"Globalization" refers to the growing interdependence of countries resulting from the increasing integration of trade, finance, people, and ideas in one global marketplace. International trade and cross-border investment flows are the main elements of this integration.

Globalization started after World War II but has accelerated considerably since the mid-1980s, driven by two main factors. One involves technological advances that have lowered the costs of transportation, communication, and computation to the extent that it is often economically feasible for a firm to locate different phases of production in different countries. The other factor has to do with the increasing liberalization of trade and capital markets: more and more governments are refusing to protect their economies from foreign competition or influence through import tariffs and nontariff barriers such as import quotas, export restraints, and legal prohibitions. A number of international institutions established in the wake of World War II- including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), succeeded in 1995 by the World Trade Organization (WTO)- have played an important role in promoting free trade in place of protectionism.

Empirical evidence suggests that globalization has significantly boosted economic growth in East Asian economies such as Hong Kong (China), the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. But not all developing countries are equally engaged in globalization or in a position to benefit from it. In fact, except for most countries in East Asia and some in Latin America, developing countries have been rather slow to integrate with the world economy. The share of Sub-Saharan Africa in world trade has declined continuously since the late 1960s, and the share of major oil exporters fell sharply with the drop in oil prices in the early 1980s. Moreover, for countries that are actively engaged in globalization, the benefits come with new risks and challenges. The balance of globalization's costs and benefits for different groups of countries and the world economy is one of the hottest topics in development debates.

For participating countries the main benefits of unrestricted foreign trade stem from the increased access of their producers to larger, international markets. For a national economy that access means an opportunity to benefit from the international division of labor, on the one hand, and the need to face stronger competition in world markets, on the other. Domestic producers produce more efficiently due to their international specialization and the pressure that comes from foreign competition, and consumers enjoy a wider variety of domestic and imported goods at lower prices.

In addition, an actively trading country benefits from the new technologies that "spill over" to it from its trading partners, such as through the knowledge embedded in imported production equipment. These technological spillovers are particularly important for developing countries because they give them a chance to catch up more quickly with the developed countries in terms of productivity. Former centrally planned economies, which missed out on many of the benefits of global trade because of their politically imposed isolation from market economies, today aspire to tap into these benefits by reintegrating with the global trading system.

But active participation in international trade also entails risks, particularly those associated with the strong competition in international markets. For example, a country runs the risk that some of its industries- those that are less competitive and adaptable- will be forced out of business. Meanwhile, reliance on foreign suppliers may be considered unacceptable when it comes to industries with a significant role in national security. For example, many governments are determined to ensure the so-called food security of their countries, in case food imports are cut off during a war.

In addition, governments of developing countries often argue that recently established industries require temporary protection until they become more competitive and less vulnerable to foreign competition. Thus governments often prohibit or reduce selected imports by introducing quotas, or make imports more expensive and less competitive by imposing tariffs. Such protectionist policies can be economically dangerous because they allow domestic producers to continue producing less efficiently and eventually lead to economic stagnation. Wherever possible, increasing the economic efficiency and international competitiveness of key industries should be considered as an alternative to protectionist policies.

A country that attempts to produce almost everything it needs domestically deprives itself of the enormous economic benefits of international specialization. But narrow international specialization, which makes a country dependent on exports of one or a few goods, can also be risky because of the possibility of sudden unfavorable changes in demand from world markets. Such changes can significantly worsen a country's terms of trade. Thus some diversification of production and exports can be prudent even if it entails a temporary decrease in trade. Every country has to find the right place in the international division of labor based on its comparative advantages.

The costs and benefits of international trade also depend on factors such as the size of a country's domestic market, its natural resource endowment, and its location. For instance, countries with large domestic markets generally trade less. At the same time, countries that are well endowed with a few natural resources, such as oil, tend to trade more. Think of examples of countries whose geographic location is particularly favorable or unfavorable for their participation in global trade.

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