ABSTRACT
Globalization is the process whereby the world and its economic and socio-cultural systems are made more uniform, integrated, and interdependent. Recent technological advancements— the Internet, communications, and transportation— reduce the distances between countries and make the world smaller. The economy is increasingly globalized by way of globalization of finance, operations by multinational corporations (MNCs), foreign direct investment—, global specialization in the location of production, globalization of the tertiary sector of the economy, globalization of the office function, and global tourism. MNCs possess a huge amount of capital, great technological capability, highly effective managerial skills, and overall economies of scale, and play a major role in innovation and technology transfer between the more developed countries and less-developed countries (LDCs). Modern economic development requires economic growth as the basis for promoting human development. For most countries, economic growth implies industrialization. Growing global concern for the environment may force many LDCs to slow down their pace of growth, exacerbating the international inequality.
