The rising powers and globalization : structural change to the global system between 1965 and 2005

This article critically assesses the increasingly prevalent claims of rapidly changing global power relations under influence of the ‘rising powers’ and ‘globalization.’ Our main contention is that current analyses of countries’ degree of global power (especially for the BRICS) has been dominated by the control over resources approach that, although it gauges power potential, it insufficiently accounts for how this potential is converted into actual global might. By drawing on a unique and extensive dataset comprised of a wide array of political, economic, and military networks for a vast number of countries between 1965 and 2005, we aim to 1) reassess alleged changes in the structure of the world-system since 1965 and 2) analyze whether or not these changes can be attributed to globalization. We pay attention to the trajectories of the BRICS and to the possibly divergent structural evolutions of the political and economic dimensions that constitute the system. Our results show that despite a certain degree of power convergence between countries at the sub-top of the system, divergence continues to take place between the most and least powerful, and stratification is reproduced. Globalization is further shown to exacerbate this trend, though its effect differs on the political and economic dimensions of the system. Though the traditional ‘core powers’ might have to share their power with newcomer China in the future, this hardly heralds a new age in which the global system of power relations are converging to the extent that stratification is being undermined

Russia's emerging multinationals: trends and issues

The paper focuses on the emergence of Russia's multinational companies. It aims to analyse their motives to internationalise as well as the approaches to internationalisation. While relevance of the theoretical perspectives is highlighted, the intention of the paper is to contribute to the understanding of the present-day phenomenon of emerging Russian multinationals; a phenomenon that has been largely overshadowed by the remarkable rise of Chinese and Indian companies. A special attention is devoted to the R&D activities of Russian multinational companies, and access to foreign technology as a driver of corporate restructuring. A discussion of the challenges and opportunities for host countries and policy implications is provided.Russia, multinational companies, emerging economies, foreign investment, technology transfer, MNEs

The new multi-polar international monetary system

Backed by rapid economic growth, growing financial clout, and a newfound sense of assertiveness in recent years, the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and China - are a driving force behind an incipient transformation of the world economy away from a US-dominated system toward a multipolar one in which developing countries will have a major say. It is, however, in the international monetary arena that the notion of multipolarity - more than two dominant poles - commands renewed attention and vigorous debate. For much of its history, the quintessential structural feature of the international monetary system has been unipolarity - as American hegemony of initiatives and power as well as its capacity to promote a market-based, liberal order came to define and shape international monetary relations. As other currencies become potential substitutes for the US dollar in international reserves and in cross-border claims, exchange rate volatility may become more severe. There are also risks that the rivalry among the three economic blocs may spill over into something more if not kept in check by a strong global governance structure. While the transition will be difficult and drawn out, governments should take immediate steps to prevent financial volatility by enhancing cooperation on monetary policies, currency market intervention and financial regulation.Currencies and Exchange Rates,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Economic Theory&Research

Theoretical and Methodological Study on Comparative Advantages in Dynamic Growth Regions, Convergence and Inequalities Patterns

DYNREG

Usage of Public Corporate Communications of Social Responsibility within Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC)

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to analyze the status of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) communications in BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). The four countries are among the biggest emerging markets, forecasted to have increasing influence in economic and political spheres. How these countries manage their corporate communication in regards to CSR is, thus, the focus of our investigation. Design/methodology/approach: This paper compares the extent and content of corporate communication with respect to CSR from a sample of over 100 companies from the BRIC nations by investigating the nature of CSR motives, processes, and stakeholder. Findings: The results of the analysis show that CSR activities differ among BRIC nations with respect to CSR motives, processes and stakeholder issues. China seems to be least communicative on a number of CSR issues. Practical implications: BRIC nations are often treated as a block with distinct characteristics. Our research shows that great variations exist in the implementation of CSR in BRIC nations. Furthermore, even though India’s GDP per capita is lower than that of China, for example, its communication of CSR is more intensive. This suggests that economic development alone cannot fully explain the differences in CSR communication. A full understanding of differences in CSR communications across BRIC is, thus, needed. Originality/value: The paper is original in providing across BRIC country analysis of corporate communication relating to CSR activities

STOCK MARKET AND VOLATILITY SPILLOVER: EVIDENCE FROM VAR-GARCH ANALYSIS OF BRICS AND THE US

The thesis paper aims to investigate the volatility spillover effects from the stock market of the United States to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). In this study, I have employed VAR-GARCH framework on weekly return MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) index of respective stock markets to analyze the volatility transmission mechanism between stock market of the US and BRICS. The data sample is divided into one full period from January 2000 to December 2016 and three different sub-periods as pre-crisis period, financial crisis period and post-crisis period. The result of VAR (1) - GARCH (1, 1) model employed to examine the volatility spillover between the US and the BRICS markets shows that most of the BRICS nations are affected during the global financial crisis period rather than the normal period. The result indicates that the presence of shocks transmission and volatility spillover during the global financial crisis 2007-09 is significant compared to the normal period. The result suggests that volatility spillover between the US and Brazil is high as compared to rest of the BRICS nations. The market of Russia, South Africa and China are affected relatively less than Brazil by volatility of the US market in the normal period. The presence of minimal impact suggests that most of the BRICS stock market behaves independently during the normal period. Moreover, the result shows that Russia is the most independent market followed by China during normal period despite of being affected by the US during the financial crisis. The findings also reveal that all BRICS market has significant effects of own-lagged past return innovations (shocks) and past conditional volatilities on their current volatilities. In addition, the evidence of short term influence of South Africa on the US can be used for further study on stock market interdependence of both markets. Furthermore, my study on stock market volatility during the normal period as well as financial turmoil period provides useful information to researchers, financial market regulators as well as investors to know the behavior of emerging stock markets.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT: THE ISSUE OF EQUITY IN THE EMERGING BRIC COUNTRIES

Although sustainable frameworks for transportation have been widely discussed in the transportation planning field in recent decades, the issue of equity in transportation systems is still relatively unexplored in comparison to the other pillars of sustainability. Globally, the concept of equity gains different nuances in developed and developing countries, and have yet new implications when considering fast emerging nations. The objective of this paper is to investigate how transit policies in fast emerging economies are used to distribute equitable access to benefits and opportunities; and to derive lessons that can orient future cohorts of emerging cities and countries to use transit as means to provide equitable improvements in accessibility. Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) have been treated as a unit since the turn of the millennium when economic analysts noticed similar patterns of extraordinary productivity and growth, and are the forerunners of a group of nations expected to become major economic actors on the global stage in a few decades. Case studies on the most populous and prominent metropolises of the BRIC countries were conducted, exploring three aspects of transit systems as they impact equity: system ownership and planning processes; mode predominance and choices; and fare structures and collection methods. Sao Paulo, Moscow, Mumbai and Shanghai were selected as case studies subjects because of their location in those fast emerging nations and because of their status as recognized global cities. This investigation revealed emerging nations are trying to equip their transit systems to deal with the pressures of growing population size and density, rising incomes, increasing rates of private automobile ownership and sprawling land use patterns. In order to cope with this new and fast changing environment, subjects sought to engage in long-range transportation planning, partnered with private entities for the provision of capital investment or operations, acted to strengthen (or implement) heavy rail as the anchor-mode, and moved towards automated fare collection methods. Lessons derived from these cities will serve to provide guidelines to equitable transit programs in fast emerging cities across the developed world that facing similar pressures, and to orient future research towards more complete economic efficiency evaluations of transit systems in emerging countries

The Potential of Economic Diplomacy for Kosovo’s Economic Growth

Historically, the wise use of country’s economic potential brought conducive political gains. In contemporary times, where the business competition has reached its peak, the creative diplomacy that caters economic concerns, generally called the economic diplomacy is gaining pace. The term of Economic Diplomacy is fairly new, but apparently the research and evaluation of this concept is rapidly increasing, primarily to assess its impact on economic growth. Despite gaining popularity and acknowledgment, many countries are not taking full advantage of economic diplomacy, the Republic of Kosovo is case in point. The aim of this work is to explore the importance of economic diplomacy for Kosovo, a developing country, but with vast potential for growth. The study begins with a brief analysis on Kosovo economic history and the first signs of economic diplomacy. In addition, it discusses the role, importance and the future of economic diplomacy for Kosovo, vis a vis challenges and opportunities. It analysis the level of the use of economic diplomacy in the region, as well as presents data concerning Kosovo trade with world during the period 2004-2014. Finally it offers a number of recommendations for economic development in relations to economic diplomacy and concludes that success of the economic diplomacy largely depends on active, creative and proactive leadership as well as shrewd decison making

Geografia, comércio internacional e instituições: uma análise econométrica dos BRICS

This paper discusses the role of the three deep determinants of economic development (geography, institutions and international trade) in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) from 1995 to 2015. First of all, we argue that it is difficult to point out whether or not the determinants worksimultaneously, since most authors do not agree with the idea of coordination. Secondly, we raise the viewpoint that institutions are very different among these nations, especially in the case of China, which has improved per capita income without fitting in the standards of the Worldwide Governance Indicators. Third, we briefly present the recent history of the bloc and apply the Hausman and Taylor (1981) method to controls for endogenous as well as time-invariant variables. We conclude that, on the one hand, geography and international trade have been important to explain the economic performance of BRICS countrieswithout challenging the mainstream literature; on the other hand, the influence of institutions, even though relevant, does not correspond with the hypotheses rooted in the literature. China and Russia are countries with particular institutions, so the outcomes do not follow previous results about the role ofinstitutions, suggesting that indicators may be biased toward liberal ideology.Este artigo discute o papel dos três determinantes profundos do desenvolvimento econômico (geografia, instituições e comércio internacional) nos países do BRICS (Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul) entre1995 e 2015. Primeiramente, aponta-se a dificuldade de analisar se os determinantes funcionam ou não de forma simultânea, porquanto a maioria dos autores não concorda com a ideia de coordenação. Outrossim, considera-se que as instituições são muito diferentes entre esses países, especialmente no caso da China, que melhorou a renda per capita sem se enquadrar nos padrões dos Indicadores de Governança Mundial. Terceiro, o artigo apresenta brevemente a história recente do BRICS, aplicando o método de Hausman e Taylor (1981) para controlar o efeitodas variáveis endógenas e das invariantes no tempo. Conclui-se assim que, por um lado, a geografia e o comércio internacional têm sido importantes para explicar o desempenho econômico dos países do BRICS sem desafiar a literatura atual e, por outro, a influência das instituições, apesar de relevante, não corresponde às hipóteses enraizadas na literatura. China e Rússia são países com instituições específicas, portanto os resultados não acompanham os resultados anteriores sobre o papel das instituições, sugerindo que os indicadores podem ter tendência para a ideologia liberal