ABSTRACT
Globalization is an uneven transition process from an international economy comprised of discrete national units to a global economy of integrated national economies. Advances in telecommunications, information management and transportation technologies facilitate this shift, as does an international political economy committed to reducing the role of the state in economic affairs. Globalization stimulates increased social, political and economic interaction of all types between places, in terms of increased flows of people, information, commodities and capital across borders. Yet globalization is also qualitatively different from earlier forms of international exchange. More important than increased “flows” is the functional integration of economic activities and “national” economies across borders (Dicken 1998). This integration includes a cross-border restructuring of production and distribution processes by business enterprises, with a concomitant emphasis on strategic alliances with other actors (Portnoy 2000: 157).
