at U.C.L.A., students and faculty members wondered how the university could have handled protests over the war in Gaza so badly .

Biden denounced violence on campus , breaking his silence after a rash of arrests.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Jonathan Wolfe is a senior staff editor on the newsletters team at The Times. More about Jonathan Wolfe

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker

Luke Vander Ploeg is a senior producer on “The Daily” and a reporter for the National Desk covering the Midwest. More about Luke Vander Ploeg

Advertisement