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Table of contents

1. Basic concepts and problems of international economic relations (History of international economic relations. Fundamentals of the theory of international economic relations. International division of factors of production. Significance of international economic relations today. Forms of international economic relations and their participants. Economic globalization. Russia's participation in international economic relations)
2. International exchange of goods and services and its regulation. Foreign trade policy of various countries at the end of the XNUMXth century (Peculiarities of development, commodity structure and distribution of international trade. International trade in services. World electronic commerce. Means of import policy. Means of export policy. Leasing as a way to promote the development of foreign economic relations. Features of foreign trade policy of various countries)
3. World markets for goods, labor and capital (World markets for goods. International movement of capital. By terms it has the following division. According to the purposes of investment, there is the following division.)
4. Competitiveness of states in the world market ("Competitive rhombus" by M. Porter. Environmental policy. Stages of competitive development of countries. World competitiveness of various countries. Competitiveness of states at the micro level)
5. International production cooperation (TNCs, the role and activities of TNCs in the modern world economy. Operations of TNCs. The influence of TNCs on the world economy and the formation of modern international economic relations. TNCs and the state in the 1990s. Specificity and main forms of international technological exchange. International exchange of technology and intellectual property rights Russian TNCs abroad and foreign TNCs in Russia)
6. International labor migration (Historical background, causes and main centers of migration. Positive and negative aspects of migration. State regulation of migration flows. Migration policy in the Russian Federation)
7. International regional economic integration (Objective foundations and essence of regional economic integration. Evolution of integration processes. Main forms of regional integration. Main centers of integration processes in the modern international economy)
8. Monetary and financial instruments and institutions of international economic relations (Balance of payments and its types. Russia's balance of payments and its external debt. Exchange rate and its impact on foreign trade. Factors that form it. Organizational and legal foundation of the modern monetary and financial system. Jamaican system Reforming the IMF The problem of the stability of the post-Jamaican global financial architecture Strengthening the connection of the national monetary system of Russia with the world monetary system)
9. International economic organizations and agreements (General provisions. The role of the UN system in the development of multilateral regulation of international economic relations. WTO and other organizations and agreements as a tool for multilateral regulation of international economic relations. Russia's participation in the structures and mechanisms of multilateral economic cooperation)
10. Macroeconomic equilibrium in an open economy (The ratio of internal and external equilibrium and the macroeconomic role of the balance of payments. Expenditure multiplier in an open economy. Macroeconomic role of the exchange rate. Model of macroeconomic equilibrium in an open economy)

1. History of the International Economic Relations

The formation of international economic relations depends on the level of development of the productive forces. There was an exchange between primitive communities and tribal unions. Gradually, during the formation of nation-states, it was transformed into international trade. In the future, the world market appears, and with it other forms of international economic relations.

In the Ancient East in 4-3 thousand BC. e. international trade already existed. Goods were transported by caravans, by sea, by river transport. The exchange of goods for goods was widespread. Most often, the commodity structure of trade included linen and woolen fabrics, raw materials for them, metal and ceramic products, livestock, grain, precious metals and stones. In Egypt and in the territories subject to it, gold was mined, it was used to pay for goods. In the XNUMXth century BC e. began minting coins from precious metals in the countries of Asia Minor. Such international economic relations existed before the conquests of the Romans and Alexander the Great in the XNUMXth-XNUMXst centuries. BC e.

Trade in ancient Greece was conducted between city-states. Pretty soon there is a specialization of cities in the production of certain goods. This developed the growth of labor productivity and increased the opportunities for trade between cities. In the Mediterranean and Black Seas, Greek merchants played the main role in trade. With the beginning of minting coins by various states, the money change business began to actively develop, from which the first signs of banking were formed. During Hellenistic times, Greek culture, including trade and finance, was widespread in Asia and Africa.

The Roman Empire included a large number of territories, so trade between them was, in essence, international in nature. In addition, Rome had trade relations with Northern Europe, Asia and Africa. During the heyday, the number and names of manufactured goods greatly expanded. They were transported over vast distances by land and sea. Banking and money management developed. In trade began to use promissory notes and bills of exchange.

During feudal fragmentation, international trade in Europe was rather poorly developed. With the advent of centralized states (England, Spain, France, Russia), trade begins to grow. In the XII-XIV centuries. capitalist relations appear, they significantly increase the role of international economic relations. Trade was mainly conducted in the basins of the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas. Also through these areas was trade with Eastern Europe, the Middle East and more distant territories. This trade practically did not differ from ancient trade in terms of routes and nomenclature of goods. Fairs played an important role. In order to ensure security and monopolization, merchants of large cities formed unions - guilds. After the discovery of America and the sea route to India, the importance of ocean trade increased. Europe imports coffee, cotton, sugar, spices, cocoa, gold and silver. The export of ceramic and metal products, fabrics, animals, weapons is increasing. A colonial system is being formed, subject peoples are subjected to cruel exploitation, and the slave trade is increasing.

The level of development of Russia's foreign trade was lower than in Western Europe. The reasons for this: geographical remoteness, cut off from the seas; the social factor is the feudal-serf system, the low development of capitalism. But in the XVI-XVII centuries. Russia exported wood, furs, hemp, tar, and imported luxury items, metal products. Russia, like other states at that time, adhered to a policy of protectionism.

In modern times (the middle of the XNUMXth - the middle of the XNUMXth centuries), the market-capitalist economy is spreading all over the world, and a world market is being formed. The socialist economy proved to be unviable. Until the beginning of the XX century. the colonial system became more and more strong, but later collapsed almost completely. Military-political factors had a significant impact on the development of international economic relations. The economy of world capitalism since the beginning of the XNUMXth century. developed cyclically, from time to time there were economic and financial crises. In modern times, private joint-stock companies operating outside their own state have become subjects of international economic relations. In the XNUMXth century international economic organizations appear, and in the XNUMXth century. their role in interstate economic regulation is growing. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. leading European countries (Great Britain and France, Spain and Holland) competed in trade. At the end of the XIX century. Great Britain and Germany fought for the right to be called the leading industrial and commercial power. At the same time, the United States of America and Japan are beginning to play the leading roles.

In the middle of the XIX century. capitalism began to actively develop in Russia, and its role in world politics and the economy increased. But the revolution of 1917 interrupted this process, and the role of Russia, and then the USSR, in the world economy changed radically.

2. Fundamentals of the theory of IER

The foundation of the theory of international trade is the principle of comparative advantage or comparative costs. This principle says that the most efficient use of the limited resources of the whole world and of an individual country will occur only if each country produces and exports those goods, the costs of which are relatively low in it. At the same time, it is more profitable for the country to refuse to produce goods for which its advantage is absolutely lower, as well as those for which its costs are not much less than for others. The specialization of a country is determined by the most favorable combination of factors of production. There are the following production factors:

1) labor;

2) capital;

3) land;

4) technology.

The presence of factors and their combination can change over time, therefore, the country's specialization and its foreign trade change.

It follows from this theory that artificial barriers to international trade based on specialization may reduce its benefits. These are the following obstacles: import duties, non-tariff barriers, quotas. All of them are introduced by the states. Export restrictions are also theoretically undesirable. However, many countries are taking such measures, combining them in various ways. Duties significantly replenish the state budget, besides, their collection is relatively easy. By restricting imports, the state supports weak, uncompetitive sectors of the national economy. Export subsidies also help. If imports crowd out national producers and reduce the number of jobs, the state also restricts it.

The difference between international trade and domestic trade is that one national currency is often exchanged for another. Commercial banks usually take part in this process. If the goods are exported, payment for them can be made in the currency of the exporting country, the importing country or in the currency of a third country. The payment is considered made if the money for the goods is credited to the exporter's bank account. If the importer makes a payment in the currency of the exporting country or a third country, then he buys this currency from his bank, giving his national currency in return. If he pays for the goods in his own currency, it goes to the exporter's account in a foreign bank. Since he needs the national currency, he sells money from his foreign bank account for his own currency. In all these cases there is an exchange of currencies. The ratio of this exchange is called the exchange rate or exchange rate. Devaluation (depreciation of the national currency) is beneficial for exporters and can stimulate the export sectors of the economy. It is unprofitable for importers and can reduce the import of goods from abroad. The impact of the exchange rate on foreign trade and other forms of international economic relations depends on the elasticity of economic quantities (imports, exports, capital transfers), that is, on the magnitude of their response to changes in the exchange rate.

The position of the international finance of the state depends on the monetary system and the changes taking place in it. The state influences the country's international finances through the general macroeconomic policy, in particular through the monetary policy. Among the instruments of monetary policy, there are discount policy (changes in loan interest rates at which the central bank lends to commercial banks) and foreign exchange interventions (purchase or sale of foreign currency in the market by the central bank). The International Monetary Fund is the main body of international cooperation in the field of establishing and regulating the exchange rate.

3. International division of factors of production

Division of labor - this is the distribution of various types of labor activity between states, industries, industries, people. Division of labor and specialization These are the most important factors for economic progress and productivity growth. From the division of labor follows the exchange of products, and from this comes cooperation that is beneficial to the entire population - cooperation.

In the territories of different countries there is a territorial division of labor. For example, some regions develop industrial production more, others - agriculture. International specialization and cooperation follow from the international division of labor. Political conditions play an important role in the development of these processes.

The international division of capital is expressed in the following features. In developed countries, a large amount of money capital accumulates. In various forms, it is exported abroad. On the other hand, these same countries have the largest stock of real capital in the form of equipment, buildings, inventories, etc. Developing countries are characterized by a low rate of accumulation and a limited stock of accumulated real capital.

The "technology" factor is becoming increasingly important. The development of computer technology in the United States ensures their superiority in the world market. Thanks to the ability to assimilate foreign technologies, Japan and South Korea were able to quickly take one of the leading places in the world market.

The international mobility of factors of production is not infinite. This affects the direction of international trade flows and the specialization of countries. But in recent years, this mobility has increased significantly and continues to grow. It arises in the global migration of labor force of different qualifications. The huge increase in international financial flows speaks of increasing capital mobility. The development of minerals, the general development of land, and so on, indicate a certain mobility of the factor of production "land". Scientific and technical knowledge is also actively transferred through patents, licenses, sale of know-how and other ways. The reasons for mobility restrictions may be natural or may depend on the policy of the country.

It is believed that at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. completed the formation of the world market. The world market is a system of permanent commodity-money relations between countries based on the international division of labor, specialization and cooperation. The main feature of the world market is international trade. The world market optimizes the use of factors of production and excludes the most inefficient producers. However, the world market also contributes to the persistence of underdevelopment in some regions of the world.

World economy (world economy) is a set of national economies interconnected by international trade and the movement of factors of production. The main feature of the world economy is openness, the increasing orientation of the predominant number of countries in the world towards economic cooperation.

In the world economy, there is a tendency to reduce the importance of the factors of production "land" and "labor" and to increase the importance of the factors "technology" and "capital". This is very important for Russia, as it is experiencing an economic crisis, the causes of which, in particular, are the decline in investment and the decrease in the development and implementation of new technologies.

4. Significance of IER today

The simplest and most commonly used measure of the intensity of ties in the world and for individual countries and regions is the export quota (the ratio of the value of exports to GDP). The intensity of international economic relations increased significantly in the second half of the XNUMXth century.

Factors affecting the increase in the role of international economic relations:

1) countries and territories that previously did not participate much in the international division of labor are involved in the world economy;

2) the varieties of goods and services manufactured in different regions are significantly increasing;

3) the lifestyle of people is changing, especially in industrialized countries. People are getting used to the consumption of goods and services from all over the world, to tourism, education, work and treatment in other countries, more sophisticated means of transport, financial settlements, telecommunications are used;

4) the predominance of the joint-stock form of enterprises, the formation of a global financial infrastructure favor the colossal movements of capital. This is further facilitated by the growth of transnational corporations;

5) the zone of the market economy is expanding, while the non-market economy is shrinking. External openness of the economy is increasingly becoming the norm;

6) liberalization of international economic relations, free movement of goods, labor, capital, technology also increases the openness of national economies. The scope of protectionism is shrinking;

7) world integration accelerates the advent of a single economic space, increases the specialization and cooperation of national economies. The confrontation between the capitalist and socialist systems and the Cold War have long been a counteracting factor. The member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), headed by the USSR, formed both a military-political and trade-economic bloc. In it, relations between countries were to a small extent determined by the economy, and external relations were minimal. They almost did not allow foreign direct investment in their economy. Western countries, led by the United States, used restrictions on economic ties to fight the USSR. The massive introduction of post-socialist countries into the world economy causes them difficulties, the reasons for which are the former closed economy, intense competition between countries, etc.

The colossal gap in the levels of economic development of industrial and former colonial countries also limits the development of international economic relations. The economies of many developing countries are mainly dependent on the export of a very small number (one or two) of agricultural products or minerals. This increases the instability of the economy and does not develop its inferior structure. Such countries have very limited demand for foreign goods.

Simultaneously with the increase in the openness of economies, various restrictions and barriers created by states remain, and sometimes increase. For poor countries, these restrictions are justified and often inevitable, since without the protection of national industry, the development of a modern economy is impossible.

The military-political situation may have a negative impact on the development of market relations. The supply of arms may interfere with the normal development of international economic relations. Often there is an internationally agreed total or partial economic blockade (Libya, Iraq, Yugoslavia) or unilateral measures (US against Cuba, China against Taiwan).

Economic and financial crises also have an extremely negative impact on international economic relations.

The influence of international economic relations on the development of the world economy is constantly growing. The rapid growth of the national wealth of most countries after the Second World War is largely associated with the development of international economic relations. The highest growth rates are characteristic of countries with economies with a high level of export development, such as Japan, China, the newly industrialized countries of Asia (Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc.). These same countries, as well as some countries in Latin America, actively used the inflow of foreign capital to accelerate growth.

Among the countries exporting minerals, due to the high constant demand for oil and natural gas, the oil-producing countries are the most successful.

Foreign tourism plays an important role in the economy of countries such as Greece, Spain, Egypt, Turkey and others. For many island nations, tourism plays a critical role in economic growth. Some of these countries and territories have also become centers of offshore business for firms and banks in other countries.

5. MEO forms and their participants

Participants in international economic relations: individuals, enterprises (firms) and non-profit organizations, states (governments and their bodies), international organizations. Forms of international economic relations: international trade in goods, trade in services, movement of capital, labor migration, technology exchange.

Individuals buy foreign goods and services, exchange one currency for another, and so on, so they are participants in international economic relations. An increasing number of people around the world are becoming them. However, many people in the poorest countries cannot participate in this process.

In modern business, a collective type of important decision-making is common. But there are a small number of people who have a significant impact on the world economy through their personal decisions and actions. These include the owners and top managers of the largest transnational corporations (TNCs) and financial institutions.

Hundreds of thousands of firms with different forms of ownership take part in international economic relations, but TNCs play an increasingly significant role in them - joint-stock economic complexes that are engaged in production and other activities in many countries. Foreign direct investment in modern conditions is primarily economic objects owned by TNCs. They create international production, with specialization and cooperation taking place between enterprises in different countries belonging to the same firm.

Most of the largest banks and insurance companies in developed countries are transnational in nature, with branches in many countries. Investment funds are also referred to as transnational financial institutions. They manage the financial resources of individuals, firms and organizations, investing them in securities and other assets in different countries. These financial institutions provide significant mobility of money capital around the world. Consequently, the efficiency of the world economy is increasing, but factors of exacerbation of financial and economic crises are being created.

Often, governments are direct participants in international economic relations as borrowers in international financial markets, exporters and importers of goods, etc. The issue of securities abroad and bank borrowings are also carried out by regional and local authorities. But even more important for the world economy is the fact that the subjects of international economic relations are countries that are nation-states and national economies with their own institutions, laws, currency, economic policy. The regulation of international economic relations by states has a major impact on them. International economic organizations are classified according to different criteria:

1) by country coverage - worldwide and regional. The former include most of the UN bodies, the International Monetary Fund, etc. Among the latter, the main role is played by the bodies of economic integration, especially in Western Europe;

2) by composition of participants (members) - interstate (intergovernmental) and non-state (for example, the International Cooperative Alliance);

3) by field of activity - trade (World Trade Organization), finance (World Bank Group), agriculture (European Livestock Association), communications (Universal Postal Union), etc.;

4) by the nature of the activity. Some organizations provide gratuitous or other financial support to governments, enterprises, public associations. These are interstate banks (World Bank Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other regional banks). Other organizations are engaged in international regulation of certain areas of the world economy (World Trade Organization, many regional integration bodies). A significant role is played by organizations in charge of harmonizing various international standards, patents, norms, copyrights, procedures, etc.

Economic aspects occupy one of the leading places in the activities of military-political organizations (primarily NATO). Also, many sports, scientific, professional, cultural and other organizations are engaged in economic activities in the world market.

6. Economic globalization

Globalization - this is the worldwide dependence of countries, enterprises and people among themselves in an open system of political, financial, economic and cultural ties based on modern information and communication technologies. Economic globalization is the most important part of this process. Globalization is not a completed process, it develops, experiencing contradictions and difficulties.

The level of globalization of the economy depends on the level of development of productive forces, modern technologies. But often the concept of "globalization" is perceived as an ideology imposed by Western countries led by the United States. A significant number of people in poor countries do not see the benefits of globalization.

Human problems and globalization are interconnected. These are military-political, scientific-technical, financial-economic, environmental, demographic problems, the fight against high mortality, hunger, poverty in developing countries and other problems.

To solve these global problems, states should join their efforts. This happens due to the activities of existing and creation of new international organizations, bilateral and multilateral agreements, etc.

Recently, it has become clear to mankind that the openness of societies and economies is necessary not only for progress, but also for survival. But in the modern world there are still nationalism, extremism and other problems. They largely hinder the development of international economic relations. The processes of globalization do not affect a huge part of the world's population in backward countries. Nevertheless, globalization is the main trend in the development of today's world, its economy and international economic relations.

Market globalization - this is a free international movement of services, goods and mobile factors of production with the formation of prices justified by competition on a global scale (for example, the oil market). The globalization of markets contributes to a high level of efficiency in production and circulation.

In recent years, there has been a globalization of financial markets, i.e. capital markets in its monetary form. This process requires liberalization, that is, the abolition of restrictions on the movement of capital in its main forms. And to ensure an almost instantaneous transfer of funds, a system of global telecommunications is used. Financial markets include: currency, credit and stock (securities) markets.

Cash assets are sold in two ways:

1) with the immediate transfer of goods and payment (cash transactions);

2) urgent (forward or futures) transactions, when the execution of the transaction relates to a certain period in the future and this delay is taken into account in the price. Financial markets provide especially great opportunities for speculation, i.e. for transactions whose purpose is not to acquire a given asset to own it, but to extract short-term profits by reselling it at a better price. Speculation can take many different forms. Speculation greatly increases the inherent instability of global financial markets.

In the second half of the XX century. the world economy and scientific and technological progress grew at high rates. The cyclical nature of development typical of a market-capitalist economy was rather weakly expressed.

But at the end of the XX century. the world economy was under threat due to financial crises in countries with an average level of development (Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea). These crises consisted in the collapse of the stock market, devaluation of currencies, increased inflation, numerous bankruptcies of banks and firms. The causes of the crises were both external and internal. But they would not be so large-scale if the countries did not have significant international debt, the liberalization of financial flows and trade, and large global capital flows.

The consequence of these crises was a slowdown in economic growth and, in many of the affected countries, a decline in production. From countries with an average level of development, crises through numerous links in international economic relations (non-payments of debts, reduction in imports, etc.) reached highly developed states. Japan was particularly hard hit. The threat of such crises remains relevant in the XNUMXst century. Their prevention or at least mitigation is one of the most important tasks in the field of international economic cooperation.

7. Participation of Russia in the IEO

Russia's share in world trade is less than its share in world production of goods and services. This is evidenced by the fact that Russia's export quota is much lower than the global figure. In terms of exports in 2003, Russia ranked 17th in the world (1,7%). Even in the USSR, the economy was skewed in the structure of exports towards a small amount of raw materials, especially energy. In post-Soviet Russia, this has intensified even more. Russia exports very little industrial and consumer goods, machinery and equipment. One of the reasons for this is the low competitiveness of Russian industrial goods on the world market. Food and consumer goods occupy a significant place in Russian imports, the share of industrial equipment is also very low.

Russia's participation in global financial flows can hardly be called normal. In the 1990s external state and non-state debt increased rapidly. At the same time, huge amounts of private capital "leaked" from Russia for economic and other reasons. Russia needed foreign direct investment to bring new technology with it, but it came in small amounts. The legal export of capital from Russia in the form of direct investment is also extremely small.

However, Russia has favorable factors of production: a skilled, organized and low-paid labor force; the richest natural resources; high scientific and technical potential.

The reasons that these favorable factors still do not have a positive impact on the economy and international economic relations of Russia are as follows:

1) having destroyed the planned socialist economy, Russia was unable to create an effective private capitalist economic system in its place;

2) the collapse of intra-union integration ties is heavily replaced by a new system of international division of labor in the post-Soviet space;

3) moving away from the militarized economy of this model while maintaining efficient sectors of military production is also a difficult process;

4) as well as the flight of capital, the "brain drain" - the emigration of personal carriers of scientific and technological progress - is of great importance.

Russia needs the so-called reindustrialization, that is, the creation of a modern economy based on the introduction of advanced technologies in all sectors of the economy and spheres of life. The development of healthier international economic relations can accompany Russia's economic recovery.

Lecture No. 2. International exchange of goods and services and its regulation. Foreign trade policy of various countries at the end of the XNUMXth century

1. Features of development, commodity structure and distribution of international trade

All countries of the world are gradually drawn more and more into the international division of labor. This is evidenced by the growth rates of international trade. Over the past 150 years, they have exceeded the rate of GDP growth. The indicators of world exports and imports increase by tens of percent.

In a detailed examination of world trade, two aspects are studied:

1) growth rates of world trade in general;

2) changes in its commodity and geographical structure.

Growth rates are considered in imports and exports. Commodity structure implies the ratio between some groups of goods.

Geographic structure - share of any region, country or group of countries.

High and stable growth rates of international trade indicate the recent increase in market capacity. These are qualitatively new signs of world trade. There is a growing volume of trade in ready-made industrial products of one kind or another, and in particular machinery and equipment. The rates are even higher in industries related to the sale of various means of communication, electronic and computer equipment, etc. At the same time, it should be noted that transnational corporations in world trade in the sphere of the exchange of components within the framework of production cooperation have the highest rates. In addition, world trade in services is growing rapidly. A large share is still accounted for by economically developed countries.

Currently, there is a tendency to increase the share of finished products. Now it accounts for more than 70%. The remaining 30% is divided between the export of agricultural products and the extractive industries.

The modern trade policy pursued by each country is characterized by the presence of two opposite tendencies in it - protectionism and liberalization. This does not mean that a country necessarily pursues these two policies at the same time. It's just that in different periods of the development of trade, one thing prevailed. For example, in the 1950s - 60s. pursued a policy aimed at liberalization, and already in the 1970s - 80s. - to increase protectionism.

But the measures may not be so unambiguous. Reducing customs regulation is not the same as eliminating regulation. Using modern flexible methods, you can simultaneously use the latest means to protect the national manufacturer. Protectionism appears in a new form of integration groupings (both existing and new ones). As a result of such actions, the actual equality of participants in international exchange disappears. Within a certain grouping, countries establish their own "rules" of trade, their customs duties or preferential regimes, and in relation to other, third countries, they carry out a protectionist policy.

Protectionism can be expressed in customs duties. There are cases in which countries can increase them if foreign imports have caused great harm to the national economy. But protectionism is manifested not only in customs measures. The state can establish quantitative restrictions on imported products, establish quality standards, environmental standards, etc. At the same time, they can be selective.

Thus, the liberalization of international trade is accompanied by the emergence of new flexible protectionist barriers. Their appearance requires close control by numerous international organizations over their development and practical application.

The state policy becomes more complicated not only in relation to protectionism. This applies, for example, to export promotion. If earlier direct lending was used for these purposes, now the methods have become much more complicated: they have become more flexible, operate less noticeably and are applied in relation to certain types of products. The state can finance some industries that are aimed at exports, not directly, but indirectly (first of all, these are high-tech industries).

In some states, direct export subsidies are actively used. This mainly applies to agricultural products. But such principles harm the principles of free competition and therefore are not welcomed by the world community. It is much calmer when it comes to export credit or to such a phenomenon as insurance of export deliveries. In addition, the state can help firms abroad that advertise the products of this country or help its firms. Such assistance is expressed in the opening of branches or research on foreign markets.

Thus, we can conclude that at present the states prefer to use not direct measures and export subsidizing schemes, but more hidden ones. They consist in the implementation of indirect support for either certain industries or groups of goods.

At the same time, there are many organizations that in one way or another influence world trade or regulate some of its aspects. First it was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and then its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO), began to perform its functions.

2. International trade in services

Today, not only goods are sold on the world market, but also services. And they take up a large part.

The service market is understood as the following activities:

1) services provided in connection with international trade. They include insurance, transportation, etc.;

2) services that are directly related to the exchange of technologies: cooperation in the technical field, capital construction, management activities;

3) travel of people, which includes both tourist and business trips;

4) banking expenses, leasing, capital income payments;

5) wages and social expenses in relation to foreign workers.

Together, this can be called payments for non-commercial transactions that are carried out between citizens of different countries and are reflected in the balance of payments.

Now there are more and more new types of international services. Their share in world GDP is increasing. In total, there are six groups of services:

1) construction and utilities;

2) trade (both wholesale and retail), hotel business, restaurants, tourist camps;

3) transport services (in relation to goods or people), storage, communication services, mediation in the financial sector;

4) state defense and social services;

5) education, healthcare and work of a public nature;

6) other communal, social and personal services.

Recently, information and consulting services have been developing more and more confidently in the world market.

Due to the fact that Services - this is a special object of trade, they are not fixed by the customs services, as they rarely cross the customs border. Payments are usually made through commercial institutions. In another case, the buyer of a service moves to the country that provides it. In this regard, there is classification of world trade in services depending on the mode of supply:

1) cross-border trade;

2) consumption by a person (firm) of services abroad;

3) establishment of a commercial presence in the territory of the country where the service is provided;

4) relocation of the service provider - an individual - to another country for the purpose of providing the service. Among all sectors of the world economy, trade in services is one of the fastest growing. Among the reasons is a sharp decrease in transport costs, since modern methods of communication and information transfer allow transactions to be made without personal meetings between the seller and the buyer of the service. The demand for services that previously took a commodity form has increased - services of a financial nature, banks, insurance companies.

It is very difficult to determine the real indicators of the service market, since it is difficult to accurately calculate the expenses of people of various categories during their stay abroad, as well as the income from the labor activity of foreigners abroad, which they transfer to their country.

Difficulties in calculations are related to the fact that the service is provided together with the goods and the cost of the goods partially consists of the service. In addition, services are mentioned in intercompany exchanges. In this case, the cost of the service is not determined at all, since there is no market for these types of services. And sometimes (for example, in medicine) the service cannot be separated from the product itself.

When accounting, income received from banking or insurance operations is not considered if the money was in circulation in the same country.

Thus, when compiling the balance of payments, the turnover under the "services" item is very much underestimated (according to experts, by 40-50%).

If we talk about countries that are exporters of services, it should be noted that all of them are economically developed. This is due to the fact that in developing countries the service sector has not yet reached a high level of development. In most of them, the balance of foreign trade in services is negative. But still, some countries can be quite large exporters of services, such as tourism.

Services are diverse in their content, and they cannot be combined into a single market that has its own common features. But we can talk about trends.

The service market has been changed by the emergence of transnational corporations (except for the financial sector). Previously, small and medium-sized firms operated in this area. TNCs were able to use the latest technological advances and created a system for transmitting information. Often, enterprises that form a single production chain, but located in different countries, use information technology to coordinate this process. Then the information, finance and technology that is transferred within the firm is a form of interstate sale of services. With the advent of transnational corporations, many types of services began to mix with each other (for example, the activities of banks, which are different in nature).

TNCs use knowledge-intensive technologies, and, consequently, a significant part of the cost of TNCs is the cost of various services: after-sales service for equipment, computer software, etc. day, the question of regulating the services market both at the sectoral, state, and international level.

Now regulation is carried out at various levels. For each of them there are several organizations with a corresponding range of problems.

Examples of such organizations are WTO (World Tourism Organization), ICAO (Organization of International Civil Aviation), IMO (International Maritime Organization). These intergovernmental organizations, as their names suggest, are concerned with the regulation of activities in a particular industry. For example, ICAO defines uniform rules for the flight and operation of air transport and buildings associated with their activities, and the World Tourism Organization develops standards that hotels, restaurants, etc. must comply with. Sometimes bilateral agreements are concluded between two countries.

At the regional level, the service market may be regulated by integration agreements.

If we talk about the world level, then for a long time it was the purview of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). But at the suggestion of the United States since the 1980s. trade in services was taken over by the GATT. The essence of the US proposals is as follows: for the market of services, it is also necessary to develop rules, as well as for goods (equality of producers, transparency, etc.). But these questions raise a number of difficulties, which are primarily related to the fact that the service in most cases is consumed almost simultaneously with its production. Control of production, therefore, means control of investment.

When investing, GATT equalizes the rights of national and foreign firms.

Developing countries pursue policies aimed at controlling the activities carried out by foreign corporations on their territory.

In 1986, in Punta del Este, the countries agreed to discuss the problems of trade in services at the international level. As a result, a special agreement was adopted - GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services). GATS consists of three parts:

1) framework agreement, which defines the general rules for trade in services;

2) special agreements. They apply to certain service industries;

3) a list of obligations of national governments, which are measures to reduce and remove restrictions in the service industries.

Subsequently, the states came to an agreement on the liberalization of trade in services. The spheres of telecommunications, transport and financial activities are subject to regulation.

Since 1995, the Agreement on the regulation of trade in services has become part of the package of documents during the creation of the World Trade Organization. Now the GATS functions not as an independent organization, but within the framework of the WTO.

3. Global e-commerce

The concept of "electronic commerce" appeared relatively recently. But it is interpreted in many aspects. Often, e-commerce is understood as purchase and sale transactions carried out via the Internet. At the same time, there is another point of view: purchase and sale transactions are carried out through any electronic networks (for example, using the capabilities of interactive television). Sometimes they try to reveal its essence with the help of already familiar concepts: as a further development of mail order trade through catalogs or some continuation of the development of electronic transport, banking and exchange systems, with the help of which settlements were carried out.

"Electronic commerce" - Russian translation of the English term e-commerce, which is more accurately translated as "electronic commerce". The latter translation suggests a wider range of interpretations.

According to the WTO definition, e-commerce is the process of producing, selling, advertising and distributing any product over all telecommunications networks. Almost all large organizations agree with this definition. Therefore, in Russian literature, the terms "electronic commerce" and "electronic commerce" are considered synonymous.

The production component of electronic commerce is manifested in relation to electronic services and electronic goods (they are mainly informational in nature). Electronic services are somewhat different from ordinary ones: they can be separated from the manufacturer, they can be seen (for example, using a computer monitor, we can see how money from our bank account is transferred to another).

Economic relations on the Internet are the basis of the Internet economy (or network economy). The last concept appeared a long time ago, but its meaning was somewhat different. Now these are all economic processes that take place in the global Internet.

The essence of electronic commerce is that some commercial transaction is carried out. Moreover, the parties come to an agreement without direct contact with each other, but through the Internet. As a result, there is a change in the owner of the object that is the subject of the sale.

E-commerce includes not only the commercial transaction itself, but also Internet marketing, contacts with suppliers via the Internet, customer service after the sale of goods to them, the system of payments and delivery in various ways (online or traditional), etc. But all of these the items do not belong to e-commerce without a commercial transaction.

For a more detailed description of all these processes, the concept of "electronic business" is used. It is understood as any activity of a company that is carried out on the Internet and brings it the corresponding income. Electronic commerce is included in electronic business, and the latter concept is much broader. For example, working in search portals to find the necessary information on the Internet for free is not e-commerce, but it is e-business. The activity of online stores is electronic commerce, as it involves the implementation of a commercial transaction.

The basis of electronic commerce is information technology. Thus, electronic commerce is an electronic information management technology that leads to the conclusion of a trade transaction on the Internet.

The entire e-commerce process can be divided into three stages:

1) search stage. At this stage, the search for the necessary goods is carried out and the first interaction between the seller and the buyer takes place;

2) order and payment stage. This stage occurs if both parties agree to the terms of this transaction;

3) delivery stage.

Unlike traditional trade, it is difficult to distinguish between international and domestic trade in e-commerce, since such records are not kept in many countries. In addition, it is difficult to determine the geographical location of the firm that carries out transactions. Each address on the Internet has an ending indicating belonging to a particular country. But this ending does not always coincide with the geographic location of the server. At the same time, the international aspect in this area is very important, since for the most part global markets have not yet been formed.

E-commerce has a number of advantages over the traditional one. It significantly reduces transaction costs, makes the process of making transactions easier and reduces it. An information product is much easier to deliver over the Internet, and it costs less. As for other types of goods, often the buyer will need a smaller amount of money when buying goods over the Internet.

Most virtual companies are registered in a certain place and, accordingly, pay taxes. They have real employees who service the equipment. Of course, there are also illegal companies that are not registered and carry out criminal activities. They are being fought, especially in developed countries, which already have the necessary legal framework for this. At the same time, there are still unresolved problems. For example, the legality of the functioning of those companies that are not registered in any of the countries of the world, but do not violate the laws either. This is the difference in the pace of development of civil law and e-business.

E-commerce participants are firms and households. The state takes part in it to a lesser extent, as it lags behind in the development of the economic electronic space. In some developed countries, public procurement is carried out using Internet technologies, but such actions are rarely observed on a global scale.

There are two main types of e-commerce: marketplace and e-shop.

On trading floors, as a rule, transactions between different firms are carried out. They are created by a large number of participants: buyers, sellers and third parties. Such sites have a functional or industry focus. Virtual sites can be created in various forms: a virtual catalog, exchange or auction.

E-shops use retail. In many ways, they are similar to traditional ones. In electronic stores, the buyer can evaluate the appearance of the goods, consult, find out the opinions of other buyers and pay in case of a purchase.

4. Means of import policy. Export policy tools

In an open economy, when different countries interact with each other, it is necessary to pay special attention to the means of import and export policy. Actions in this area can help the country achieve high results or, conversely, worsen its position. To prevent the latter from happening, you need to know the tools of foreign economic regulation and skillfully use them.

There are basic rules governing trading. They are developed by the respective organizations. They do not order states to act one way or another, but are called upon to resist protectionism, to promote liberalization, that is, to ensure equal conditions for everyone.

To regulate foreign activity, the state uses the following main methods:

1) customs tariffs;

2) non-tariff restrictions;

3) various forms of export promotion. The government uses certain tools depending on the situation.

In relation to the import policy, customs tariffs on imports are applied. This means collecting money from goods imported into the territory of a given country from abroad. This activity is carried out by a special customs department. At the same time, the price at which this product will be sold in this country will be higher than the global one. Customs duties may be levied either at the rate of a fixed amount per unit of measure, or as a fixed percentage of the value of a given commodity. The imposition of import duties affects consumers as the price rises. But this allows domestic producers to raise prices for their goods, as the consumer would still prefer to buy cheaper local goods. All this leads to the fact that resources within the country are used less efficiently, and to the fact that the domestic manufacturer does not seek to improve the quality of its products, since in any case it has an advantage - a lower price. But at the same time, if the duties apply to any products used by local producers, their costs will increase, which may even lead to a reduction in production. Thus, using this tool, it is necessary to analyze the possible consequences and decide on their necessity.

There are tariffs not only for imported, but also for exported products. They are applied in the event that the prices for goods produced in this country, for some reason, are lower than the world prices. In this situation, the state restricts exports in order to prevent a fall in the supply of the necessary goods on the domestic market.

In addition to setting tariffs, there are other methods by which the state regulates foreign trade activities. These include quotas, voluntary export restrictions, export subsidies, international cartels, economic sanctions, dumping.

Quota is a quantitative or cost restriction on products intended for import or export abroad. Quotas aimed at restricting imports make it possible to create more favorable conditions for domestic producers - to reduce competition in the domestic market.

Also, in some cases, the state reserves the right to carry out any activity.

It affects the movement of capital. On the one hand, it is interested in attracting investments, i.e., in capital imports, and on the other hand, it is necessary to protect its interests, for example, by establishing the maximum possible share of foreign capital in enterprises.

Voluntary export restrictions. The effect of this instrument is that the country importing certain products establishes certain restrictions, which the exporter agrees to. But in most cases, the exporter is forced to assume obligations to limit.

This can happen for various reasons: due to political pressure or because of the threat in case of refusal to apply tougher protectionist measures.

Export subsidies - benefits provided by the state to manufacturers to increase the export of products. As a result of such measures, it becomes more profitable for manufacturers to sell their products on the foreign market. These subsidies may be direct or indirect. These include concessional export credits, export subsidies, tax incentives for exporters, etc. These measures are prohibited, but some states still use them, which may negatively affect their reputation in the world community.

Dumping is a phenomenon when an exporter sells his product on the world market at a price that is lower than the price of a similar product on the domestic market. Dumping arises as a result of government policy or because of the monopoly position of the exporting firm.

International cartels - such associations of exporters that, by means of certain measures, limit competition between producers in order to set prices that are beneficial only for this group of producers. They achieve this by controlling production volumes. This is possible in those industries where there is a limited number of sellers and demand is price inelastic. Examples include agricultural and commodity markets.

Economic sanctions - the most radical of all measures. It means a ban on the import from any country or export somewhere products. These measures can be applied in various situations. But, as a rule, a trade embargo is introduced for political reasons. And in the case of a relevant UN decision, sanctions against a certain country can be applied collectively.

These tools are the main ones in regulating foreign trade policy, but there are many others: administrative regulation, setting quality standards, safety standards, etc. In any case, they are usually aimed at protecting the domestic producer.

5. Leasing as a way to promote the development of foreign economic relations

Leasing - This is a kind of lease, different from others. In this case, there is a separation of ownership of property from the use of it.

Leasing is a special form of financing the purchase of a variety of equipment.

As a rule, leasing operations are carried out with the help of firms specializing in this activity. Leasing company - a company that leases an object on certain conditions to the lessee.

The lessor has certain obligations:

1) conclusion of a contract for the sale and purchase with the supplier of the object on agreed terms;

2) informing the supplier about the need to supply the object on already defined conditions;

3) signing of the acceptance protocol after the facility is put into operation.

The lessor is the owner of the object provided for leasing. The leasing company is engaged in the acquisition of ownership of the property from the manufacturer, and then she leases it for a certain period. The provision of an object for leasing can be represented as follows:

1) the property "moves" from the producer to the user;

2) the user sends leasing payments to the leasing company;

3) the leasing company sends the payment for the purchase to the manufacturer of the object.

The amount and terms of leasing payments are established at the conclusion of the contract. If the user fails to fulfill the terms of the agreement, the lessor has the right to either terminate the concluded agreement or use the guarantees provided to him.

Leasing is widespread, especially in the field of international relations. All conditions and relations between the participants are determined in accordance with the contract. The lessee also has certain obligations:

1) accept the object of the transaction;

2) check the integrity of the delivery and the functioning of the equipment and record this in the protocol;

3) upon detection of malfunctions, inform the lessor about this, who will require the supplier to eliminate malfunctions or replace this equipment;

4) after acceptance of the object, the lessee must assume the rights of the lessor that he has in relation to the supplier.

In 1988 Canada hosted an international conference on leasing and factoring. In the course of its work, the Convention on International Factoring and the Convention on International Financial Leasing were signed. The last document gives a clear definition of leasing, develops certain rules.

According to this Convention, leasing is the operation of transferring tangible property to the user by the provider, which was previously selected and acquired in accordance with the desire of the user, on the terms of payment of certain contributions (the amount is stipulated in the contract, taking into account property depreciation). Some of the highlights of this definition are:

1) the user firm in the future receives the right to buy out this property;

2) this property must be used for obtaining a certain benefit, but not for the personal or family needs of the user;

3) relations between the participants in this process must be regulated.

In cases where the object of the lease is equipment, instruments, machines and control devices, there are several forms of lease:

1) short-term rental - rating. This is a lease for a period of several days to six months;

2) medium-term lease - hairing - for a period of one to three years;

3) long-term lease - leasing. This is a lease for up to 20 years.

In total there are about 30 types of leasing. The following classifications are most commonly used.

According to the method of use, leasing is divided into production and consumer. It depends on what is being financed - capital investments or consumer goods aimed at long-term use.

On the subject of leasing is divided into movable and immovable. Machine tools, equipment, machinery, etc. are movable, and buildings and structures are immovable.

According to the method of use, individual and leasing-blanco are distinguished. It depends on the economic purpose of using the leased asset. If the enterprise is going to use the object only for itself, then this is an individual leasing. In blanco leasing, the company takes care not only of itself, but also of the enterprises that are in cooperation with it, since in order to ensure the high quality of its products, the company needs high-quality components, the production of which requires the creation of certain conditions.

By the nature of the interaction, leasing can be pure or broad. With a net sale, only the leased asset itself is sold. At the same time, various related services are provided. In addition, there is a "wet" leasing, in which the lessee has the opportunity to receive services such as maintenance of this item, repairs, if necessary, insurance, etc.

In terms of providing an object for leasing - internal (provided within the country) and external (intended for a foreign lessee). In international leasing, export, import leasing and subleasing are distinguished. With import leasing, the leasing company buys the subject of leasing abroad, and provides it to a domestic manufacturer. With export leasing, the opposite is true.

Special emphasis is placed on financial leasing. With this type of leasing, the leasing company is responsible only for financial matters, and the responsibility associated with the use of the item falls on the shoulders of the lessee. At the same time, a long period of use of the item is provided, which means practically taking it on credit, since re-renting is not provided. In addition, termination of the contract during the term of the contract is not possible. In this case, the agreement is necessarily tripartite, i.e., the owner of the property that is leased is required.

There are the following types of financial leasing:

1) leasing standard. In this case, the manufacturer sells the object of leasing to a company specializing in this field, which sells this object to the consumer;

2) supplier leasing. With this form, the roles of the seller and the tenant are combined. There is a type of leasing called operational.

It involves short lease terms, shorter equipment lifespans, and a large number of repair, insurance and maintenance services provided. For its application, certain conditions are necessary: ​​the availability on the market of such equipment that has already been used and is still suitable for further use, the need to re-lease the equipment for a lower fee.

Thus, multiple provision of this item to different lessees is assumed. With the help of this type of leasing, you can reduce the lease period, reduce the risk of loss or damage to property, rent this object repeatedly. This type of leasing is used if the money received from the use of equipment is not enough to cover the entire initial cost, with short lease periods, etc.

In the 1980s new types of leasing began to be used: returnable and buy-back.

The scheme of the leaseback action is as follows: a company that already uses equipment sells it to a specialized leasing company in order to lease this equipment from it.

This allows the firm to receive funds from the sale of part of the fixed capital, while not stopping its operation. The company can invest the funds received in its own business. This can be very beneficial for this company if the income received from the sale of leased objects is higher than the rental payments.

In buy-back leasing, payment is made in a specific way, namely by the supply of products manufactured on this equipment.

Leasing is becoming more and more popular. The reason for this is the benefits for all participants in this process. The advantages of leasing can be presented by grouping them.

1. Financial benefits. AT In some situations, for an enterprise, this is the most optimal solution to the problem of a shortage of an object when there are insufficient funds to purchase it. It becomes easier to respond to changes in the market structure, lease payments are fixed in contrast to the price level. There is always an opportunity to come to the most optimal option that would suit all parties.

2. Investment advantages. For many companies, leasing is perhaps the only option for obtaining any equipment, since when taking a loan from a bank, a significant amount of your own funds is required, and obtaining any property on lease requires a pledge in the form of this very property. Since the property is owned by the lessor, the probability of non-repayment of funds is significantly reduced. In addition, the company can invest the funds saved through leasing in its own further development. And finally, according to existing tax and legal norms, in most cases, leasing is more profitable than a loan.

3. Organizational and operational advantages. If there is no need to immediately pay the entire cost of the equipment, you can immediately begin operation. As a result of using this facility, the company receives a profit, part of which goes to pay lease payments, and part remains at the disposal of the tenant.

4. Service benefits. The tenant gets the opportunity to take advantage of a number of services such as insurance, guarantee, transportation, etc.

5. Accounting and accounting benefits. Lease-related expenses are classified as operating costs, which reduces taxable income. The object taken on lease remains on the balance sheet of the lessor, and not on the balance sheet of the tenant.

But leasing also has certain disadvantages:

1) leasing operations are quite complex in terms of developing the conditions for concluding an agreement and documenting;

2) the firm-lessor must necessarily have a fairly large initial capital or such a source of funds that would provide a stable income;

3) due to inflation, the lessee loses part of the funds due to an increase in the residual value of the equipment;

4) if we compare the prices for equipment and for a loan, leasing is more expensive, since the risk of wear and tear falls entirely on the leasing company.

Due to the rapid development of the leasing business, it must be subject to certain legal regulation, since the participants in this process are interested in the exact fulfillment of obligations.

At present, there is a tendency in the world to reduce obstacles to the development of leasing relations. Numerous laws and agreements have been passed.

6. Features of the foreign trade policy of various countries

Of course, the foreign trade policy of each country is important for the world community. But if we talk about their features, then we should consider them on the example of the most influential participants in international trade.

After the Second World War, the United States strengthened its economy and became supporters of the creation of stable rules for international trade in goods and services that would promote the development of trade.

Their policies reflected global trends. The liberalization trend has not bypassed either. This is most clearly seen in the example of customs duties.

In the 1950s they were about 40%, if we take into account the average figures. In the 1970s their average value decreased significantly and began to be about 7-10%, and now it is approximately in the range of 3-5%.

Governments subsidize industries that produce goods for export. This method is actively used by countries such as the United States and Japan.

When creating a new generation of computers, the state financed research projects and increased the percentage of depreciation for equipment used for these purposes. These are not direct, but indirect measures.

But economically developed countries in some cases also use direct financing. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s The United States, Great Britain and Japan provided companies supplying ships and oil drilling platforms with subsidies of up to 40%. This is due to the fact that such activities are beneficial to the state.

In addition, a number of countries such as Japan, France, Great Britain and others finance the activities of some companies abroad. For example, they organize product exhibitions.

As for Russia, until the early 1990s. activity in the foreign trade area was strictly regulated. In the late 1980s the situation deteriorated sharply: there was a decrease in the growth rate of foreign trade and its role in the formation of national income ceased to be significant.

During the implementation of reforms in the 1990s. the government has dramatically changed the entire system of foreign trade relations. An important role in this area began to be played by such means as the establishment of customs duties, licensing, quotas, etc.

Since Russia is actively exporting its mineral resources, much attention in foreign policy has been paid to the administrative regulation of the export of raw materials. For the export of resources outside the CIS, special quotas were determined.

Special exporters were also identified: foreign trade organizations that were previously the only ones who carried out activities in foreign trade; regional exporters exporting products manufactured in the territory of a given region; joint ventures that also export their own products.

With the strengthening of the ruble, exporters of products suffered, and to soften this blow, the government reduced taxation on goods intended for export. Subsequently, the system of special exporters proved to be ineffective and was abolished.

Import regulation was not so strict. Only sanitary and veterinary control measures were taken to ensure public safety and health.

The basic method of regulation is the system of customs tariffs, which has been in force since 1992. Subsequently, the rates were revised several times.

Russia's immediate tasks in the field of foreign trade are: further regulation of the tariff system, adaptation to the conditions of organizations such as the WTO. The issue of establishing customs duties should be approached flexibly and reasonably. For example, import duties should be reduced on products that are not produced in our country, but are necessary for it (progressive and high-tech equipment).

Lecture No. 3. World markets for goods, labor and capital

1. World commodity markets

World commodity markets are currently quite complex objects for analysis and study.

World commodity market - this is the area of ​​commodity-money relations between states, which are based on the international division of labor. World commodity markets are formed under the influence of many factors and have a number of features:

1) these are markets for already produced goods that are sold outside the national framework;

2) these goods moving between countries are subject not only to internal, but also to external supply and demand;

3) these markets contribute to the most efficient use of factors of production in certain industries and regions;

4) thanks to them, goods that do not meet quality standards at given competitive prices come out of international commodity exchange.

When researching markets, their volumes are assessed, i.e., all acts of sale and purchase of goods from producers to consumers. And by capacity they mean potential demand at certain prices, market conditions, etc. World markets themselves influence the decisions of producers, who determine what and in what quantities to produce.

The most important external sign of the existence of commodity markets is the international movement of goods and services and world trade.

The commodity market model shows the relationship between internal and external volumes of supply and demand, establishes the volumes of exports and imports, and determines the equilibrium price.

But still, in order to consider the functioning of commodity markets, it is necessary to trace the history of their emergence. This was made possible by the international division of labor and specialization. The domestic market passed the stage of formation in the early stage of the commodity economy. Soon after the emergence of markets began to specialize in certain groups of goods. National markets and markets aimed at foreign buyers soon appear.

In the XVI century. manufacturing appeared. It was based on the division of labor, and it became possible to manufacture goods in large volumes. Naturally, there were not enough city markets for this, and gradually they began to turn first into regional ones, then into state ones, and then into global ones.

World markets are more volatile than the national economy and subject to the influence of some external factors. They quickly respond to changes in demand and market conditions. They are also influenced by monetary and financial factors, state measures in the field of foreign trade regulation, monopolization. On the whole, the entire system is developing faster and more dynamically than the global sectoral structure of social production.

The state of world commodity markets is affected by the level of monopolization. Often agreements and transactions are concluded between a certain limited number of participants, which leads to the relative isolation of these markets. In such conditions, the market ceases to be flexible. Only a limited number of manufacturers are represented on it. As a rule, they have significant advantages over competitors who find it difficult to penetrate these markets on their own. They have scientific developments, distribution channels.

Monetary and financial factors have recently been strengthening their role. This is largely due to the floating exchange rate. Sharp changes in exchange rates force countries to change the volume of trade. And a change in the exchange rate of some economically influential country can affect the entire world trade.

Measures aimed at regulating foreign trade are sometimes necessary because of the complexity of its functioning. All states follow their own interests, strive to achieve high socio-economic results. The state is trying to be connected with the world community, including through economic interests.

Now there is a constant interaction of two trends in foreign economic policy: on the one hand, the desire to liberalize trade between the countries of the world, and on the other hand, increased protectionism in order to protect one's country from excessive penetration of foreign capital and goods across the border. The state can use different strategies: imports, exports, various restrictions, incentives, isolation, saturation of a scarce market, protectionism, free trade.

When analyzing the activity of commodity markets, the study of structure plays an important role. It depends on the degree of competitive pressure on already established firms. At the same time, attention is paid not only to their number, but to the dimensional relationships between them.

There may be many firms in the market, with the dominance of any one, larger and more competitive.

The structure of markets is determined by several indicators:

1) the number of competitors in the market;

2) share, according to which there are competitors;

3) indicators of market competition.

Determining the number of competing firms operating in a given product market does not provide complete information about the presence and level of competition between them. But still, this information is necessary to determine the share of participation in the market. For this, some calculations are carried out: market volume, sales share of each supplier. These parameters can be calculated in different terms: in kind or in value terms. It depends on the nature of the goods: if the goods are homogeneous in composition, then the natural-material form should be used for calculation, and if it is heterogeneous, then the value form. In any case, this information is calculated on the basis of data provided by state statistics bodies or by the suppliers themselves on the market. Next, a ranked list of suppliers in the product market under consideration is compiled, the share of each market participant in its activities is analyzed, conclusions are drawn about the degree of their distribution (whether they are present in equivalent shares) and those suppliers that prevail to some extent in this product market are identified. .

At the same time, market share is not able to determine market power, although it is information that is extremely important and necessary. If the share of the commodity market exceeds 65%, then this is recognized as dominance. But even at lower percentages, dominance can also be present, provided that there are such factors as an insignificant elasticity of demand, weak competitors, the difficulty of entering this industry for other firms, etc.

Various indicators of market concentration make it possible to judge the level and degree of its monopolization, i.e., more or less equal shares of participants in the market. The degree of concentration in an industry, as measured by the concentration ratio, is one of the key elements in the market structure. It is she who determines the nature of competition and its final results. The highest level of concentration is monopoly. At the same time, there is only one seller on the market, who can set the price at his own discretion and dictate his will to everyone. With monopsony, there is only one buyer, which is also considered a negative phenomenon.

But in most of the industrialized countries there is an oligopoly. This is the "middle" between monopoly and perfect competition. The features characteristic of an oligopoly are: the presence on the market of two or more firms competing with each other; the presence of barriers in case of attempts by other firms to enter this industry; the existence of at least one large firm in a given product market, with certain actions of which competitors will be able to adequately respond to this.

Products produced by oligopolies can be either homogeneous in composition or interchangeable. But at the same time, due to the limited number of sellers on the market, each of them can, to a certain extent, influence the price of products.

2. International movement of capital

There are two main approaches to determining the essence of the movement of capital. This division is explained by the development of the market and changes in the understanding of the content and role of economic relations.

Scientists-economists under the international movement of capital understand the movement of one of the main factors of production. This is based on certain prerequisites for more efficient production of goods or services. From this point of view, the center of everything is the market as a universal value, but with individual characteristics for each country. At the same time, countries are subject to the general "rules of the game" both in the world and, in some cases, in national markets.

From the point of view of political economists, the international movement of capital is the placement of financial resources in foreign countries in order to obtain higher profits. With this approach, the market acts as a means to achieve certain goals at various levels.

These two approaches are different. In Russia, both are recognized and there is even an opinion that these definitions are equal. But over time, the confrontation between the theoretical and practical approaches has become less noticeable due to ongoing changes in the economy.

In real (economic) content, the movement of capital is a key element in the development and functioning of the world economy.

Investments differ depending on the nature and form.

1. According to the sources of origin, capital has the following division.

1.1. State. These are funds allocated from the state budget of a country. This can happen only by decision of the government. The forms of such capital are government loans and loans, international assistance, funds from international organizations, that is, everything that is determined by intergovernmental agreements.

1.2. Private capital. These are all funds going from one country to another from non-governmental sources, from private individuals. It includes investments, lending (non-state). At the same time, the state still controls them to a greater or lesser extent. There are also some methods that make it possible to turn public investments into private ones.

2. According to the nature of use, there is the following division.

2.1. Entrepreneurial capital. This is most often private capital, which is invested in the production of a product and is aimed at receiving dividends.

2.2. Loan capital. They are funds that are loaned to earn interest. State capital prevails in this area, although private capital is also present.

3. According to terms, it has the following division.

3.1. Short term. This investment is less than 1 year.

3.2. Medium-term. This is an investment for more than one year. They constitute the most significant capital investments.

3.3. Long-term. These include entrepreneurial capital and government loans.

4. According to the purposes of investment, there is the following division.

4.1. Direct investments. This is an investment aimed at long-term interest. This is a private entrepreneurial capital that provides control and management in one way or another.

4.2. Portfolio investment. They do not give control over the object of investment, but provide the right to income in the long term.

But the described model does not quite correspond to the real state of affairs. It does not fully take into account the numerous forms of operations that are associated with investments (this is true for leasing, selling, engineering). In addition, if you follow the scheme, then all forms are equivalent.

For example, direct investments are now recognized as the most priority. They have a significant impact on global business and the global economy as a whole. With the help of direct investment, a stable market or a path to the world market is ensured, this is a kind of "domestic market" for large international corporations, the interests of a particular company are included in national interests.

When discussing direct investment from the point of view of an economic approach, one should consider narrow and broad world economic definitions.

A narrow definition involves the movement of capital in order to gain control over an enterprise and establish strong economic ties between countries. Within the framework of this approach, there are three ways to form foreign direct investment: the formation of an enterprise or its expansion under the absolute ownership of foreigners; loan for a period of 5 years or more. But in this case, the difference between real investments from abroad and investments of citizens of this country is leveled.

In a broad definition, foreign direct investment includes not only the forms of capital movement already mentioned, but also such assets as investments of a non-equity type, etc.

Various interpretations gave rise to a lot of controversy in the interpretation of the decisions of some practical issues.

Recently, foreign direct investment has increased significantly.

Even the very concept of direct investment has expanded significantly. It was first applied in 1999. In many cases, international investment is secured by some kind of agreement. Most often this is done with the cooperation of two countries or is used in major international agreements. In such documents, concepts are specified and actions are agreed on certain issues related to investment policy.

In the interaction of international investors, certain circumstances arise that are no longer economic, but political in nature. This is due to disagreements on some issues.

Large investors on the world stage are, as a rule, influential participants in world politics. Often, economics and politics are very closely intertwined, and therefore interests in one of these areas depend on actions in the other.

Many countries are trying to transfer political standards to the economic, in this case investment, area. With the help of these standards, the priorities of the market development of the economy are established. It would be implied in this case that international policy should be built only on a market basis.

For example, the International Agreement on Foreign Investment. It involved setting excessively high standards for the regime and investment protection measures; achieving a new level of liberalization, which will be present at all stages of the production process; creation of a legal framework to strengthen its operation; distribution of the adopted norms to all countries that have entered into the International Agreement on Foreign Investments; providing for measures and principles of interaction with integration groups; assistance to member countries in the settlement of investment disputes.

But this project proposed a solution to existing issues with the help of measures that do not take into account many standards, and sometimes even violate the sovereign rights of states. That is why the attempt to create such a document was not completed and the project was shelved.

In 2002, a proposal appeared on a non-standard measurement of international investment activity, in particular the current state and development prospects. It was proposed to do this by measuring the degree of use of opportunities and by calculating the level of the country's economic potential with the help of some indicators.

Lecture No. 4. Competitiveness of states in the world market

1. "Competitive rhombus" by M. Porter

Professor at Harvard Business School Michael Porter in 1990 published a monograph "The Competitive Advantage of Nations". He tried to identify the reasons for the country's success in international competition in a particular industry using a system of four indicators - "competitive rhombus". These indicators are general in nature and shape the environment in which local firms compete.

The "competitive rhombus" consists of the following system of indicators: factor conditions, conditions of domestic demand, related and supporting industries, structure and strategy of firms, intra-industry competition.

The list factor conditions M. Porter included the following groups of conditions:

1) human resources, they are divided into separate groups of workers, including scientists of the highest category;

2) natural resources, including the country's geographic location and climate;

3) capital, taking into account the remaining national differences in financing conditions and the diversity of types of national capital markets;

4) scientific and information potential, i.e. all the knowledge accumulated by the country related to the production of goods and services, scientific, market, technical, etc.;

5) infrastructure, namely the type, quality and cost of the types of infrastructure that affect competitiveness. This group also includes everything that affects the quality of life in a particular country, making it an attractive place to live.

The main idea of ​​M. Porter is the idea that the main factors for competitiveness by the country are not inherited, but created. Moreover, the pace of creation and mechanisms for improving factors, that is, the effectiveness of their use, are of paramount importance.

Also of great importance is the classification of factors into basic and developed, general and specialized. International competition for a country begins with competition based on basic factors - unskilled labor or natural resources. But M. Porter believes that competitiveness based on basic factors is fragile, because other countries with cheaper natural resources or labor can enter the world market, the production process can change, etc. For example, New Zealand grew kiwi and from its monopoly dominance in the world market received significant revenues. But later, Italy and Chile began to sell kiwifruit, and New Zealand lost its monopoly advantage. This, together with other reasons, created great economic difficulties for her. Most often, developed factors are created on the basis of basic ones, but they are much more difficult to duplicate.

In knowledge-intensive industries, basic factors do not provide a decisive advantage. In addition, TNCs can get them in other countries through foreign investment. In order to provide competitive advantages in the world market, the factor must be highly specialized, adapted to the needs of a particular industry. Therefore, the lack of certain basic factors may not be a weakness, but a strength in the competitive struggle, encouraging companies to innovate and improve.

Despite the globalization of competition, domestic demand conditions are still of great importance. At the same time, the main role is played not by the volume of domestic demand, but by its quality and compliance with the trends in the development of demand in the world market. The winners in the competitive struggle are countries where the development of a certain market segment was given more attention due to special internal conditions, while the demand for these products in other countries was still small. For example, Japan after the war, restoring the infrastructure, began to develop transistor communications (this was also facilitated by the mountainousness of the country, since cable communications were more expensive). The rest of the countries were slowly moving away from the cable network. Thus, Japan has taken a leading position.

Even more important than the segment composition of demand is the "quality" of industrial and private consumers. The country's companies benefit if their customers are the most demanding and qualified by world standards. If a Japanese firm can sell a VCR in its own country, it will sell it anywhere in the world.

Companies can finance innovation and improve depending on the demand conditions specific to a given country. For example, in Japan, "light, thin and small" products are encouraged, as people live in small houses with little soundproofing. Air conditioners here must be silent, unlike conditions in the United States. Also, national hobbies speak of demanding and sophisticated buyers in a particular country. For example, in the UK it is gardening. Sometimes the opposite happens, when these national passions are the result of the development of a highly competitive national industry.

It is desirable that this national increased demand outpaces the future demand of the world market. For example, the high demands for environmental protection in Scandinavia contributed to the development of appropriate technologies there, which subsequently created a priority niche for the industry in the world market.

If the composition of demand is complex and ahead of international demand, the volume and pattern of development of domestic demand can increase the competitive advantage of an industry. A large domestic market influences investment decisions in industries where there are large economies of scale, a high degree of uncertainty, and high R&D needs. A positive quality of a large market is also the presence of internal competition on it. In other conditions, a large domestic market can be a negative phenomenon, as firms lose incentives to constantly update and improve.

Related и supporting industries are also an important indicator of national competitive advantage. These industries provide auxiliaries and semi-finished products of high quality. M. Porter noted one feature of this determinant: most often, it is not individual industries that are competitive, but "groups" or "clusters" of industries where companies are integrated horizontally and vertically. And these groups tend to be concentrated within a limited geographic space. For example, in the US, the automotive industry has traditionally been concentrated in the Detroit area, Silicon Valley in California - the center of the computer industry. Also, the interaction of related industries can positively affect international competitiveness.

Strategy and structure of firms, intra-industry competition - a group of factors that are very different from each other, but especially important for understanding competitive advantages. The goals, methods, and strategies for organizing firms vary considerably across countries. National characteristics influence the way firms are managed and the types of competition. There are no universal management systems in the world. Recently, differences in the business culture of different countries have been considered as factors of their international competitiveness. For example, the "images" of Germany and Italy on the world market differ greatly. Italy excels in design, in some fragmented sectors (furniture, lamps, packaging machines, woolen fabrics, shoes). And Germany leads in industries with an important technical component of products. Until recently, the bosses, as a rule, had a technical education. It is extremely important that a country's specialization in the international division of labor is consistent with its business culture.

The time perspective is of no small importance for the international competitiveness of the company in which the activity is built, and this depends primarily on the composition of its investors.

Intra-industry competition can be called a catalyst for the entire system of these factors, since the presence of "own" competitors stimulates the development of production much more strongly than foreign competition. Within the country, companies are on an equal footing in terms of the cost of labor, raw materials, legislation, so they have to come up with something new.

Also, chance can influence the competitiveness of the state. M. Porter in the rhombus scheme indicated randomness (as well as the state) with a dotted line. Random events that affect the development of competitiveness can be: military conflicts, political decisions of foreign governments, inventions, a sharp rise in global local demand, a sharp increase in resource prices, etc.

The state was not included by M. Porter in the main determinants of the rhombus. He believed that direct government intervention had a negative effect on competitiveness. The state plays the role of a catalyst. It does not create competitive industries. In any case, the state should force companies to set themselves higher goals and rise to new, higher levels of competitiveness. But the role of the state, with the exception of the first stages of international competitiveness, should be indirect.

There are many problems in the field of foreign trade. One of the most important is the simultaneous provision of the interests of both the national economy as a whole and individual enterprises and firms that also take part in international exchange. To study this problem, it is necessary to find out how some firms in specific countries receive significant advantages over others in certain industries. Many economists have tried to find an answer to this question. M. Porter, an American economist, also put forward his theory. He analyzed the activities of companies from the ten most industrialized countries, which together account for almost half of the world's exports of goods and services. His concept is called "international competitiveness of nations".

The competitiveness of each country on the world stage is determined by four interrelated components.

1. Factorial conditions. M. Porter does not limit the factors that are initially available. It also adds new ones that may arise during the production process. For example, the introduction of new technologies with a lack of resources.

2. demand conditions. Demand is a determining component for the development of the firm. We are talking here not only about domestic demand, but also about external demand, since the possibility of a company entering a foreign market can greatly influence the situation in a company. At the same time, such capabilities of a firm can be determined not only by economic conditions, but also by national characteristics. M. Porter's approach highlights the requirements of the domestic market for individual companies.

3. State of the industries. This is an important condition, since such industries ensure the smooth operation of the industry in question, from the supply of equipment to various financial structures and relationships with customers and suppliers.

4. company strategy, which it adheres to in a given competitive situation. To achieve success in international activities, a flexible strategy in the global market and an appropriate specific structure are simply necessary. This can be stimulated by competition in the domestic market. Its absence will adversely affect the efficiency of production and the ability to seriously compete with other firms.

But for each country, the combination of these conditions will be different. And in accordance with this, M. Porter singled out four stages of the country's life cycle.

1. Stage of factors of production. At this stage, countries use the competitive advantages associated with cheap labor, fertile land, etc.

2. Investment stage. At this stage, the competitiveness of the national economy depends on the investment activity of the state and firms of a given country. At the same time, the ability of national manufacturers to effectively use and improve foreign technologies is very important. Increased investment is leading to more advanced factors and modern infrastructure.

3. The stage of innovation. It is characterized by the presence of all four factors of competitive advantage in many industries, which are interconnected and interact with each other. At the same time, the number of industries that have the ability to compete at the global level is increasing. In connection with the growth of personal incomes of the population and internal competition, which plays a stimulating role, consumer demand is becoming more diverse.

4. wealth stage. It is characterized by a decline in production. Already existing abundance drives the economy. At this stage, companies have reached a certain level and are trying to maintain their positions, while active investment is practically not used. In their activities, they do not use any new strategies, but those that have been tested by time, that is, based on state support.

For each of these stages, M. Porter singled out the main recommendations for the economic policy of these countries.

For economies that are at the stage of factors, he recommends maintaining internal macroeconomic and political stability, achieving a high level of education, and the rule of law. They also need to create and develop physical infrastructure, open markets and use advanced technologies from other countries.

He advises economies at the investment stage to invest in improving physical infrastructure, scientific research, and the development of "clusters". In addition, it is necessary to create conditions for outstripping the development of foreign technologies and the development of capacities along the entire chain from extractive to manufacturing industries.

Economies that are at the stage of innovation should pay attention to the further development of "clusters"; create a network of research organizations, which in turn includes not only scientific laboratories, but also the training of specialists of the appropriate level; to create conditions for firms that would be conducive to the development of new strategies and innovations.

The theory of M. Porter was put into practice by such countries as the USA, Australia, New Zealand. In the 1990s it became the basis of state recommendations for increasing the competitiveness of the products of these countries in the world market.

2. Environmental policy

There are problems in the world community that concern every country, every person. These problems are called global. To solve them, the efforts of any one country or group of countries, even with great capabilities, are not enough. To do this, it is necessary to attract a variety of resources from around the world and competently combine efforts to solve them. There are a lot of such problems, but the five most important of them are environmental, demographic, natural resources, disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the fight against terrorism.

Today, the environmental problem has come to the fore. Environmental pollution, resource extraction, demographic growth and other similar problems lead to a significant change in human living conditions and the state of the atmosphere. Thus, the environmental problem has become a global one and acquired a number of economic aspects. However, it is characterized by an aggravation trend.

For the first time at the world level, the environmental problem was discussed in the 1970s. within the Club of Rome. He considered issues related to the violation of the environment and ecology and the impact of these factors on humans. Then it was supposed to focus on reducing the impact of economic activity and reducing the rate of population growth. These measures were to be implemented through the regulation of economic growth.

But now it has become clear that such measures are not enough and they themselves do not give the desired effect to the extent necessary for that. The increasing development of countries has its downside: new and increasingly dangerous trends and problems (nuclear waste, climate change on the planet) are emerging. They cover not only economically developed and high-tech countries, but almost the entire territory of the Earth.

These problems not only worsen an already unfavorable situation, but also accelerate the pace of environmental pollution: many current indicators are already incomparable with those in previous periods. In the XX century. a quarter of all cultivated land and more than two thirds of forests have been destroyed. Over the past 30 years, water pollution has increased by more than 10 times, and production has increased by 2,5 times. Many experts also talk about the problem of space pollution, since in recent years it has accumulated a lot of objects we no longer need, many of which cannot be returned to Earth - this can cause serious and irreparable consequences.

With all this clear and rapid deterioration in environmental performance, spending on nature protection has increased by only 3,5 times, and there is a trend in which this gap is increasing even more.

Cooperation in the environmental sphere involves the interaction of countries, since many of them (developing and countries with economies in transition) do not have enough funds to overcome the environmental threat. Naturally, most of the harmful emissions come from developed countries, but, according to experts, the "contribution" in this area of ​​developing countries by the middle of the 28st century. will increase from 40% (today) to XNUMX%.

In solving this problem, it is necessary to rely on the international level. Back in 1983, the World Commission on Environment and Development was established within the framework of the United Nations.

In 1992, a conference was held in Rio de Janeiro on development and the environment. It adopted "Agenda for the XNUMXst Century", which contained a number of provisions. The main ones are: people's rights to health, environmental protection, respect for the interests of future generations, changes in technology and methods of production and consumption.

Modern environmental problems are also political in nature. This applies primarily to the development and testing of nuclear weapons. Cooperation in this area requires special attention, although restrictions on the use of hazardous substances, nuclear weapons, etc. often run counter to the national interests of a particular country.

Market methods are not applicable to solve environmental problems, which also applies to other global problems. This requires administrative and other indirect measures. The former include prohibitions, restrictions, the establishment of certain standards, obligations to conduct examinations, etc. The indirect ones include: fines, payments, special taxes and fees, the creation of environmental funds, etc.

The present period, characterized by the aggravation of environmental problems, the occurrence of cataclysms, has forced many countries to join forces. There are a number of measures that need to be taken to ensure environmental safety: awareness of the severity of the environmental problem, development and implementation of consistent measures in this direction, constant monitoring of the state of the environment, holding accountable for violation of environmental legislation, ensuring control over the construction of environmentally hazardous facilities, environmental education of the population, etc.

The UN conference in Kyoto in 1997, in which more than 120 countries took part, was devoted to all these issues. Measures were discussed to attract funds from countries from all over the world, emission limits were set for each country (and countries can sell their allowances to each other).

In 2000, a forum was held in The Hague. At it, the countries tried to eliminate the shortcomings that still exist in the framework of quotas, and to eliminate the shortcomings in the program to reduce emissions into the atmosphere.

Be that as it may, countries around the world understand the importance of the environmental problem and are trying to coordinate their actions in the environmental sphere.

Government policy pursued with certain goals can significantly influence the formation of competitive advantages of various countries. In recent decades, it has been increasingly carried out with the help of an active environmental policy as part of the economic strategy of the most developed countries. The state is forced to intervene in solving environmental problems, because market mechanisms by themselves cannot yet take into account environmental costs in the price of goods. This is an area in which firms do not always make immediate profits, but the benefits to the nation as a whole are much greater than the benefits to individual companies.

M. Porter believes that environmental policy does not negatively affect the competitiveness of states, since countries with the most stringent environmental legislation are the best economically developed. On the contrary, environmental policy helps to increase the competitiveness of states, industries and individual firms. This is proved both by scientific research and by the practical activities of firms. At the state level, an environmentally oriented economy helps to increase the competitiveness of the nation as a whole, as it improves the living environment, improves the quality and increases the life expectancy of the working population. Sometimes an individual company does not immediately benefit from investments in environmental protection, but for the whole country such benefits are more convincing.

Developed countries use environmental legislation and the economic levers of environmental policy to increase the competitive advantages of firms and, ultimately, the state as a whole. To this end, they stimulate early demand for green products, raise consumer awareness, pursue a balanced foreign investment policy, encourage the adoption of green technologies, and develop new green industries. At the same time, it is especially important to be the first to adopt strict standards and norms in comparison with other countries, constantly tighten them and monitor their implementation. This gives a technological advantage in the competition.

In some sectors of the economy, firms, not states, are the subjects of competition. Firms see green manufacturing as an area of ​​opportunity, a new means of increasing competitiveness. This can be achieved through the following factors:

1) savings in raw materials and energy lead to a direct reduction in production costs due to the reduction of production costs, minimization of losses and waste recycling;

2) most environmental problems represent additional opportunities for firms, the main prerequisite of which is the constant improvement of technology; Firms that invest in environmentally friendly technologies earlier than others gain the greatest competitive advantage.

Recently, firms themselves demand from the state to tighten legislation in order to gain advantages over competitors. This trend extends not only to individual firms, but also to countries.

3. Stages of competitive development of countries

M. Porter identified four stages of the competitiveness of the national economy in accordance with the four driving forces - these are factors of production, investment, innovation and wealth. In the first three stages, there is a constant increase in the competitiveness of the national economy, which, as a rule, is combined with an increase in national welfare. The fourth stage means a gradual slowdown in growth and ultimately decline.

1. Stage driven by factors of production. At this stage, almost all of the country's competitive industries benefit from the basic factors of production, mainly natural resources and unskilled labor. In the "rhombus" only factorial conditions are singled out, the rest of its components are poorly developed. Local firms compete solely on the basis of price in industries that require inexpensive and widely available technology to produce a product.

One of the main differences between the first three stages of competitive development is the way firms acquire technology. At the factorial stage, companies generally do not create it themselves, but receive it from other countries. This is done through imitation of purchased foreign capital equipment. Improved product design and technology is obtained through passive investment in turnkey plants or directly from foreign firms that have production in that country or related agreements with local manufacturers.

Products enter foreign markets mainly through foreign intermediaries. At this stage, a very small number of national firms have contacts with end users. Domestic demand for exported goods may be small or non-existent. The economy at this stage is sensitive to fluctuations in the world cycle and exchange rates that affect demand and relative prices. It is also vulnerable to loss of factor advantage over other countries. Although the possession of an abundance of natural resources can provide a high national income per capita for an extended period of time, the factor economy has a weak basis for the continuous growth of production.

Almost all countries have passed the factorial stage. Almost all developing states, as well as countries with economies in transition, are on it. Some prosperous countries with rich natural resources (Canada and Australia) are also at this stage. Few countries go beyond the factor stage at all. As a result of protectionist protection, the range of local industry can expand due to import substitution, but this will not give a competitive advantage in the world market.

2. Stage driven by investment. At this stage, the national competitive advantage is based on the willingness and ability of the country and its firms to actively invest, firms invest in building modern, efficient and often large-scale enterprises equipped with the best technology available in global markets. Typically, such technology tends to be a generation behind the world leaders. However, at this stage, foreign technology and methods are not only applied, they are improved. A country's ability to absorb and improve foreign technology is a necessary condition for entering the investment-driven stage and is the main difference from the factorial stage.

Fierce internal competition in competitive industries forces firms to continuously invest in order to reduce costs, improve product quality, introduce new models and modernize processes. Modern factories employ the most skilled workers and a growing corps of technicians still receiving relatively low wages. National firms are beginning to establish their own distribution channels, as well as direct contacts with consumers and sell products under their own brand.

The investment path to competitive advantage is possible only in a certain class of industries: where there are large economies of scale, large capital investments are required, but the share of wage costs in production costs is significant; standardized products are produced, the technology is easily transferable, and there are multiple sources of product technology.

The investment stage is characterized by rapid growth in employment, wages and factor costs. The loss of competitive positions in industries and segments that are sensitive to price changes begins. The economy is becoming less vulnerable to global crises and currency fluctuations. Bankruptcy in some industries and sudden loss of advantage in others will always occur. This is due to the uncertainty in choosing a suitable foreign technology.

The adequate role of the state at the investment stage reflects the sources of competitive advantages at this stage. It can be significant in areas such as channeling scarce capital into certain industries; support for firms whose activities are associated with risk; the implementation of temporary protectionism in order to encourage the formation of national firms and the construction of enterprises of the necessary effective scale; encouraging and influencing the acquisition of foreign technology; and promoting exports.

The investment-driven development model requires a national consensus that favors investment and long-term economic growth over current consumption and income distribution. This consensus was evident in Japan and South Korea. Effective policymaking at this stage requires a political process that allows unpopular and difficult decisions to be made, as well as providing a long-term perspective. Political pressure on the government during the implementation of such policies often leads to the fact that, despite good intentions, some important components of the investment model cannot be implemented. This leads to an inability to overcome the factorial stage.

The investment stage was implemented quite a long time ago, including through the transfer of capital between countries or the attraction of foreign technology and even personnel. Among the factors that contributed to its implementation, we should mention the greater globalization of the markets for raw materials, technology and capital and more aggressive national industrial policies. However, very few countries reach this stage. In the post-war period, only South Korea and Japan managed to fully achieve this. Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Spain, and Brazil show signs of reaching this stage, but lack some of the essential elements of it—either sufficiently developed factors, competitive firms, in-house capability to improve technology, nationally controlled international distribution channels, or the presence of effective domestic competition. etc.

3. Stage driven by innovation (innovation). At this stage, a complete "diamond" is available in a number of industries. All determinants work, and their interaction is maximum. This stage is called "innovation driven" because firms not only acquire the methods and technologies of other nations, but also create their own original technologies.

Factor conditions make competitive advantage increasingly scarce. The lack of individual factors stimulates innovation, new mechanisms arise for the creation of developed and specialized factors and their continuous improvement.

Firms in the innovative stage of the economy compete in world markets in more differentiated industry segments. They continue to compete on price, but on the basis of high productivity. Price-sensitive, less complex segments are gradually giving way to other countries. The firms compete on the basis of their own global strategies and have their own international sales and service networks, along with a growing brand reputation abroad. In those sectors where the structure favors breaking the value chain, foreign production is created - either to reduce costs or to make up for certain shortcomings of the domestic "diamond". Thus, the innovation stage is one of the stages of significant foreign direct investment.

Usually, some industries of the country are ahead of others in the transition to the innovation stage, having gained competitive advantages of a higher class. Improvement extends to other industries. At the innovation stage, the economy is most resilient to external events and macroeconomic fluctuations, especially when the country gains the ability to expand "clusters". The industry is less vulnerable to price shocks and currency movements because it competes on the basis of technology and product differentiation. The globalization of firms' strategies creates an additional buffer against such fluctuations. The multiplication of prosperous firms reduces dependence on one particular sector.

The innovation economy is also characterized by a growing international position in a number of advanced services, reflecting the improvement of competitive advantages in industry. All innovation-driven economies have a higher share of domestic services than countries at an earlier stage of development. However, whether a country will have a broad base for international competitiveness in services depends on a number of factors, including the development of supporting industries. Where commercial television advertising is prohibited (eg in Germany), it is more difficult for firms to enter the global market.

The role of the state at this stage differs markedly from the previous ones. The impetus to innovate, the ability to do so, and the signals in which direction to go should primarily come from the private sector. The economy is expanding, and the state cannot keep track of every existing and newly created industry, as well as the links between them. The efforts of the state should be directed to indirect stimulation. Firms should play a leading role in creating factors.

Great Britain, for example, entered the innovation stage in the first half of the 1970th century. USA, Germany and Sweden - XIX-XX centuries, Italy and Japan - only in the XNUMXs.

4. A stage driven by wealth. The exit of the country to this stage is the beginning of the decline. Its driving force is the wealth that has already been achieved. The problem is that an economy driven by previously achieved wealth cannot sustain that wealth. The most important reason is that the motivation of managers, investors, individuals is changing in the direction that does not contribute to systematic investment in innovation, and thereby improvement. New goals, often very socially justified, are put forward to replace those that supported economic progress.

The financiers are coming to replace the pioneer entrepreneurs, the creators of industrial empires, in the management of companies. The prestige of working in industry is giving way to other careers. The tendency to increase taxes on wealth as a nation grows wealth reduces the incentive to invest in industry. Chronic underinvestment everywhere is a paradoxical sign of a wealth driven economy. Investments in financial assets prevail. Mergers and acquisitions of firms are proliferating, giving the illusion of progress without generating new business and often slowing down innovation even further.

Visible signals of the economy entering this stage appear slowly, due to the inertia created by consumer loyalty and still fairly strong positions in the market.

However, as soon as the loss of positions in some highly productive industries and segments begins, it spreads to other industries through "declustering". The economic spectrum is narrowing, the competitive advantage is lost first in the basic industries and finished products, later in the production of components, then in equipment. In some places competitive advantage remains, for example in industries where the country has a unique demand or well-developed adjacent industries. Foreign firms, increasingly gaining a real competitive advantage, are acquiring national companies and integrating them into their global strategies based on a base located in another country.

Many industries are shrinking and starting to compete based on price. The range of industries in which competitive advantage can be maintained becomes insufficient to generate employment and sustain rising living standards.

M. Porter believes that a classic example of a country that entered the stage driven by wealth in the late 1980s. was Great Britain.

Economic progress is not inevitable. Many countries, for a variety of reasons, cannot move from the first or second stage, or, having entered the wealth-driven stage, again find themselves in the factor stage. The most important conditions for a country to advance to a higher stage are as follows.

Formation mechanisms production factors. The potential of the economy is limited by the quantity and especially the quality of factors. Well-functioning mechanisms that create and improve factors provide the basis for a higher order competitive advantage, since each of the first three stages requires more developed and more specialized factors.

Motivation. To move to higher stages, workers and managers are required who are interested in high wages and, accordingly, in the length of the working day, and in finding ways to increase the profitability of the company. To maintain motivation, it is important that employees feel confident that they will be rewarded for hard work and good ideas. Capital holders must also be motivated to invest sustainably.

internal competition. Fierce competition among local producers across a wide range of industries is needed to spur innovation and improve competitive advantage. Competition helps overcome inertia. The intense rivalry of local firms also has an important side effect on other determinants of the diamond.

Demand improvement. Improving the quality of demand creates the potential for success in more complex segments and advanced industries. Demanding buyers also encourage improvement. Demand is also improving as incomes and the level of education of the population grow. Setting important social goals, investing in areas such as health and environmental protection, create an incentive to create new industries.

Lack of individual factors. The absence of separate, less developed factors creates an incentive to increase productivity, as well as to improve competitive advantage in higher order factors, provided that there is appropriate motivation and intense internal competition.

Ability to create new business. The transition to a higher stage requires effective mechanisms for creating new business, either through changes in existing firms or through the creation of new ones. This is necessary for healthy competition, the creation of new and more complex industry segments, the expansion of the supplier network and related industries, and the eventual creation of "clusters" of industries.

All these forces are necessary not only each by itself, they create a closed system where they mutually reinforce each other. The rate of progress of a nation is held back by the potential of its weakest link. Until a country reaches a certain level of income and accumulated wealth, the problem is not to fall into the wealth-driven stage, but that there is a danger of sliding down.

4. Global competitiveness of various countries

USA. The United States has been the undisputed leader of the world economy since World War II. In the post-war years, American firms not only retained what they had won at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. key positions in many areas, but also expanded the number of globally competitive industries through technological leadership, skilled workforce and quality of managers. No other country in the world has such a variety of competitive industries.

In the 1970s - 1980s. the country's economy has moved closer to the wealth-driven stage, long-term investment has declined, and competition has declined. The US has lost its edge in a number of new industries in the face of increased competition from the EU and Japan. However, due to the timely adoption of measures to restructure the economy and its modernization, they were able to reverse the negative trends. At present, we can talk about the country's return to the innovative stage of development, its leadership in the restructuring of the world economy, where the main component is the extremely rapid development of the field of informatization, and the significant influence of the American economic mechanism on the formation of a globalizing economy.

The US has no equal in the world in terms of labor productivity in the economy, with the exception of some industries where it is inferior to Japan. According to the microcompetitiveness index, American companies rank first in the world. Such firms as IBM, "Coca-Cola", "Ford", "General Electric", "Hewlett-Packard" are known all over the world, their share is growing even in the markets of Japan and the EU.

Undoubtedly, the conditions in the United States after the war were unique. But the absence of competitors, the rapid transition of the military industry to a peaceful track, the vast domestic market and many other factors only partly explain the significant advance of all countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita.

The United States has a large number of basic factors (labor and natural resources, significant capital). But the United States achieved its power largely due to investments in mechanisms for creating and improving the quality of factors, mainly in education and R&D in promising industries. Thanks to this, the United States has taken a leading position in many areas of science and technology.

Japan. AT In recent decades, Japan has become a strong world power with a competitive economy. Japan supplies the world market with products from a wide range of industries, primarily high-tech: electronics, biotechnology, robotics, as well as mechanical engineering, metallurgy and transport. In a number of industries, the share of Japanese companies in world exports is very high and is comparable only with the positions of US firms.

Like Germany, Japan went from a war-beaten nation to a global economic power, but unlike Germany, it lacked natural resources and historically lacked important industries such as chemistry and engineering. The unusually successful and rapid development of the country from the factorial to the innovative stage of competitiveness is due to many reasons, including the production of high-quality products at low costs, the specifics of labor relations, and the rapid introduction of new technologies. In none of the countries did the entire "rhombus" system work so harmoniously, none of the determinants contributed to the strengthening of others in such a way.

United Kingdom. The UK is a unique example of a country that, after being in the wealth-driven stage for a long time, was able to return to the innovation stage of development.

The historically strong position of Great Britain (the first industrial country in the world and the main world power in the 1970th century) was already undermined at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, when conditions began to emerge for the slowdown in economic development and the loss of competitive advantages that emerged after the Second World War. Despite the large reserves of accumulated wealth, by the XNUMXs. in most modern industries, the UK has lost ground to the United States, Japan, Germany and France, which is reflected in its place in world GDP, trade and international monetary relations. The decrease in competitive advantages occurred as a result of the country's long stay at the stage driven by wealth, when unfavorable factors were growing in all components of the "rhombus" and some negative processes caused others. The most important were the low quality of the workforce, the lack of competition, the decline in demand, and the peculiarities of the business culture.

After the Conservative government came to power, the country managed to reverse the negative trends in the economy that had been accumulating for many years and implement global changes in business culture that help revive its competitive advantages. The UK is currently in the process of transitioning to an economy based on the latest technologies and services.

Russia. Russia's competitiveness relative to other developed countries remains low. According to the rating of countries' competitiveness, published annually by the World Economic Forum based on about 400 different indicators, in 2003 Russia ranked 70th in the world out of 102 countries included in it.

Currently, Russia is in 20th place in the world in terms of exports, and in the early 1990s. The USSR was in 10th place. The crisis in the country's economy and the reduction in the production of the most promising products led to the fact that Russia's competitiveness in the world market in comparison with the USSR decreased and was reduced to a narrow range of industries. In terms of labor productivity in the manufacturing industry, Russia is 5-6 times inferior to developed countries, and NIS - 3-4 times. In recent years, there has been some growth in the indicator, but so far it has not been able to reach the level of 1990. It has occurred mainly due to an increase in the loading of old equipment with the production of obsolete products based on the undervalued national currency and the cost of production factors.

Only a few industries produce products that can compete in the world market, and mainly on price. These are mainly industries that depend on raw materials (they account for more than 3/4 of exports), primarily the fuel and energy complex, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, petrochemical and timber industries. Comparatively high competitiveness of Russian military equipment and weapons, some types of which have no analogues in the world. The bulk of the products of the manufacturing industries cannot compete on the world market; moreover, there is a decrease in the competitiveness of civil machinery and equipment, which is expressed in a reduction in the export of certain types of products, such as cars. Taking into account the global trend towards higher science-intensive products, it will be more and more difficult for Russia to catch up with the most advanced countries in the world.

Among the competitive advantages of Russia, one can note the presence of rich natural resources, a fairly high educational level of the population, a skilled workforce, and scientific and technical potential. Russia occupies the last places in the competitiveness rating according to such indicators as the openness of the economy and the quality of competition, transparency and efficiency of administrative management.

Despite the victory in World War II and the presence of a colossal amount of natural and other resources, Russia failed to rise above the factor stage of development, which was due to a number of reasons, primarily the lack of private property, the state monopoly in foreign economic relations and the monetary sphere, " overregulation" of the economy and, most importantly, the almost complete absence of a competitive environment. Porter's "diamond" as a system simply did not work, so even the existing determinants did not contribute to the development of others.

5. Competitiveness of states at the micro level

Along with a stable political climate and prudent macroeconomic policies, a prosperous economy requires a microeconomic foundation for economic development. They lie in the competitive practices and strategies of firms, the mechanism for creating competitive advantage, and the economic policies that make up the business environment and firms compete.

Microeconomic differences largely explain differences between countries in levels of GNP per capita. As GNP per capita rises, microeconomic conditions change. This change depends on both governments and firms. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate microeconomic competitive thinking into the process of economic reforms. If one follows only the instructions of international organizations in carrying out economic reforms, the material well-being of the average citizen will not improve either in developing or in developed countries.

The standard of living is determined by the productivity of the national economy. It is measured by the value of goods and services produced per unit of a nation's human, capital and natural resources. The main problem of economic development is the creation of conditions for productivity growth. A country's ability to improve the microeconomic environment affects its prosperity. The microeconomic foundations of productivity lie in two interrelated areas:

1) a rather complex level at which companies compete;

2) the quality of the microeconomic business environment.

The more complex the strategies of companies, the higher their demands on national institutions, workforce qualifications and government policies.

If welfare is to be increased, then a country's competitive advantage must shift from comparative advantage (natural resources and cheap labor) to competitive advantage based on the production of unique products or new technological processes. With the transition to a higher stage of economic growth, a change in goals is necessary: ​​competitive practices and company strategies, which often meets with resistance. What was a strength in the previous stage becomes a weakness in the next, but traditional methods are hard to give up because they were once successful and trusted by company management.

M. Porter identifies the business environment with the "competitive rhombus". M. Porter pays great attention to the role of various national institutions - universities, schools, infrastructure institutions, standardization agencies, etc., as well as private firms themselves in improving the business environment. Trade associations and chambers can also play an important role here.

Macroeconomic policies that promote high rates of investment will not produce productivity gains if they are not implemented in the right forms, if the labor force and supporting industries do not have the right skills to make these investments effective, and the appropriate market discipline is not provided by competitive pressure and corporate governance. . For example, the NIEs of Asia in the late 1990s, despite strong macroeconomic performance, ran into microeconomic weakness. Dependence on external debt is largely a consequence of how effectively foreign capital is invested. Regulation of the level of external debt is generally less important than improving the microeconomic foundations for its use. Significant public investment in education will not work if microeconomic conditions do not create demand for new labor from companies.

"Traditional" factors of production, including human resources and physical infrastructure, have less of an impact on national differences in GNP per capita than, for example, the availability of business information or information technology. Differences in GNP per capita are strongly influenced by demand conditions and the presence of related and supporting industries, highlighting the importance of "clusters" for competitiveness. The part of the "diamond" covering the strategy and structure of firms also turns out to be important, including intellectual property rights, lack of corruption, openness in trade, investment climate and intensity of internal competition. Other variables of great importance for economic growth include: product technology, access to the securities market, professionalism of management, quality of telephone and fax communications, availability of business information, effectiveness of antitrust policy, personal security, ability to finance initial investment, demanding buyers, quality of local sub-suppliers, protection of intellectual property rights, absence of regular non-payments.

In 2003, the first places in the hierarchy of the most competitive states at the micro level were the USA and Sweden and a number of other states. The countries that have "improved" their positions have much in common. Financial markets are becoming more complex, competition is intensifying, economies are becoming more open, information is becoming more easily accessible, and technological infrastructure is improving. The companies in these countries are becoming more international, and the recruitment of the top echelon of companies is carried out more professionally, and not on the basis of nepotism.

Along with progress made on the basis of IMF recommendations, reforms at the micro level are equally important. Countries come to agreements on micro-reforms, and powerful market forces punish those who do not implement such reforms.

In 2000, a group of scientists at Harvard University consisting of M. Porter, D. Sachs and E. Warner published a report in which they identified two more indices - current competitiveness and growth competitiveness. The Growth Competitiveness Index measures the impact of factors that contribute to the future growth of an economy (measured by GDP growth per capita).

The 2003 report renamed the Current Competitiveness Index to the Business Competitiveness Index. It is also subdivided into two sub-indices: an index of the complexity of operations and strategies of companies and an index of the quality of the business environment. The main conclusion on the index of business competitiveness is that at different levels of economic development, countries face different problems that they must overcome as they rise to higher stages.

The Growth Competitiveness Index is subdivided into three indices: the Microeconomic Environment Index, the Public Institutions Index, and the Technology Index. For countries with different levels of economic development, it is calculated differently: the so-called key innovators (having more than 15 patents per million people) have a higher technology weight in the overall index than countries that buy technology from other countries. For these states, the share of the three components is the same.

Lecture No. 5. International production cooperation

1. TNCs, the role and scope of TNCs in the modern world economy

International corporations - These are large associations of companies and firms that operate not only within the country, but also abroad. The first of them appeared in the second half of the XNUMXth century. and were associated with activities in the field of mining and marketing of mineral raw materials. In the second half of the XX century. the scope of their activities is expanding, moreover, they are already operating on a global scale.

Their emergence is associated with the development of the division of labor and cooperation. The specialization of the enterprise contributes to an increase in the scale of production, and this is typical for any business entity.

After an enterprise has increased production within its own country, it expands beyond its borders. At this stage, international production formations appear. Businesses seek to get as much income as possible and enter the global market.

International corporations are generally divided into three groups: transnational corporations (TNCs), multinational corporations (MNCs) and international corporate unions.

multinational corporations - These are production associations of international firms, and these firms are owned by owners from different countries. National companies are united on the basis of technologies and scientific developments. Examples of such corporations are Univeler, Fiat-Citroen, etc.

International corporate unions are most often consortiums in organizational form. These are associations of concerns to solve certain economic problems.

Transnational corporations - These are companies controlled, as a rule, by the shareholders of one country. But they also carry out their activities in other countries through the creation of branches and their subsidiaries, which have their own sales, production, etc. Prominent examples of TNCs are such American firms as Ford, General Motors, Swiss " Nestlé, etc.

In order for an international company to be considered a TNC, it is necessary that the shares of employees in foreign enterprises, foreign assets and foreign sales do not exceed 25-30%.

A TNC consists of a parent corporation and subsidiaries. The parent company forms the development strategy, exercises control over finances and technologies, participates in the management of subsidiaries through participation in their capital. It also decides on the purchase, establishment or liquidation of its units.

TNCs do not operate in all industries. Most transnational corporations are in the oil, chemical, automotive and electronics industries. This is explained by the fact that in these areas it is easier and more profitable to create international production associations.

TNCs have a number of advantages over other participants in international economic relations. First of all, it is a large area in which they carry out their activities. Having their branches in foreign countries, they trade their goods without paying customs duties. Thanks to this, they use the resources of other countries. These are not only natural resources, but also human and scientific and technical potential. In addition, they can benefit from the socio-economic level of development of the country: after all, if wages are low in a given country, then it is not necessary to pay employees as much as they pay, for example, in the country where the parent corporation is located; and if the prices of raw materials are low, then the cost of production is reduced. In any case, when making any decisions regarding the activities of TNCs, the specifics of the country in which the branch is located are taken into account.

In addition, multinational corporations take advantage of opportunities to avoid paying customs duties when importing goods into the country that were produced by subsidiaries abroad.

Within international corporations, when exchanging goods, so-called intracompany transfer prices are used. Their level is much lower than in normal trading, and according to some sources, the difference between them is 3-4 times. Due to this tool, it becomes possible to finance some divisions of TNCs, using others, and at the same time, the amount on which you have to pay tax is significantly reduced. At present, a significant part of the funds passes precisely through such channels of international intercompany turnover.

Thus, transnational corporations widely use the advantages of international cooperation and division of labor. They operate far beyond the borders of their "native" country and, forming interethnic complexes, have a significant impact not only on the economy of individual countries, but also on the state of world trade as a whole.

2. Operations of TNCs

Over the last decade of the XX century. the number of TNCs and their affiliates has increased several times. Already in the late 1980s. they became the main suppliers of goods and services to the world market. The growth of world production of goods contributes to the development of world trade. The service sector requires the close proximity of the seller and the buyer, here production replaces trade.

TNCs are the main subject of the export of capital in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). In essence, the firm takes on the status of a transnational due to the export of capital. The volume of export of global accumulated investments from 1980 to 2000 increased 14 times (from $500 billion to $7 trillion). At present, in developed countries, most of the accumulated FDI is in the service sector, and in developing countries - in the manufacturing industry.

TNCs are the main source of the basis of modern competitive advantages - technology. About 90% of all R&D expenditures are in developed countries, of which 90% are in 7 developed countries, and only in the USA - 40%. The innovative activity of TNCs is also manifested in the transfer of payments for patents and licenses and royalties.

At present, there are more than 60 thousand TNCs. The 90 largest of them play a huge role in the global economy. The list of the largest hundred TNCs practically does not change in terms of composition. Almost XNUMX% in it are the EU countries, the USA, Japan. Two-thirds of this hundred account for the food, automotive, electronics and electronic equipment, chemicals, oil, and pharmaceuticals.

In 1990, the concept of "transnationality index" appeared. It is calculated by the share of foreign assets, sales and employment. From 1991 to 2000 it increased from 51% to 56% mainly due to employment and sales. Assets grew faster in home countries than abroad. Companies from developed countries with a small territory and companies from Canada have a higher transnationality index. They have a smaller domestic market. In 2000, some of these companies had a transnationality index of up to 98%. But of the ten TNCs with the highest transnationality index, four were British. The most "transnational" industries in developed countries are food and pharmaceuticals, and in developing countries - transport, woodworking and pulp.

In the list of TNCs in Central and Eastern Europe, Russian companies occupy a leading position. All of them are engaged in the oil business or transport, i.e., they are employed in capital-intensive industries.

3. The influence of TNCs on the world economy and the formation of modern international economic relations

The emergence and further development of transnational corporations greatly influenced the world economy of individual states and the development of international economic relations.

In many countries, they even cooperate with governments and business representatives. Often this happens due to the low level of socio-economic development of the region or due to a severe economic crisis. TNCs can help develop extractive industries, and sometimes branches or subsidiaries are created in the manufacturing industry. Taking advantage of the difficult situation of the country, the most complex industries are transferred to its territory, as well as environmentally hazardous industries that can harm the environment.

There are several types of branches and subsidiaries.

1. TNCs and subsidiaries dealing with raw materials. They extract and process them, and further links in the technological chain are engaged in deeper processing and further transportation, as well as the sale of products. Many states are taking measures to strengthen control over their resources, but transnational corporations still control a significant share in the production and marketing of fuel and raw materials.

2. Branches and subsidiaries specializing in the development of import-substituting industries.

3. Branches focused on the production of products, which are then exported. This is due to the fact that it is more profitable for international companies to produce goods in countries with cheap raw materials and labor, and only then export them both to their home countries and to other foreign countries.

Increasingly participating in the national economy of developing countries, transnational corporations occupy a leading position in some very important industries. In addition, TNCs attract local companies, mainly small and medium ones, to their field of activity. They become dependent on a large company. But still, it can have a good effect on the economy of a developing country. TNCs contribute to the development of those sectors of the economy that are associated with their activities, can change the structure of the national economy and expand the participation of this state in international economic relations.

But transnational corporations also have an impact on developed countries. In the event that a foreign company begins to have a significant impact on the country's economy, it naturally begins to interfere in macroeconomic processes, which creates contradictions between the interests of TNCs and the interests of this state.

Transnational corporations influence the global economy as a whole. They occupy a dominant position in a number of industries both in individual countries, regions, and in the global economy as a whole. And this is not only in production, but also in trade. TNCs invest in the economy of various countries: they develop their enterprises on their territory and contribute to the development of other industries.

International corporations have been criticized a lot: for exploiting the economies of developing countries, for imposing a policy that is not beneficial for them, for transferring the most harmful industries there, for causing harm to their own country, transferring production to other countries of the world and thereby depriving residents of their country jobs.

But the activities of transnational corporations cannot be assessed only from the worst side. TNCs contribute to the international division of labor, production and development of science and technology. Despite the fact that wages in the branches of the company are lower than in the home country, they are still often quite high for developing countries, and, in addition, such large companies provide certain social guarantees to their employees. Sometimes underdeveloped countries themselves open their markets to large international companies, realizing their advantages.

The activity of transnational corporations is connected with the interests of their states. Each country strives to make the life of its citizens as good as possible and at the same time preserve national characteristics. Countries interact in the course of achieving the goals of state development, and thus international relations are carried out. Naturally, they have disagreements over fuel, raw materials and labor resources, and there is also a struggle for new markets.

The interests of transnational corporations and the countries in whose territory they are based, as a rule, coincide. Transnational corporations allow their state to access the resources of other countries. In addition, products manufactured abroad will not be subject to duties from the state where these products were produced.

TNCs provide the influence of their state on the economy of other countries. Previously, control was exercised over colonial countries or over free ones by exerting pressure on their governments. Now, even with political independence, some states, with the help of their large transnational corporations, can maintain economic dominance. The benefit of such states is obvious, and therefore they provide their political support to the most influential corporations.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the economic and political significance of transnational corporations is very high. They help develop mutual understanding, trusting relations with partner countries, and strengthen economic influence on the world economy. Thus, the state should, to a certain extent, help the development of its TNCs, which is also relevant at the moment for Russia, which seeks to strengthen its influence on a global scale.

4. TNCs and the state in the 1990s

TNK by the end of the 1990s. took the place of one of the two most important subjects of the IEO. The relationship between them has also changed. In the past, at the turn of the century and into the 1970s, there were even bursts of confrontation between international monopolies and governments, leading to such extreme measures as the nationalization or expropriation of foreign assets. But for the most part, the divergence of interests expressed itself in what types of economic activity and what behavior the state expected from TNCs (and their affiliates) and how the income from these activities would be distributed. Issues such as the protection of technological secrets, ensuring monopoly power in the market, the impact on the environment, tax avoidance through transfer prices were the subject of heated debate in the 1970s, which was reflected in the documents of international economic organizations, including number in the UN system.

However, political and economic changes in the world economy, combined with the information revolution, have created new conditions for relations between the state and TNCs. Since the mid 1980s. the general tone of discussions on these issues changed from confrontational to partnership.

Areas of conflict remain, but the interdependence debate now takes place within the overall context of the globalization of economic activity and is less focused on the strategies and behavior of TNCs per se. There are a number of reasons for this change, but the main one is the change in priorities of national governments and their awareness in the 1990s. that, in order to achieve their social and economic goals, they must provide TNCs with at least the same favorable conditions for access to their markets and production as their main competitors.

By the end of the 1990s. it has become increasingly common to believe that the state and TNCs should be seen primarily as partners in the task of economic development and increase national competitiveness, and that the goals of both sides are beginning to coincide more and more. Governments should pay more attention to restructuring the value-adding activities of TNCs in their country, and not just trying to increase their share of the profits from these activities. One sign of this shift in attitudes has been the widespread liberalization of foreign direct investment regimes.

Nevertheless, the attitude of various groups of states towards this issue remained unequal for a long time. On the one hand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, using an integrated and comprehensive approach to improve the long-term competitiveness of their national economies, taking into account the expected response of competing governments and the reaction of their own and foreign TNCs. On the contrary, the governments of most developed Western countries during the 1980s. took only separate, often uncoordinated measures, and only by the end of the 1990s. came to realize the important role of the movement of capital in the development of their economies and began to pay more attention to the possible reaction of other states to their own policies.

It is still difficult to judge how strong the modern partnerships between the state and TNCs are and whether they are just a feature of the current phase of the development of the world economy. Areas of diverging interest are the transfer pricing mechanism, environmental protection, export market allocation, labor management, restrictive business practices, and ideologically and culturally "sensitive" areas. Some leading scholars warn that in times of crisis, when for one reason or another, either states or TNCs cannot withstand the pace of restructuring imposed by globalization, confrontational streaks may ensue. In this regard, great hopes are placed on international and regional institutions whose activities would contribute to the controlled and predictable development of international economic relations.

5. Specificity and main forms of international technological exchange

The international community has recently become universal, as the boundaries for information technologies that change the quality of life are being erased, and interethnic ties are strengthening.

Today, new technologies are extremely important for the production of various products. Consequently, their importance is very high, since the competitiveness of companies and the level of socio-economic development of the country as a whole depend on them.

Technology is the ability of a person to do something in a certain way. These are the practical skills and abilities of a person that are the object of international exchange and are used to achieve specific practical goals. Technology is not the skills of an employee who has worked even in different areas, but the actions that he performed during work are. Thus, technology is aimed at solving some economic problem.

Not all technologies are subject to international exchange. The international exchange of technologies is an exchange of information concerning ways to overcome difficulties of an economic, industrial, managerial or financial nature that arise between the economic entities of countries in the process of reproduction.

Technology carriers are licenses, patents, technical documentation, specialized literature, products with which it is produced, as well as people who have the skills to solve certain economic problems.

The international exchange of technologies can be carried out free of charge or for a fee. Most of them are free. This happens for a number of reasons: often distribution occurs through non-commercial channels (at exhibitions, conferences) or illegally, and sometimes objects of intellectual work are not subject to registration of property rights. Thus, technologies spread far beyond the borders of their country. This is the international exchange of technologies.

It should be noted that the legislative framework for the protection of intellectual property has not yet been sufficiently formed. This applies mainly to developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Another issue is the issue of technology compliance. It lies in the fact that there is often a violation of technological requirements in the production process, which can lead to environmental pollution, exacerbation of the raw material problem, etc.

The current stage of technological development is characterized by the fact that technology stands out as an independent area in the economic and legal sense.

There are the following main forms of international technology exchange:

1) research cooperation in the field of science and technology. More and more research is being carried out jointly by scientists from several countries. This is influenced by technological equipment, the size of the country, industry specialization, geographical location, etc.;

2) dissemination of technological information in the form of patents, licenses and contracts. In this case, information is transferred, as a rule, not free of charge;

3) technological assistance to any country;

4) provision of such services to foreign clients as engineering, consulting, i.e. services in the professional or information sphere;

5) export of human capital abroad. We are talking about highly qualified personnel. This problem is typical for countries where conditions cannot be created for scientists and good specialists to conduct research or to reveal their potential. At present, this also applies to Russia;

6) training and training of specialists abroad. This allows specialists to get acquainted with various technologies or use existing ones more efficiently;

7) international trade in high-tech goods;

8) information support (foreign broadcasting of national companies, media outlets, advertising, etc.);

9) formation of systematized databases, libraries and archives of foreign information.

6. International technology transfer and intellectual property rights

The international exchange of technologies is becoming increasingly important and is expressed in various forms.

There are main types of technologies that are involved in international exchange:

1) agricultural technology - technologies for increasing yields, developing fertilizers, increasing productivity in animal husbandry;

2) industrial technologies - technologies in the production of industrial products and related industries;

3) control technologies - improvement of schemes of management and control over the enterprise, increasing the efficiency of its functioning;

4) financial technology - technologies in the banking sector, insurance activities and everything related to finance;

5) marketing technologies - the fastest and most effective promotion of goods;

6) service technologies - technologies in the service sector;

7) Information Technology - they allow you to carry out operations with information (search, collection, transfer, etc.) and are becoming increasingly important today.

For the effective development of international technology exchange, appropriate conditions are required: legal (protection of intellectual property in the territory of a foreign state), financial (crediting, insurance, improving the efficiency of financial settlement schemes), institutional (presence of international organizations that regulate international technology exchange), innovative (improvement already existing technologies and their further transfer).

Particularly acute in some countries now is the problem of creating an effective legal system for the protection of international technology exchange, that is, the protection of intellectual property rights.

Intellectual property is intangible assets, rights to the results of intellectual work.

The rights arising in relation to the objects of intellectual labor are divided into personal non-property and property. Non-property rights establish only the right of authorship. And property rights imply the rights to their use: the release of products using new technology, operations with material objects that embody intellectual work.

There are no universal legal protection mechanisms in this area yet, and the right holder needs to confirm his rights in foreign countries as well. At the same time, the countries of the world are striving to create such a system and conclude a number of treaties relating to intellectual property among themselves. But this is a very long process, since it began in the 1883th century. (Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, XNUMX) and has not yet been completed.

Nevertheless, the legal protection system already includes a number of guarantees: patent protection in a foreign country, protection of copyright and related rights, trademarks of manufacturers, license protection, protection from manufacturers using unfair competition, protection of trade secrets, etc.

A patent provides its owner with protection from the commercial exploitation of his invention by others. But at the same time, this does not give the right holder a guarantee of success in the case. He cannot force anyone to use his invention, and to realize its potential, as a rule, a person is needed who is able to ensure the introduction of this product of intellectual labor into production.

The owner of intellectual property can obtain material benefit from the use of his invention through a license that gives the right to use this property to another person. The right of ownership by the inventor is retained. Licensing allows you to regulate the use of the results of intellectual work. Thus, some people create intellectual property, while others produce a product with its help. This situation suits both of them, since few people would be able to create something necessary for society and at the same time effectively use it. There are different types of licenses that perform different functions: full license (actually this is a sale of the patent, since the licensee gets all the rights to use it), exclusive license (the licensee has limited rights to use the patent, and, as a rule, this is the duration and territory) , non-exclusive license, open license (when the right holder applies to the relevant institutions, anyone is given the right to use this invention), sublicense (with the consent of the licensor, the licensee can grant a license to third parties).

And yet the main problem in the field of intellectual property is the enforcement of the rights of the right holder. Many countries of the world have managed to achieve this, and as for Russia, we still have a lot to learn from other developed countries. We have not created such conditions. This, of course, harms the business reputation of the country and undermines its credibility not only in economic terms, but also in political terms. Therefore, the state should pay special attention to this problem and apply effective measures to combat infringers of intellectual property rights.

7. Russian TNCs abroad and foreign TNCs in Russia

The first direct foreign investments were made in the Russian economy in 1987. By 1996, over 30 firms and companies were registered in the Russian Federation as enterprises with foreign capital, of which just over 17 submitted information to the Russian statistical authorities about the beginning of their practical activities.

During that period, the vast majority of foreign partners in the creation of enterprises with foreign capital was represented by small, so-called risk capital. Based on one new enterprise, the initial contribution from a foreign partner was limited to an average of several thousand dollars.

However, in the future, albeit at a very slow pace, large transnational capital began to turn towards cooperation with Russian enterprises.

At present, the largest TNCs have mainly switched to global strategies in their activities and locate their enterprises in those countries where there are appropriate competitive advantages for this. The fact that 80 of the 100 largest TNCs in the world are now present in Russia in one form or another is evidence of our country's actual inclusion in the global process of globalization.

The practical importance of this problem seems undeniable. However, it still receives little attention in Russia at the state level. Basically, various aspects of attracting capital are discussed in a country-by-country context, while in practice the main subject of this activity is precisely TNCs. Given the scale of the Russian economy, cooperation with the largest TNCs, which are carriers of the latest technologies, can have a real effect, and in the era of "knowledge-based capitalism", cooperation with this group of TNCs is of paramount interest.

Moreover, TNCs operating in Russia are the most powerful in terms of such general indicators as foreign assets, sales, as well as the number of employees in foreign enterprises. Their overseas assets are valued at more than $1,3 trillion, their sales at $1,25 trillion, and their number of employees is nearly 11,7 million.

Most of the TNCs began their development of the Russian market by creating conditions for the sale of their products, through investments in distribution networks, after-sales service systems, advertising campaigns, etc. However, some TNCs, having passed this path in an accelerated version, began to create in cooperation with Russian partners joint ventures for the development of project documentation, the production of industrial designs, including those for series-produced goods. A number of enterprises appeared with 100% foreign control. In terms of industry, they are somewhat less diversified than the top hundred as a whole, but it covers the most representative industries for this advanced detachment (except for oil refining). TNCs are represented in fourteen industries, most notably in the electronics and electrical industries, automotive, oil production, chemistry, food and flavor industries, pharmaceuticals, trade and other services, etc. In terms of direct investment in the Russian economy, American capital ranks first, and US TNCs are present in 11 of these 14 industries. They are especially significant in the electronic and electrical industries. Japanese TNCs have been most prominent in the electronics and electrical industries, as well as in trade and other services.

Most TNCs are in two interconnected industries - electronics and electrical engineering. This is a TNC headquartered in eight home countries - the world famous IBM, General Electric, ITT, AT & T, Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment, GTE, Motorola (USA), Sony, NEC, Sharp Corp (Japan), Alcatel , Alstom, Thomson (France), ABB-Asea Brown Bovery Ltd (Switzerland - Sweden), Electrolux (Sweden), Philips Electronics (Netherlands), Siemens (Germany), Cable and Wireless (UK).

The first direction that aroused interest on the part of these TNCs in Russia was the establishment of sales, and then the assembly of the so-called screwdriver production of electronic computing equipment. But over a relatively short period of time, the activity of TNCs in this promising Russian market has noticeably weakened as a result of competition between South Korean and Russian suppliers. By mid-1997, the share of foreign computer assemblers on the Russian market had fallen from 34% to 25%.

In favor of Russian assemblers, such a factor as the outlined rise in the market of Russian software products, oriented mainly to private users, largely acted. Since 1996, a new stage of competitive struggle has been outlined, when TNCs launched a wide systematic attack on the Russian consumer market. They began to engage in service, as well as to develop cooperation with retailers, and supplies of the latest models of equipment began to accelerate.

In the face of increased competition, 19 TNCs decided to divide the market into spheres of influence.

A number of the largest TNCs are willing to develop cooperation with Russian software companies. The vast Russian telecommunications market is still not very attractive for the largest companies in this type of business. Thus, the most well-known cellular network in Russia "Bee-Line" was created with the participation of a little-known American family firm "FGI Wireless". Experts predict that the investment business in the Russian communications market will undergo major changes in the foreseeable future: both the list of participants and the types of activities in which foreign capital will be invested will be updated. This segment of the Russian market is recognized by foreign investors as quite profitable.

In the global power equipment market, the Russian sector is considered to be a significant conjuncture-forming factor. This area is one of the few where foreign TNCs really seek to cooperate with Russian enterprises. In this regard, the Swedish-Swiss concern ABB, which created a holding structure in Russia in accordance with a strategy developed "specially for Russia", is indicative. Its essence is the maximum emphasis on the development of local production.

In total, 21 of the 80 largest TNCs operating in Russia announced their intentions to invest a total of $52-54 billion in six sectors of the Russian industry: automotive, oil and gas, chemicals, food and tobacco industries, as well as in the public catering system. Despite the constant decrease in the share of direct investment in the total volume of foreign investment in the Russian economy, this form of capital attraction remains the most important for the country's economy.

According to the official data of the Central Bank of Russia for the period from 1991 to the beginning of 1998, the total volume of permitted investments in foreign countries amounted to more than 11 billion dollars. bank or the Ministry of Economic Development. The official statistics on the export of capital differ significantly from the actual state of affairs in this area, primarily because most of the capital is exported from Russia illegally.

On the whole, the largest exporters of capital in Russia are the TNCs of the oil and gas complex, and among them the first place, of course, is occupied by Gazprom. According to the Central Bank, from 1991 to 1998, Gazprom received permission to invest capital abroad in the form of portfolio and direct investments in the amount of $2,7 billion.

But official data does not give all the information. According to some Russian economists, the accumulated volume of Russian investments abroad by the beginning of 1999 amounted to 200-300 billion dollars. According to this indicator, Russia was among the top ten largest capital exporting countries.

Lecture No. 6. International labor migration

1. Historical background, causes and main centers of migration

Migration is the movement of people from one country to another. This movement of people has always been typical. This was due to the policy of conquest or the migration of peoples.

Today it is to a certain extent a manifestation of human freedom and a sign of the ever-increasing internationalization of the economy, as well as the consequences of contradictions of a national nature. People migrate voluntarily, wanting to live in better conditions, and involuntarily, due to certain life circumstances. The problem of migration of the latter requires certain measures and efforts not by any one country, but by the entire international community. Today, labor migration has taken on such a scale that some regulation in the field of migration policy is required.

International migration has arisen due to a gap in the level of socio-economic development of various countries, as well as due to a population explosion in many developing countries.

On a geographical basis, intercontinental and intracontinental migration are distinguished.

Intercontinental migration at the first stage took place by force. This happened in the XVII-XIX centuries. As a result of the slave trade, the population of Africa then significantly decreased. The most intensive processes of migration of free labor occurred in the 1918th-1939th centuries: before the First World War, in XNUMX-XNUMX. and immediately after World War II. Due to these emigrants, the population of the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other countries has increased. People left mainly from European countries and from Russia.

Recently, the situation in the migration sphere has changed somewhat. The European Union has become one of the main centers of attraction for migrants. But their main part is the mass migration of workers from less developed countries with low qualifications. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the migration policy of European countries is to reorient towards the recruitment of workers under targeted contracts, and preference will be given to highly qualified personnel and experienced professionals.

Another center of attraction is the oil-producing countries of the Middle East. In some countries, the share of foreign workers exceeds 90%. A group of Jewish migrants from the CIS countries stands somewhat apart. From 1989 to 1994 more than half a million people left. This happened for a number of reasons: political instability, economic difficulties in the early 1990s, the desire to return to their homeland to their relatives, etc.

The third center is the United States of America. Historically, some of the workers come to this country from abroad. This was facilitated by documents that favor the labor activity of migrants in the United States. Now foreign workers make up a certain part, although not as large as before.

The fourth region is Australia. Its difference lies in the fact that the policy towards visitors is aimed at their assimilation, i.e., at adaptation in a new country and the possibility of further residence in it. But, of course, in this matter, the stake is not on a large number of unskilled workers who came to work, but on those people who invest their money in the economy of this country.

The fifth international migration region is the Asia-Pacific region. In this region, the most developed countries employ people from poorer countries, but mostly unskilled workers are required to perform menial work.

The sixth center - some of the most developed countries in Latin America. These countries are interested not only in cheap labor from the poorest countries of the same region, but also in qualified specialists, including those from the former USSR: chemical engineers, oil workers, etc.

There is also an African migration center - mainly South Africa. Although here, of course, richer countries hire workers from neighboring poor countries, South Africa is interested in attracting well-trained and experienced personnel from the former USSR, but not for temporary work, but for permanent residence.

Speaking of Russia, it should be noted that it is the center of attraction for workers from the countries of the former Soviet Union. These are unqualified personnel. And the most promising Russian specialists currently prefer to go abroad themselves.

2. Positive and negative aspects of migration

External labor migration is an outflow of labor from less developed countries to economically more prosperous ones, followed by the return of migrants to their homeland.

Such migration is undoubtedly beneficial for both parties, but it also opens up a number of socio-economic problems. These include "brain drain", spending money earned on the territory of another state. There is also a problem in which an employee abroad does not work in his specialty, obtained at home, but performs unskilled work, as he cannot fully realize his potential in a foreign country due to objective reasons.

The countries to which these workers come benefit in some way: cheap labor appears, as many visitors, due to their difficult financial situation, get jobs that are considered low-paid for developed countries. They simply have no other opportunities, and they are forced to work in difficult conditions for little money. The working week for such people is often longer, and wages are lower. Particularly acute in some countries is the problem of illegal migration.

But there are also positive consequences of labor migration. For countries from which there is an outflow of the population, the benefit is that on their return these people bring their savings, which they can invest in their own business. Immigrants contribute to the normal operation of some labor-intensive industries that have little demand from the population. Now in some countries the proportion of foreign workers employed in a certain area is so high (more than 30%) that they simply cannot refuse their services and an increasing number of immigrants are required for normal smooth functioning.

Another benefit for countries receiving migrants is that due to qualified personnel from abroad, funds are saved on training their own specialists in their own country. In addition, as a rule, such employees already have work experience and have proven themselves from the best side in their previous workplace.

Countries - exporters of labor resources receive the benefit, which is expressed in the reduction of unemployment in this country. Numerous studies conducted in this area show that the outflow of part of the labor force has a positive effect on labor markets, increasing the average income level of the poorest segments of the population.

Emigrants abroad acquire new knowledge and experience in various fields, which they can apply in their own country. They master new technologies, join new standards of production organization. Upon returning to their homeland, they can improve the production process and socio-economic development in general.

Not the last role is played by remittances of migrant workers. They send part of their earned money to their family, relatives, close people who spend it, of course, already on the territory of their country. Such transfers are of great importance for the economies of the poorest countries and contribute to the improvement of the financial situation.

Previously, labor migration was assessed negatively. Now this opinion also exists, although for the most part non-specialists argue this way. Of course, such a situation can occur with the mass migration of the best workers. But according to studies, such labor migration in many cases concerns workers in unskilled or low-skilled labor. With the outflow of qualified personnel, one can also find positive aspects: educated youth have an increased chance of finding a decent job in their country. In any case, the state should regulate migration processes and the policy pursued in this area should help stabilize the situation in the country's labor markets.

3. State regulation of migration flows. Migration policy in the Russian Federation

Each state is trying to regulate migration processes, as it is interested in attracting the most needed workers at the moment, and at the same time, not a single country in the world wants the most qualified personnel to go abroad. In this regard, in almost all developed countries of the world, special bodies have been created that deal with the penetration of foreign workers into domestic labor markets. The federal authorities deal with the issue of visas, establish the procedure for their issuance. There are services that control the entry and stay of foreigners in the country, which can even deport in violation of the law. In addition, before issuing a work permit in this country, the situation is analyzed and a permit is issued if there is a real need to attract foreign labor.

Migration is limited quantitatively. To do this, several countries conclude international agreements among themselves, which stipulate actions regarding migrants from these countries, including their quantitative limitation.

There is a rather complicated system of restrictions for immigrants that foreign citizens face. This is primarily a diploma of education, although a diploma from one country is not always recognized by another country. This includes work experience (at least 3-5 years) in the specialty received. There are also age restrictions. This is due to the fact that labor-importing countries want to hire people of the most able-bodied age, from whom the greatest return can be expected.

Many industrialized countries have some health requirements for foreign workers. But restrictions apply, as a rule, only to drug addicts and people suffering from severe types of mental illness.

In order to maintain stability in one's own country, access to certain countries is restricted for persons who have been convicted of serious crimes in their homeland and whose residence on its territory may damage the reputation of that state before the international community.

Regulation also occurs with the help of other restrictions that do not concern the qualities of a particular person. The state can establish the ratio between foreign and domestic workers, regulate the time of work in a given country, prohibit foreigners from engaging in certain types of activities, etc.

Recently, the measures applied to violators of migration legislation have been tightened. For this, not only heavy fines are charged or deported, but they can also be prosecuted. Sanctions apply not only to migrants, but also to their employers who benefit from the use of illegal migrants.

As for Russia, it has not been spared the problems associated with labor migration. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, migration processes began on its former territory. in Russia in the 1990s. turned out to be a huge number of refugees from the CIS and Baltic countries. The reason was the difficulties of an economic, political, interethnic nature, etc. Economic difficulties contributed to the outflow of experienced highly qualified specialists from our country.

Under these conditions, the government was forced to develop and implement an active migration policy.

Firstly, a legislative framework was created: the procedure for the exit of Russian citizens and the entry of foreigners was determined, control over migrants was established, etc.

Secondly, the Russian government took measures to mitigate the consequences of those intensive processes that began immediately after the collapse of the USSR, took over control of migration flows.

Thirdly, the Russian Federation has concluded international agreements with Germany, China, Finland and other countries. Such norms provide citizens of Russia with certain rights and guarantees in matters of employment abroad. This is also helped by special firms that have been issued licenses for registration to work abroad.

Despite the fact that much has already been done in this area, the formation of the base on the basis of which the regulation of international migration processes is still ongoing.

Our country has its own interests both in the field of import and export of labor force.

In the first case, the most important problems of any country are: maintaining the number of migrant workers from abroad within the required number, regulating the "quality" of foreign labor and its rational use. It is important to choose a strategy for the development of immigration policy.

As for the emigration policy of Russia, its main directions are highlighted here: reducing unemployment, raising funds from emigrants' remittances to their homeland, ensuring the rights and support of Russians working abroad, acquiring new skills for them and applying them in the future after their return.

It is of great importance to create favorable conditions for those citizens who have decided to return to our country. It is necessary to create special structures that could provide real assistance to such people, would give them the opportunity to receive tax benefits and use preferential lending schemes for these people. It is important to provide the possibility of duty-free import of means of production so that migrants can carry out production activities on the territory of our country.

Thus, the consequences of labor migration are ambiguous. The state should solve the problems that arise in this area with the help of migration policy. But for an effective result, the interaction of both individual countries and the entire world community as a whole is necessary.

Lecture No. 7. International Regional Economic Integration

1. Objective foundations and essence of regional economic integration

At the present stage of development, the dependence of the economies of various countries on each other is increasing, national economies are becoming more open to the outside world, and, consequently, integration trends are intensifying. Gradually, regional economic complexes are being formed, including countries that are similar in terms of development level or located close to each other. It is important that countries are approximately at the same level of economic development. Then they will participate in the process of integration on equal terms.

Back in the 1950s - 1960s. scientists have attempted to explain the need for regional economic integration. The traditional theory deals mainly with the economic prerequisites that arise within the framework of a customs union. It analyzes the importance of commodity flows between participating countries and their impact on national economies. But this theory has a serious drawback, which consists in the fact that only standard situations are explained within the framework of this theory.

Another approach is that the decisive factor in the creation of an integration association is the desire of these countries to strengthen their defenses and provide protection from external enemies. This theory brings to the fore reasons of a non-economic nature, which also cannot give an exhaustive answer to the question of the reasons for integration.

Proponents of the following theory argue that the reason for regional integration is the desire to achieve some common goal, such as social stability, increasing production volumes, etc. Critics of this theory believe that in this case, when each country tries to defend only its own interests between them there would be serious controversy.

More recent is the theory according to which countries seek to unite to eliminate the factors of limited resources, raw materials, etc. This limited factor contributed to the development of innovative technologies, the growth of production scales and the development of product differentiation.

Today, researchers do not have a unified theory about the reasons for the development of integration and the advantages of the countries included in these associations. And yet, the formation of a regional economic grouping cannot be caused by any single factor.

For the development of regional economic integration, a powerful impetus was the end of the confrontation between the capitalist and socialist camps. After the administrative-command system showed its inefficiency, practically in all countries an economic base of the same type began to take shape, based on the introduction of market mechanisms into the economy. The intensive development of science and technology, which requires a lot of effort and resources, also contributed to integration. In addition, the "closed economy" reduces the efficiency of economic activity.

International economic integration - this is an objective and natural process of convergence and interpenetration of economic systems, provided that they have the appropriate potential.

Economic integration is based on the desire of independent economic entities to satisfy their interests and the international division of labor. There are other prerequisites for unification: economic recovery in integrating countries, geographical location, political decisions of leaders, joint actions to resolve certain issues and the creation of a kind of integration center that takes responsibility for bringing partner countries closer together.

It should be noted that real interstate integration is possible only with the existence of market mechanisms. It starts with primary economic actors and splicing at the basic level. And only then do state structures, systems and bodies adapt to the new situation, up to the emergence of supranational governance. As practice shows, only political decisions and even coordinated documents are not enough for an integration group to play any significant role in world economic processes.

Regional economic integration opens up new opportunities for investment, development of joint projects, research and expansion of industrial activities.

And yet, before a country joins an integration grouping, the country must carefully consider the consequences of this step. After joining the country, changes will inevitably begin, and it is important that the country be ready for them. If the level of economic development of the country turns out to be lower than that of the partner countries, then it will not be able to become an equal member of this grouping, and its economy will not be able to properly orient itself to the world economy. Changes in the social sphere will also be required. In the process of integration, conditions must be created for high growth rates, and this cannot be achieved by transformations in any one area: in this case, an integrated approach to solving the tasks set is required.

Regional economic integration has covered almost the entire world. It involves not only the most developed, but also medium-developed countries, as well as some third world countries. The countries with "clumsy" and slowly developing economies, in which there are no tendencies to improve the existing situation, turned out to be on the sidelines.

2. Evolution of integration processes. Main forms of regional integration

In its development, international economic integration goes through a number of stages. Currently, there are five such successive stages: a free trade zone; Customs Union; single market; economic union; economic and monetary union. All these stages are united by the fact that certain economic barriers are eliminated at each of them.

Among the integration groupings that exist today, there is not a single one that has passed all the stages, only one - the European Union - has passed four, and the remaining several groups have passed the first and second levels.

First stage - Free trading zone. This is a special zone within which there are no customs duties and restrictions on international trade are minimized. But for agriculture, liberalization is not carried out in full and only for a part of agricultural products. As a rule, parties entering into agreements cannot unilaterally raise duties or introduce new ones. When concluding an appropriate agreement on a free trade zone, all possible conditions for the application of special protective measures, cases in which an increase in customs duties may occur, etc. are stipulated. Such agreements make the behavior of countries more predictable and give greater stability. At the same time, at this stage, there is still no need to create special supranational bodies. All decisions are made by the officials of these countries and high-ranking leaders. But when creating free trade zones, there may also be some negative effects that can slow down the convergence of countries for some time and harm domestic producers. National producers are not always ready to withstand competition from foreigners who produce cheaper and better products. For them, there is a danger of being squeezed out of their own markets and even bankruptcy.

The next level of regional integration is Customs Union. This is an agreement providing for the abolition of customs duties in trade between the countries that have concluded it. At the same time, uniform tariffs are created for external countries. This is a kind of collective protectionism. Countries pursue a coordinated foreign policy. They control the flow of goods. And in the participating countries there are some changes regarding the structure of production and consumption. In general, the regulation of the foreign trade tariff has a positive effect on the development of the domestic market for goods and services. According to a number of indicators, the customs union is a more perfect structure than a free trade zone. There is a need for regulatory institutions due to the revision of approaches to the development of industries, their coordination and negotiations on the creation of an alliance.

single market - a higher level of integration. For the development of the customs union into a single market, economic factors alone are not enough: political ones are also needed. When agreeing on a large number of issues, it is not always possible to reach agreements. This requires new approaches and, in addition, the strengthening of the supranational principle. Special supranational bodies and mechanisms are being created (in the EU - the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Court, the European Commission, the European Council). To carry out a single specific policy, documents are adopted, decisions are made on certain issues, and directives and recommendations are developed. Within the framework of the single market, several major tasks are being implemented. A policy is being developed in relation to third countries, the line of development of industries and sectors of the economy is being determined, and the possible social consequences of these decisions are also taken into account. Another important task is to remove obstacles to the free movement of labor, capital, services, etc.

Transition to a qualitatively new level of integration grouping - economic union - is possible after the creation of a single economic, legal and information space. At this stage, the coordination of policies in the field of taxation, industry, agriculture, etc. is carried out. This is a kind of transition to an economic and monetary union.

Economic and Monetary Union - the last stage of international regional economic integration. It is based on the unified policy of countries in the monetary and financial sphere and the introduction of a single currency. We can speak about this stage only on the example of the European Union, since it is the only integration group that has reached this stage in its development. Over time, the economies of the countries that are members of the EU became so closely intertwined that the countries were forced to build a common economic course and create a single monetary system. They pursue a common economic policy, including setting the direction of economic development, coordinating actions in the tax sphere, monitoring the dynamics of economic life, etc. arena and unity within oneself.

3. The main centers of integration processes in the modern international economy

Integration processes were most developed in Western Europe, where in the second half of the XNUMXth century. gradually created a single economic space - European Union. There were objective reasons for this: both economic, political, and religious and cultural traditions.

In Western Europe, traditionally there are economic ties between different countries, which have become more and more stronger over time. Religion and culture also played an important role in this process: for example, the idea of ​​the unity of the Christian world united Europe in the Middle Ages. And the First and Second World Wars showed that the strength of these countries is only in unity, and disparate and contradictory actions can cause irreparable harm. And finally, this process was facilitated by political opposition to the socialist camp and competition with other capitalist countries.

The beginning of the integration of Western European countries was laid by the Paris Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, signed in 1951. And in 1957, the European Economic Community was established, which was based on a customs union and a common policy in some industries. This integration grouping has come a long way in its development. A single economic space was created, customs barriers were abolished, uniform norms and standards were established. Citizens of any country that is part of the European Union can move freely throughout the territory of the entire Union. A single policy is being pursued in relation to industries, with the exception of energy, politics, and transport. And there are objective reasons for this: dependence on external supplies of energy resources, the isolation of the transport market at the national level, and the development of only general approaches to industrial policy. Today, despite the fact that the countries have some disagreements on political issues, the level of integration of the European Union is perhaps the highest.

Another economic bloc - NAPHTHA. It differs from the EU in a weaker level of economic integration, monocentricity with the clear leadership of the United States, and the absence of supranational governance bodies. But this association opens up the possibility of creating a single space in which goods, services, capital, and labor can move freely. Perhaps, over time, a free trade zone will be created. Now NAFTA is taking steps to gradually eliminate tariff barriers and remove restrictions on exports and imports, except for certain goods, the list of which is agreed in advance. NAFTA is a relatively young group created in the first half of the 1990s. It needs to continue on the path of development and create effective cooperation mechanisms.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967. It includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam. An important role in its formation and development is played by values ​​common to Asian countries, which differ from European ones. This organization, like many others, is characterized by a high level of interaction at the political level and weak economic integration: countries have not been able to achieve complementarity of economies. Now the Association is faced with the task of creating a free trade zone.

In the fourth block - APEC - A free trade zone is just being formed. It was formed in 1989. Another significant difference lies in the presence, along with economically developed countries such as Japan, and less developed countries such as Vietnam and Papua New Guinea. It can be said that APEC is just beginning its path to a lasting alliance. It is planned to gradually reduce customs tariffs and develop cooperation in such sectors as transport, energy, etc. Interaction is most effective in political matters, and as for the economic aspect, here the ties are not yet strong enough. But this problem cannot be solved instantly with the help of some document - time is needed for a lasting union.

The largest integrated market in Latin America - MERCOSUR - the common market of the countries of the Southern Cone, created in 1991. The agreement provides for the creation of favorable conditions for the development of partnerships: the abolition of customs duties, the abolition of tariffs, the free movement of capital, etc. In addition, policy is coordinated in many sectors. Of course, some disagreements arise among the participating countries, but they are trying to jointly seek consensus, taking into account each other's interests. Experts note that the cooperation of the countries that are members of MERCOSUR is beneficial to their economies.

Integration processes have not bypassed African countries. After liberation from colonial dependence on this continent, several dozens of various international organizations of an economic and financial profile arose. Among the most effectively functioning integration groupings, it should be noted African Economic Community (AfES), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), CA Customs and Economic Union (UDEAC). In addition to these groups, there are formally several dozen more, but in fact they either do not function or their work is ineffective. The development of these groupings is slow, largely due to the low level of economic development. But even the very process of forming integration groupings can benefit these countries: cooperation between them will increase, interaction will intensify, and an incentive will appear for improving work and modernizing economic structures.

4. Commonwealth of Independent States: modern model of economic integration and interests of Russia

Commonwealth of Independent States - an integration entity created in 1991, which included sovereign states: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine.

Today, the CIS faces considerable problems. This is primarily due to the insignificance of its economic influence. In many ways, these are the consequences of the transition from an administrative-command to a market economy. Compared to other large integration groupings, the Commonwealth is much weaker in economic terms than others.

The share of trade between the CIS countries from 1991 to 2000 fell from 72% to 28%. The integration mechanism, despite the huge number of documents designed to develop cooperation, does not work well. Perhaps the main reason is that integration begins with primary economic actors. It is impossible to create an integration grouping only through political decisions. It is necessary to convince firms, enterprises that cooperation will be mutually beneficial. In addition, this requires developed internal market relations, which will create favorable conditions for the export and import of goods and services.

Any regional integration grouping should be created in stages. From this point of view, significant mistakes were made in the creation of the CIS. And that is why the participating countries failed to create a single ruble zone, since there were no such prerequisites for this as free trade zones, a customs union, a single market. But on the example of the EU, the only union that has already overcome these steps, we see that integration should be carried out gradually and it is impossible to recreate only some individual elements and expect instant results.

On the other hand, the CIS has a good documentary base: the Charter, various acts and other constituent documents have been adopted. Supranational bodies have been created: the Council of Heads of State, the Council of Heads of Government, the Council of Foreign Ministries, the Interstate Economic Committee, the Economic Court, etc. Special bodies have also been created for cooperation in certain sectors and structures designed to develop integration cooperation.

Further integration of the CIS countries should be carried out in accordance with the specifics of these countries, and not by automatically transferring the European experience of integration. And although the EU today is the most stable integration entity, the CIS has its own characteristics, which are largely associated with the Soviet past.

Speaking about the expediency of further efforts to create an alliance, it should be noted that integration is in the interests of these countries. Otherwise, most of the CIS members may simply be "absorbed" by other groupings, where their interests will not be taken into account to the same extent as in the CIS, and they will not be able to play any significant role. Further development of integration is also beneficial for Russia, which needs strong economic ties and strategic partners. There are not only long-standing economic, but also political and cultural ties between the CIS countries, which, under certain conditions, can speed up and simplify integration.

Lecture No. 8. Monetary and financial instruments and institutions of international economic relations

1. Balance of payments and its types. Russia's balance of payments and its external debt

The balance of payments is the ratio between all payments that a country has made to other countries and the sum of all funds that it has received during the same time from other countries.

The balance of payments includes exports and imports of those goods for which payments were made during a given period of time.

Transactions of a given year between residents of these countries are taken into account. Residents of any country are firms registered in the territory of this state. The same applies to branches. The only exception is international organizations: they are not residents of the countries where they are located.

The balance of payments reflects precisely the aggregate transactions between states. It is usually completed within a year.

As for the history of the balance of payments, it should be noted that initially it was formed as a method of statistical and informational accounting in order to perform tax functions. At present, it acts as a source of information that makes it possible to highlight the features of the country's participation in international activities.

The basis of the balance of payments is a grouping of all types of transactions, the consequences of which are associated with the outflow or inflow of currency into the country.

The following can be distinguished types of transactions leading to the inflow of foreign currency into the country:

1) export of goods;

2) export of services;

3) interest and dividends paid to owners of foreign shares;

4) unilateral transfers or transfers;

5) long-term and short-term loans and investments received from foreigners;

6) foreign reserves, including the amounts of reserves acquired from the bank of this country.

Each of these types of transactions has an opposite form, already associated with the outflow of foreign currency from the country.

Combining all types of transactions in one document, we will get the balance of payments. These transactions can be conditionally divided into three groups: export-import transactions; capital transactions and official reserve accounts.

In accordance with world practice, the balance of payments is compiled on the principle of double entry (double counting). The essence of this method is that each operation is recorded twice, in terms of income and expense, for example, the receipt of goods and its payment. Therefore, the balance is always in balance.

There are several types of balance of payments.

1. Trade balance. AT it determines the ratio between the volume of goods entering the country and the sale of goods abroad. But such a balance contains very little information, although it is the most important starting point in the analysis of the overall situation.

2. Balance of trade and services is more perfect, since the share of services for some countries can be significant, for example, due to tourism. This balance is used in calculating national income. This indicator is usually used in conjunction with others.

3. Current account balance can be obtained by adding unilateral transfers to the balance of goods and services. The current account balance gives a more complete picture of the country's economic situation. A country can either sell more than it buys, or increase its debt to other countries.

4. Basic balance - current account balance with long-term transfers and payments. It shows the exchange rate, growth rates, etc. These are stable indicators. In the future, this balance should be equal to zero, otherwise there will be a change in the country's debt.

5. Offline account balance calculated by adding short-term debt to the underlying balance sheet. This balance is important because it shows not temporary phenomena, but already the results of the country's development.

6. Liquidity balance differs from the previous one in that it may or may not contain such items as errors, short-term liabilities held by non-residents of a given country.

7. Used balance of international investment debt. It characterizes the increase or decrease in liabilities and funds.

Disproportions may arise in the balance of payments. This can happen for various reasons: changes in prices, income levels, structural imbalances, autonomous movement of significant masses of capital.

The balance of payments is an object of state regulation. There are a number of reasons for this:

1) the balance of payments is characterized by imbalance, which manifests itself in a deficit in some countries and in excess in others;

2) the balance of payments cannot equalize on its own after the abolition in the 1930s. the gold standard, and, therefore, targeted measures are required to regulate it;

3) the increase in the value of the balance of payments in the system of state regulation is due to the increasing internationalization of economic relations. The state regulates the balance on the basis of state ownership, increasing the share of national income redistributed through the budget, through the adoption of certain measures at the legislative level, as well as through the active participation of the country in international economic relations.

The measures taken by the state in the economic sphere are aimed at forming the balance of payments and covering the existing balance. There are many methods aimed at stimulating exports, restricting international economic transactions, etc.

If a country has a deficit balance of payments, then this requires the adoption of certain measures.

1. Pursuing a policy that implies a reduction in domestic demand (deflationary policy). It includes the imposition of budgetary restrictions on spending, mainly in the social sphere. But these measures should be applied with caution, since in the conditions of an economic downturn they can lead to an aggravation of social conflicts if compensatory measures are not taken in parallel with them.

2. Depreciation of the national currency (devaluation). It is aimed at increasing exports. But it depends on economic conditions: a positive result will be only if there is an appropriate export potential. Moreover, this will not eliminate the very cause of the balance of payments deficit, but will only bring temporary relief.

3. The introduction of currency restrictions relating primarily to foreign currency. Thus, the export of capital from the country and the stimulation of its inflow into it are limited.

4. An active financial and monetary policy is being pursued. Preferential conditions are being created for foreign firms in order to attract capital to the country.

Special state measures of influence, focused on the long term, are also applied.

State regulation is aimed at increasing exports and reducing the import of capital, if the balance of payments is active.

With a deficit in the balance of payments, economically developed countries attract funds on the world market in the form of loans from banking consortiums and bonds. Commercial banks are involved in covering the deficit. Their loans are more affordable, but on the other hand, they are expensive, and banks may not issue them to a country that is already heavily indebted.

In the Soviet Union, the balance of payments was considered a secret document and was never made public. Since 1992, the balance of payments has been compiled in accordance with the requirements of the IMF management. Russia's balance of payments is compiled on a quarterly basis. It consists of sections on current operations and operations with capital and financial instruments. Today, the economy of our country is developing more dynamically. And as confirmation, we can consider the balance of payments of Russia for the first quarter of 2006. During the year, the gross domestic product increased by 5,5%, industrial production growth amounted to 3%, inflation slowed down, and the standard of living of the population increased. There was also an increase in the ruble exchange rate index against foreign currencies by 6,2%.

Foreign economic relations expanded, which contributed to economic growth. The balance of payments of the state was stable.

The surplus of current operations increased sharply compared to the same period of the previous year - by 44,7%, and trade turnover - by 30% with the growth of external and internal demand. Foreign trade conditions were favorable. As a result, the trade surplus increased by 1,5 times.

The export of goods also increased, but mainly due to the price of fuel resources. Imports also increased, and a large share was the import of machinery, vehicles and equipment.

In the service sector, the increase was due to transport and business services, and imports of services - due to travel and transport services.

Thus, Russia is developing dynamically, and its balance of payments is stable, which indicates positive trends in economic development.

2. Exchange rate and its impact on foreign trade. The factors that form it

Today, one of the most promising areas for the development of international economic relations is international currency relations. They arise in connection with the use of money in the implementation of international transactions. Most of the calculations are made in monetary form, and, therefore, there are contradictions about the use of certain currencies.

Each country has its own monetary units, which are used in settlements on its territory, but outside this state they become a currency. The concept of currency denotes: the monetary units of a country, foreign states and international accounting currency units.

Monetary relations initially arose due to the development of international trade, but over time they become increasingly independent. This is due to the ever-increasing internationalization of economic life, the development of international integration and specialization, as well as an increase in the number of foreign exchange transactions.

There are many national units, and they correlate with each other in certain proportions.

The exchange rate is the ratio between two different currencies, which is established under the influence of supply and demand in the market or is determined by law.

The exchange rate is expressed in the currency of another country or in international units of account.

The exchange rate is formed under the influence of many factors. The basis is the purchasing power of the currency. It, in turn, determines the average price level in the country and investment. But its value also depends on inflation and the balance of payments. The exchange rate can be influenced by the central bank of the country, intervening in transactions in the foreign exchange market.

The degree of confidence in a foreign or national currency and changes in the economy of a given country can greatly influence the exchange rate. These factors also influenced the Russian national currency. In the transitional economy, the situation was extremely unstable. In addition, to this day, the difference in the degree of involvement of individual sectors of the national economy in international relations matters.

The exchange rate can be nominal or real.

Nominal exchange rate - this is a kind of "price" when exchanging one currency for another. Exchange rates published in the media are nominal. For example, the exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar, euro, etc.

The real exchange rate is obtained by multiplying the nominal exchange rate by the ratio between price levels in countries. Also, the real exchange rate can be calculated on the basis of average prices in countries that are the main trading partners of this country. So the exchange rate will be a kind of measure for determining the competitiveness of the goods of a given country in relation to foreign goods.

The exchange rate largely affects international economic relations.

1. It helps to predict future financial results of economic activity and, therefore, determines the most beneficial economic relationships. This is due to the fact that producers can compare their costs with world prices.

2. It directly affects the socio-economic situation of the country, which is manifested in many other indicators, for example, in the state of the balance of payments.

3. It has an impact on the redistribution of the total world gross domestic product between individual countries.

It is for this reason that the interests of different states intersect in this area, which in turn leads from time to time to conflicts. In this situation, governments are required to take appropriate measures not only at the state, but also at the international level. These measures should effectively smooth out conflicts, eliminate contradictions and disagreements.

The exchange of monetary units has existed for a long time: for several centuries this exchange existed in an undeveloped form, namely the exchange business. Now currency exchange is carried out in the foreign exchange markets. The volume of daily trade is enormous and cannot be explained in terms of international trade needs and investment flows alone. Currency speculation plays a big role here. The fact is that many people want to make money on a correctly guessed future movement of the exchange rate. In the case of a correct calculation, the profit can be a significant part of the money invested, but in the case of a “lose”, the losses will also be considerable.

The gradual formation of stable relations between countries regarding the purchase and sale of currency led to the emergence in each country of a national, and then a common, world monetary system. The monetary system can be viewed in two ways:

1) it is a regularity due to the ever-increasing strengthening of international economic ties;

2) it is fixed with the help of specially developed norms at the national level and international agreements.

Any monetary system, like other systems, consists of a number of elements and their interrelations. The basis of everything is the currency. In national systems, this role is played by the national currency, and in the general, world - accounting currency units and reserve currencies, which are used as an international means of payment and reserve.

An extremely important characteristic degree of currency convertibility, which means the level of freedom to exchange this currency for a foreign one. There are freely convertible, partially convertible and non-convertible currencies. Convertibility is characterized by the absence of currency restrictions - measures that determine and control transactions with national currencies. Today, in most countries there are certain restrictions, and only the currencies of the leading economically developed countries are fully convertible. Full convertibility of any currency can only be achieved through deep structural changes in the country's economy.

All national currencies are exchanged for foreign according to a certain ratio, which is determined by law. This ratio is called parity. There are also currency regimes. There are only two of them: fixed and free floating. With a fixed one, some fluctuations are allowed only in a number of cases, and with a freely floating exchange rate regime, it is formed as a result of the interaction of supply and demand. In addition to them, there are their combinations in varying degrees and varieties.

In addition, currency systems include the regime of the foreign exchange market and the gold market.

Foreign exchange market - This is the area of ​​economic relations that arise when buying or selling foreign currency. They also move capital. The international currency market does not have any single center: it is decentralized. Most of the transactions are made by large financial institutions using the latest electronic equipment. New high technologies have made it possible to speed up the execution of transactions, but this does not eliminate the risk when making transactions on it.

3. Organizational and legal foundation of the modern monetary and financial system

The emergence and development of the world monetary and financial system was due to the development of international economic relations and mainly trade. When carrying out trade operations, it was necessary to determine the ratio of national currencies to each other. This prompted the monetary system to develop.

The very first monetary system was formed in 1867. At the Paris Conference, an interstate agreement was concluded, according to which gold became the only form of world money. In the calculations, national gold coins were used, but their value was determined not by face value, but by weight. The main principles on which the Paris Monetary System was built should be highlighted:

1) its basis was the gold standard;

2) any currency could be freely exchanged for gold in accordance with the gold content;

3) the principle of freely floating exchange rates was established, in which supply and demand were taken into account, but it was limited to "gold dots" (exchange rate deviation from the monetary one).

The gold standard had varieties: the gold standard (banks freely minted coins until the beginning of the 1922th century), the gold bullion standard (gold was used in the case of international settlements - from the beginning of the XNUMXth century until the First World War), the gold exchange standard (gold and currencies were used in calculations other countries - from XNUMX to World War II).

The gold exchange standard had its advantages:

1) since international gold flows stabilized exchange rates and thereby created favorable conditions for the development of interethnic trade, this ensured relative stability in both domestic and foreign policy;

2) reliability of forecasts regarding the company's financial flows, more accurate planning of expenses and income. All this was ensured by the stability of exchange rates.

Of course, the gold standard also had disadvantages:

1) direct dependence of the money supply in the world on the extraction, processing and production of gold;

2) the inability of the state to pursue a policy focused on solving its internal problems, since the country could not develop, much less put into practice an independent monetary policy.

Naturally, for the functioning of such a monetary system, each country needed gold reserves, as well as a certain amount of gold money in circulation. But this was not feasible, since the world's gold reserves are limited, and, therefore, the crisis of this system was predetermined. Gradually, she showed her weaknesses: after all, with the strengthening of economic ties between countries and with economic development, she could not really cope with all the cash flows. The situation was significantly worsened by the First World War: a huge amount of money was spent on it, and this despite the fact that its participants issued a large amount of paper money to cover their expenses, stopping their exchange for gold. The result was strong inflation and confusion in monetary and financial relations.

After the war in 1922, at the Genoese Economic Conference, a new currency system was created - the Genoese. A gold-motto standard was established, which was based on gold and currencies convertible into gold. The mottos were called funds in foreign currency intended for international settlements. The basis of the new system was:

1) gold and mottos. Foreign funds began to be used for settlements at the conclusion of international transactions. On the one hand, this removed a significant part of the restrictions on the use of the gold coin standard, and on the other hand, the entire world monetary system became dependent on the state of the economy of the leading countries of the world;

2) gold parities were kept. Currencies could be exchanged for gold directly (currencies of countries such as the United States, Great Britain, France) or through foreign currencies;

3) the regime of freely floating exchange rates was restored;

4) an active monetary policy, international conferences, meetings on currency regulation were carried out. This became a necessary element of the global financial system and showed the inability of the market to regulate international monetary and financial relations.

This system was also ambiguous. Although it provided relative stability in the sphere of international trade and financial relations, at the same time it laid the foundation for "currency wars". Its stability was shaken by the severe economic crisis. This was largely due to the weakening of the US dollar. The internal exchange of banknotes for gold was stopped, and only the external exchange was preserved under the agreement of the USA, Great Britain and France. By the beginning of World War II, there was not a single stable currency.

During the war, despite the fact that exchange rates were frozen, inflation grew, and in these conditions, gold again began to act as a reserve and means of payment. The exchange rate has lost its meaning. This prompted countries to develop a new system during the war, since the Genoese practically ceased to function, since there was a threat of a repeat of the crisis of the 1930s.

The scientists developing the project tried to take into account all the shortcomings of previous systems and develop such principles under which it would be possible to simultaneously ensure economic growth and reduce the negative socio-economic consequences of crises. As a result, a third system was created. In 1944, the Bretton Woods monetary system was adopted at the UN Monetary and Financial Conference. Its main principles were:

1) gold-motto standard based on US dollar and pound sterling;

2) four forms of use of gold were envisaged: gold parities of currencies; as a payment and reserve means; the US dollar was equal to gold; the US dollar was exchanged for gold based on its gold content;

3) the ratio of currencies of different states and their convertibility began to be carried out on the basis of currency parities, which were fixed and expressed in dollars;

4) such international organizations as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were created. Their tasks were to provide loans, monitor the functioning of the system and compliance with the rules of other countries.

This system assumed in the future the gradual abolition of foreign exchange restrictions.

The adoption of the dollar standard is explained by the economic superiority of the United States. In fact, the US dollar began to play the same role as gold in previous monetary and financial systems. This created a high demand for the dollar.

This period is characterized by economic instability, increased inflation and numerous crises in the balance of payments. This led to the depreciation of other currencies against the dollar. The United States ceased to be the only currency center: two other centers appeared - Western Europe and Japan.

Since the end of World War II, there have been six major currency areas in the world, including the US dollar, British pound sterling, French franc, Spanish peseta, Portuguese escudo and Dutch guilder, with the French currency area being the most stable of these.

All this led to the fact that in the late 1960s. the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system. Its main reasons were:

1) a cyclical crisis that has engulfed the economies of almost all countries since the late 1960s;

2) increased inflation had an impact on the dynamics of exchange rates;

3) differences in the economic development of various countries and, as a result, strong currency fluctuations;

4) a system based on only one currency was in conflict with the internationalization of the world economy. In addition, the external debt of the United States has grown;

5) transnational corporations conducted large-scale speculation with foreign currencies.

In its development, the crisis of the Bretton Woods system went through a number of stages: a double gold market was established, then the exchange of the dollar for gold was temporarily prohibited, the devaluation of the dollar, and then at the International Paris Conference it was decided to set exchange rates in accordance with the laws of the market.

The crisis of the Bretton Woods system could not be overcome. It manifested itself in a "currency fever", a panic on the stock exchange, a fall in securities prices, fluctuations in gold and foreign exchange reserves, national regulation of exchange rates, and a violation of the principles of the Bretton Woods system.

The dollar crisis has even led to political uprisings against US monetary policy. Negotiations to resolve this problem ended with the conclusion of the Washington Agreement (1971). Some measures were agreed upon, but the US did not commit itself to restoring the convertibility of the US dollar into gold. The special status of the dollar was preserved. The Washington Agreement was able to reduce the contradictions for a while, but did not cope with them completely. A year later, a new currency crisis affected the dollar. Since it was not possible to overcome the crisis of the monetary and financial Bretton Woods system, it was necessary to create a new one.

4. Jamaican system. Reforming the IMF

The crisis of the Bretton Woods system gave impetus to the development of new projects for reforming the monetary and financial sector. It was also connected with the crisis of Keynesianism, on which the exchange regulation within the monetary system was based. The reform of the system was developed for a long time, and as a result, in 1976, the countries - participants of the International Monetary Fund in Kingston (Jamaica) adopted a new agreement, ratified in 1974. Its main principles are:

1) instead of the gold motto, the SDR standard (special drawing rights) is established;

2) the official price of gold is canceled, the exchange of dollars for gold stops. Gold no longer serves as a measure of the value of exchange rates;

3) states can choose the exchange rate regime;

4) the International Monetary Fund strengthens currency regulation between countries;

5) the central banks of the state intervene to stabilize exchange rates;

6) the exchange rate is formed freely under the influence of supply and demand;

7) the new system is based not on any one currency, but on several.

Naturally, to a certain extent, the continuity of the old and new systems has been preserved: one can trace a parallel between the SDR and the US dollar. While the Jamaican system is more flexible and easier to adjust to exchange rate fluctuations, it has been affected by crises from time to time.

The basis of the new monetary system are floating exchange rates, as well as the use of a multi-currency standard.

During the transition to floating exchange rates, the following goals were pursued: equalizing the rate of price growth in various countries, achieving an equilibrium of balances of payments, increasing the independence of the central banks of various countries in the conduct of domestic monetary policy.

According to the decision of the International Monetary Fund, any country can choose one of three exchange rate regimes: floating, fixed or mixed. There are different types of fixed rates:

1) the exchange rate of the national currency is fixed in relation to one chosen currency. When the exchange rate of this "base" currency changes, the exchange rate of the national currency also changes in appropriate proportions. As a rule, currencies are fixed in relation to the British pound sterling, US dollar, French franc;

2) the rate of the national currency is fixed in relation to the SDR;

3) the rate of the national currency is fixed in relation to artificially created combinations of currencies. As a rule, they include the currencies of partner countries of a given state;

4) the exchange rate of the national currency is determined on the basis of the moving parity. Just as in the first case, the exchange rate is set in relation to some base currency, but the ratio between them is determined by a special agreed formula that takes into account the difference in socio-economic development.

Basically, economically developed countries use the regime of pure and group floating of exchange rates, while developing countries fix the exchange rate of the national currency against a stronger currency or use sliding parity to determine it.

A very important role is played by a kind of special drawing rights - SDRs. In the Jamaican system, they are officially recognized reserve assets. In 1978, gold was replaced by the SDR as the standard of value.

Thus, the SDR has become an important means by which international settlements are made. But SDRs can only be used by countries that are members of the International Monetary Fund.

To carry out these operations, the SDR Department was specially created, and today all the countries that are members of the IMF participate in its activities. This system operates at the highest level with the help of central banks and various international organizations.

The IMF can create unconditional liquidity by issuing funds denominated in SDRs. SDRs are also issued when the IMF's Executive Board concludes that there is a shortage of available liquid reserves and needs to be replenished.

An estimate is made of the required size of the issue and emission in the form of special entries that are made in the relevant accounts of the IMF.

The distribution is made in accordance with the size of the quota of a given country. Quotas, in turn, are determined in accordance with the income of the country - a member of the International Monetary Fund: the richer the state, the larger its quota.

Not only IMF participants can hold and use SDRs. By decision of the Board of Governors of the IMF, they can be used by other countries, as well as international and even regional institutions, but on condition that they have an official status.

The Jamaican system has a number of advantages over the previous ones, but still it is also contradictory. The intended results were only partially achieved. One of the reasons is the existing freedom of a diverse choice of options for action within the framework of this system.

Another reason is the leading position of the dollar in the Jamaican currency system. This fact was favored by the following circumstances:

1) dollar reserves of states and individuals that have been preserved since the functioning of the Bretton Woods monetary system;

2) stable active balances of payments of those countries whose currencies could claim the role of alternative currencies to the dollar;

3) Euro-dollar markets, regardless of the US balance of payments, create dollars and, therefore, supply the world monetary system with the funds that are necessary for transactions.

5. The problem of stability of the post-Jamaican global financial architecture. Strengthening the connection of the national monetary system of Russia with the world monetary system

The World Monetary Fund has promoted globalization through liberalization. This is what led to the fact that in the 1990s. the world monetary system has become less stable. The reason for this was the liberalization of the movement of capital, which contributed to this process: there were very sharp changes in supply and demand, but not only for currency, but also for capital (mostly loan and, in particular, fictitious).

Increasing aggravation of the crisis phenomena in the 1990s. combined with attempts to resolve them, which was very costly, forced the world community to look for ways to stabilize the world monetary and financial system. These methods were evolutionary in nature and did not provide for a fundamental revision of the agreement of the International Monetary Fund, which indicated the principles of its work. Such measures include assistance in creating transparency in the use of budgetary funds, strengthening the monetary and financial systems of individual countries, liberalizing the capital market, developing an integrated approach, and involving the private sector in resolving problems associated with financial crises.

An important element of this "new architecture" is the strengthening of the monetary and financial systems of states and the liberalization of the movement of capital. The term "financial architecture" itself was used in a speech by US President B. Clinton in September 1998. He noted that the financial crisis of 1997-1998. was very strong and that the world community should modify the financial system by the XNUMXst century.

Thus, an impetus was given for further improvement of the Jamaican system, i.e., an evolutionary path was chosen. The US Treasury Department said the upcoming reform will be consistent and not a "one-time dramatic announcement."

Various countries have proposed many options to address this issue. For example, Germany has put forward the idea of ​​creating "target zones". She was supported by several other countries. But the United States had a different point of view on this issue: they believed that such a system could lead to a complication of the situation in the field of currency conversion and would impede the free movement of capital. Until 1999, Germany insisted on the implementation of its project, and only after it softened its position on this issue, it became possible to follow another project. It was developed by British Finance Minister G. Brown.

In 1998 and 1999, G. Brown's articles "A New Global Financial Architecture" and "Building a Strong World Financial System" were published, in which he talked about reform plans. He argued that for a long period of time, the policy in the monetary and financial sphere was formed with a focus on national economies and individual national monetary and financial regimes, while not taking into account the processes of globalization, which over time play an increasingly important role. At the present stage of development of world economic relations, the currency markets of any state cannot remain aloof from world financial flows. It is in connection with this that the world community needs a new financial architecture and reforms both at the global and national levels.

The new financial architecture should become an international regulator that establishes responsibility for the prevention and settlement of international currency crises, i.e. certain rules of behavior and interaction are developed.

G. Brown also criticized the Washington Consensus of the 1980s. He intended to minimize state intervention. This led to the fact that by 1997 the system was practically unmanageable and uncontrollable. This, in turn, threatened a serious financial crisis on a global scale.

G. Brown spoke about the need for such a financial system of the 1980st century that would combine all the positive features of global markets and international capital flows and at the same time minimize the risks of collapses and reduce its vulnerability. Decisions made in the 1990s should feed into the new consensus of the XNUMXs, which would oversee the actions of countries, place an emphasis on creating conditions for growth, reducing unemployment, and encouraging fair competition.

The reform of the international monetary and financial system began in the late 1990s. This provides for the development and implementation of international standards in practice, and also involves reforming the lending activities of the International Monetary Fund.

The International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development are called upon to ensure compliance with the rules in the field of monetary and financial policy of states.

The following documents were adopted: Code of Good Practice on Fiscal Transparency and Code of Good Practice on Transparency in Monetary and Financial Policy: Declaration of Principles (1998), Code of Good Practice on Fiscal Transparency: Declaration of Principles (1999) .). Also, a Corporate Governance Code and a new joint body of the IMF and IBRD, designed to help strengthen the financial systems of states, the Financial Sector Liaison Committee, were created.

It is worth dwelling in more detail on reforming the lending activities of the IMF. This provides for the IMF to assume obligations to prevent, resolve and contain financial crises, especially in countries where a market economy is just being born. It was for these purposes, as the United States believed, that the Fund should provide the possibility of short-term lending to countries prone to crisis. This should concern, first of all, those countries that follow the prescriptions adopted at the international level. All these measures pursue, in fact, one important goal: to strengthen the Jamaican system and pay special attention not to eliminating monetary and financial crises, but to preventing and containing them.

But even the reformed Jamaican financial system is unable to eliminate the main causes that cause financial crises. The fact is that transnational banks and corporations benefit greatly from the freedom of movement of capital, as they are able to quickly transfer them from one market to another, as a result of which weaker economies and monetary systems become prone to financial crises. In this situation, global investors win, and the countries with less developed economies in the collapse of the foreign exchange market and the securities market should be under supervision and subject to regulation.

Thus, the post-Jamaican system does not eliminate the causes of crises. With the existing degree of freedom of currency conversion and capital movement, it cannot limit the freedom of investors and force them to give preference to the poorer and economically underdeveloped countries of the world. If it is unprofitable for them, then they will not invest, and if the situation worsens for them, for example, when interest rates are raised, they can generally move their free funds to other countries where the conditions for functioning will be more favorable for them.

This new system, although it includes various codes, treaties and standards, is still asymmetric for the reason that countries that are borrowers of the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations should be the object of control and supervision. Thus, countries, to the best of their ability, are trying to refuse to attract foreign currency loans from the IMF.

Reforming the activities of the IMF in the credit sector, which is accompanied by the actual cessation of long-term extended lending, is used to implement programs for the structural regulation of the economy of the state, mainly with an underdeveloped or transitional economy. These functions are transferred to the World Bank, which will actually mean an increase in their cost.

Also regulation in the post-Jamaican system of the XXI century. subject to international monetary and financial markets, their reaction to the results of their supervision.

Due to the relative equality of social, political and economic factors through which the stability of the state's monetary system is achieved, cash flows between these countries will be stimulated by the difference in interest rates. At the same time, capital coming from developing countries and countries with economies in transition will invariably be attracted to economically developed countries. At the same time, less developed countries still have to face International Monetary Fund regulation, which can be quite strict. For these countries, the information published by the Fund on the degree of compliance with codes and standards, the fulfillment of obligations is extremely important, since it can cause an undesirable reaction of the world monetary and financial markets with all the consequences.

Today, almost all countries of the world interact with each other and, of course, their currency markets are closely interconnected. Russia is no exception. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economies of Russia and other socialist countries were in some way isolated from the world economic system, since they were dominated by a command-administrative system. This does not mean that world crises, including currency ones, bypassed them. It's just that their influence was much less. With the transition of the country to a market economy, the monetary system of Russia became more closely connected with the world monetary system. It was influenced by all the reforms carried out by the IMF, and often this did not go in its favor, since the reforms being carried out to a large extent concerned the borrowing countries, they assumed control over the use of these funds. Also, the Russian monetary system is associated with the exchange rates of many countries leading in economic terms. First of all, it is the US dollar and the euro.

Thus, the national economies of various countries are closely interconnected. And in these conditions it is necessary to ensure the stability of the world monetary and financial system. Reforms in this area should be carried out consistently and take into account the interests of all countries of the world.

Lecture No. 9. International economic organizations and agreements

1. General Provisions

International organizations play a significant role in the modern world. As early as the beginning of the XNUMXth century. international organizations were endowed with a wide range of powers. The current stage of their development is characterized by the complication of their structure and the expansion of powers.

There are more than 4 thousand international organizations in the world, about 300 of them are intergovernmental. The most influential and authoritative is the United Nations.

Signs of an interstate organization:

1) membership of states;

2) the presence of a constituent agreement signed by the countries - members of the organization;

3) permanent bodies dealing with the tasks for which it was created;

4) respect for the sovereignty of the member countries of this organization.

Collecting these features together, we can define an international intergovernmental organization - this is an association of any number of states created on the basis of a constituent agreement to solve a problem or achieve a specific goal, having permanently functioning bodies and acting in accordance with the common interests of the states that are members of the into it, while respecting their sovereignty.

International organizations, depending on the nature of membership, are divided into interstate and non-governmental. Non-governmental organizations are not created on the basis of an interstate agreement: for example, the Association of International Law, the League of Red Cross Societies, etc.

International organizations, depending on the range of their tasks, are divided into universal (for example, the UN) and regional.

There are also other classifications.

The creation of an international organization is carried out in three stages:

1) development and adoption of the constituent document. For this, an international conference is being held, in which countries wishing to create this organization take part. They jointly develop and adopt the text of the treaty;

2) ensuring the material structure of the organization;

3) creation and maintenance of the functioning of the main bodies.

Upon liquidation, as a rule, the member countries of the organization sign a protocol on its dissolution.

The competence of an international organization includes the objects and spheres of its activity, as well as the powers with which it is endowed. It is limited by a treaty, which is the result of negotiations between states.

All decisions of international organizations are taken by its bodies. They are formed sequentially, over a certain period of time. Everything starts with an initiative coming from the state, several countries, bodies or officials. The project is then put on the agenda of the body that decides on this issue.

After that, a discussion takes place directly in the body itself or is sometimes transferred for consideration to a special commission. There the decision is discussed - whether it is worth putting it to the vote. If the answer is yes, then a vote is taken.

The decision may be taken unanimously, by a simple majority or a qualified majority, or without a vote. In international practice, it is more common to make decisions based on consensus.

2. The role of the UN system in the development of multilateral regulation of IER

For many years now, the world community has been relying on the United Nations, which is global in nature, in solving the most important tasks in the field of international economic relations. There are more and more political problems in the world. The UN is trying to resolve them, but along with this, its role in solving economic issues is increasing. More and more new areas for it in international economic relations are becoming the subject of detailed analysis, study, ways to solve a particular issue. For example, the UN helped develop the most important economic indicators that are currently used around the world. At the same time, the structure of the organization itself is becoming more complex and new institutions are emerging, the number of countries participating in its activities is increasing, and the number of contacts with both international and national organizations of various countries is growing.

With the development of international economic relations, the deepening of specialization and the international division of labor, there is an increasing need for quick and effective decision-making regarding international problems and the economic activities of countries.

But still, the United Nations is primarily political in nature. This can be seen from the principles enshrined in the Charter. It does not contain any specially stipulated principles on which the economic cooperation of both these states and the whole world would be based. However, there are a number of principles that describe the economic cooperation of states, but they are not specifically highlighted and refer to the general principles of cooperation between countries that are members of the World Trade Organization.

The economic activity of the UN is carried out in four main directions.

1) overcoming global economic problems;

2) cooperation assistance to countries with different levels of economic development;

3) promoting the economic growth of developing countries;

4) search for solutions to problems related to regional development.

To solve these problems, the following forms of activity are used.

1. Information activity. Its goal is to influence countries in the field of economic policy. The result of this work can only be seen in the future. Statistical data from various fields are collected and processed, analyzed, and on the basis of this, states receive information related to economic development.

2. Technical and advisory activities. It manifests itself in the form of technical assistance to various countries. But when providing such assistance, the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of a given country should be used, equipment should be of really high quality and should be provided in a form convenient for a given country.

3. Monetary and financial activities. It is carried out with the help of international organizations: the International Finance Corporation, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the International Development Association. From a formal point of view, all these organizations are specialized units UN.

There are six main organs of the UN mentioned in the Charter. But within the framework of economic cooperation, three of them are distinguished: the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Secretariat.

General Assembly is essentially a forum for discussing the most important problems of an economic nature. The Assembly may, at its own discretion, establish organizations for international cooperation between states in various fields, such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), etc.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) - next in importance after the General Assembly. He \ coordinates the activities of the UN in the socio-economic sphere. The main body of ECOSOC is the Council session. Every year three sessions are held on different issues: spring - on humanitarian and socio-legal issues, summer - on socio-economic issues and an organizational session. Its main functions are: qualified discussion and development of the main political line on the most important world issues, coordination of activities on socio-economic issues, research in the field of international cooperation and socio-economic development. Thus, the Economic and Social Council coordinates the activities of its standing committees, various commissions and subcommissions, regional economic commissions, as well as UN specialized agencies.

The UN Secretariat is an administrative and executive body designed to ensure the normal functioning of the UN institutions and agencies that perform certain functions. Most of the employees of the Secretariat work for the economic service. The UN economic service includes several divisions, the largest of which is the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Many UN organizations carry out their activities in the field of international economic relations. The Conference on Trade and Development, although it is not a trade organization, is attended by almost all countries - members of the UN. It promotes the development of world trade, ensures the observance of the rights of countries in cooperation, develops principles and recommendations, as well as mechanisms for the functioning of relations between countries, and participates in the activities of other UN economic institutions.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization promotes the industrialization of developing countries. This organization provides both financial assistance and develops recommendations on the use of resources, setting up production, conducting research and development and creating special production management bodies.

The United Nations Development Program is a program to provide assistance to developing countries in the most important sectors of the economy. It includes technical, pre-investment and investment assistance.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is responsible for coordinating the activities of other organizations to provide material and non-material assistance.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe solves problems of an ecological nature, in the field of efficient use of energy and in the transport and forestry sectors (from the standpoint of ecology).

The Economic Commission for Africa provides advice on the economic development of the African continent. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean performs the same functions, only for this region.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific promotes regional economic cooperation, technology transfer, investment and infrastructure development in the region.

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia creates favorable conditions for the development of cooperation in various fields and strengthens economic relations.

Thus, the UN plays an important role in regulating international economic relations. And despite the fact that there are certain difficulties in functioning, for more than fifty years the most important economic and political issues have been resolved with its help.

3. WTO and other organizations and agreements as a tool for multilateral regulation of international economic relations

Currently, the World Trade Organization (WTO) plays an important role in world relations. It is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Therefore, considering the activities of the WTO, one should turn to the history of the development of its predecessor.

GATT as an international organization was established in 1947. It was designed to deal with issues related to world customs tariffs. It was based on the following rules:

1) ensuring the equality of all goods and services of different countries in relation to taxes within the country;

2) prohibition of quantitative restrictions and other protectionist measures in order to protect the national producer;

3) resolution of disputes in accordance with specially developed mechanisms;

4) implementation of foreign trade transactions on a private legal basis.

The main activity of this organization was to hold meetings and negotiations, during which issues related to the regulation of trade between the participating countries were resolved.

Most of the negotiations concerned the reduction of customs duties. As a result, duties decreased from 40-60% (1945-1947) to 3-5% by the early 1990s.

During the activities of the GATT, several major documents were adopted that affect the nature of international relations: the Code for the customs valuation of goods, the Code of Standards, as well as other documents aimed at the internationalization of world trade.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in April 1994. It retained the general provisions of the GATT and aimed to ensure freedom of trade.

The WTO documents include the rules that regulated the activities of the GATT and determined the tasks of certain structures within this organization, which later became part of the WTO, trade agreements between groups of countries (on agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, etc.), agreements reached in the field of regulation and resolution of disputes arising from international trade, as well as agreements that are not binding on all participating countries, and sectoral tariff initiatives.

Currently, the WTO includes about 150 countries of the world. It accounts for almost 97% of international trade. The principles of conduct of countries that are members of the World Trade Organization have been developed over decades, and therefore this organization ensures, to the best of its ability, equality in the implementation of foreign trade exchange.

Not every country can immediately join the WTO. To do this, it is necessary to carry out a number of effective measures aimed at eliminating administrative measures, economic and tariff levers in this area, that is, this means a gradual reduction in customs tariffs and import duties.

Tariff regulation is very important today for a number of reasons: it is an effective and flexible tool for economic regulation at a given level of development of commodity-money relations between different countries of the world; since customs tariffs exist in all countries of the world, they have a significant impact on the formation of international commodity flows; unlike other instruments of regulation, the customs tariffs of a country cover all imported goods, and not individual items; tariffs are easy to control.

The liberalization of international trade within the framework of the WTO is beneficial to countries for two reasons:

1) when import tariffs are reduced, the relative price level changes, therefore, resources are redistributed in the direction of production, which leads to an increase in GDP and national income of the state;

2) in the long term, the economy of a country that has joined the WTO benefits from adapting to new competitive conditions, using new technologies in the production sector.

All this leads to the fact that high-quality and less expensive goods appear on the market that are available to the consumer.

The WTO assumes carrying out its own, independent policy. This organization independently exercises control over the execution of decisions and agreements adopted within its framework. It has bodies involved in the management and control of the activities of the WTO as a whole.

In the world there are many organizations involved in credit and financial activities, which have long been one of the most authoritative and influential in the world.

The International Monetary Fund was established to regulate the financial relations that arise between countries and to help with currency difficulties through the provision of loans in foreign currency. This fund is the basis of the world monetary system, and by status it is a specialized agency of the UN.

The IMF was created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods conference. Its goals are to promote the development of the monetary and financial sphere, expand world trade, ensure the stability of exchange rates, etc. As the world monetary and financial system developed, amendments were made. They concerned mainly changes in the structure and principles of the functioning of the world monetary system.

The main governing body is the Board of Governors. In it, each country participating in this fund is represented by a manager and his deputy. This Council is engaged in making decisions related to the activities of the Fund, the admission of new states to it, changing the basic provisions, etc.

The International Monetary Fund is organized as a joint-stock company: its capital is formed from the contributions of the countries included in it. Each country has a certain quota. This is one of the basic concepts that help to understand the relationship of states with the Fund. The quota determines the amount of capital subscription, the country's ability to use the Fund's available resources, the amount of SDRs upon receipt, the share of the country's votes in the IMF when voting on any issues.

Quotas are set in a certain order, according to which this procedure takes into account indicators such as GDP, official gold and foreign exchange reserves and the volume of current operations of the balance of payments. That is why quotas are unevenly distributed among member countries. At the same time, the volume of quotas held by each country may be reviewed at least once every five years.

The International Monetary Fund provides loans to its members. He can do this for two reasons: either to cover the deficit of the country's balance of payments, or to maintain stability in the country and carry out structural economic reforms.

There are other institutions, such as the World Bank Group. This institution is a division of the United Nations and includes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (MAP), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The main objectives of the World Bank are the fight against poverty, stimulation of economic growth, promotion of market relations in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was established in 1990. It was established not only by European countries, but states that are members of the International Monetary Fund can become its members. The main task of the bank was determined during its creation - assistance in the transition from a planned to a market economy, as well as the development of personal entrepreneurial initiative. The main functions of the bank are: promoting the development and strengthening of the private sector of the economy, attracting foreign capital to this, investing in the economies of these countries, stimulating national markets, technical assistance to promising projects, etc.

4. Participation of Russia in the structures and mechanisms of multilateral economic cooperation

Analyzing the role of Russia in international structures and mechanisms of economic cooperation between different countries of the world, one should touch upon activities within the framework of the most influential organizations.

In general, the data show that our country does not participate in their activities to the full extent of its capabilities and could occupy a more worthy position both economically and politically.

Russia's share in world exports of goods and services is estimated at only a few percent, and even less in imports. This shows the still low level of our country's involvement in international trade.

Europe is Russia's main partner. It accounts for most of the exports and almost half of all imports. The share of Germany in this is very large, which is due to long-standing historical ties, the high quality of goods produced on its territory, relatively low purchase prices and, of course, a relatively close location.

Other trading partners of Russia are the USA, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Italy, etc.

As for the CEE countries, it should be noted that their share in exports, as well as in imports, is quite small, with no tendency to increase.

Due to the unstable economic situation, for a long time there was a decrease in trade with countries that were previously part of the USSR.

As for the commodity structure of exports, it should be noted that it has remained virtually unchanged for many years. It includes about 4000 different types of Russian-made products, but the main sources of income from them are oil, gas, forest resources, non-ferrous metals, and diamonds. Moreover, the most important, providing most of the foreign exchange earnings is the production of fuel and raw materials.

The structure of imports is dominated by machinery and equipment, as well as medicines, meat, alcoholic and other drinks, etc.

In the early 1990s Russia became a member of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This allowed it to expand its ability to raise funds for restructuring and further development of the economy. This applies not only to these organizations themselves, cooperation with them also creates favorable conditions for other investors. Cooperation with the IMF made it possible to reach agreements with the Paris and London Clubs regarding the payment of Russia's debts, most of which are the debts of the USSR.

By taking part in the activities of world monetary and financial organizations, Russia joins the activities and experience accumulated by the international community in the field of regulation of monetary and financial and credit spheres.

But in addition to rights, any country that joins the IMF and IBRD also has a number of obligations, the fulfillment of which sometimes requires the adoption of not only economic, but also complex political decisions.

When establishing relations with the IBRD, Russia in the 1990s. received up to $2 billion a year in loans. Only China and India received more funds from it. The loans provided by the bank were intended for infrastructure development, economic recovery and large-scale economic reforms.

Russia closely cooperates with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It also provided large loans to our country, which were mostly used to create venture funds, develop some targeted programs, etc. The EBRD often took part in lending to some risky projects from the point of view of investors. For example, he provided loans to shipbuilding companies.

But, of course, cooperation with international lending institutions does not give a XNUMX% guarantee of obtaining loans in any size. Russia had problems in the course of lending from the IMF. For example, on several occasions already promised loans were refused or operations related to their provision were frozen.

To date, Russia has fully repaid its debts to international organizations, which allowed it to save a significant amount of money on interest. But, unfortunately, the possibility of early repayment of the debt arose largely due to high prices for energy resources, a major supplier of which is our country.

Russia is a member of the United Nations. This allows her to take part in the resolution of important economic and political issues. After the collapse of the USSR, this also helped her a lot in obtaining international assistance, and besides, participation in the activities of an organization of this level increases the prestige of the country on the world stage.

Thus, Russia is actively involved in the structures and mechanisms of international economic cooperation. This is very important for any country in the world, since at the current level of development, no state can separately engage in the development of the national economy. Participation in the largest international organizations allows Russia to receive benefits, which was important after the collapse of the USSR. But besides the advantages, she also has obligations in relation to them, which must also be fulfilled. However, in any case, activities within the framework of these organizations allow obtaining not only economic, but also political benefits.

Lecture No. 10. Macroeconomic equilibrium in an open economy

1. The ratio of internal and external equilibrium and the macroeconomic role of the balance of payments

Before talking about the macroeconomic equilibrium of an open economy, this concept itself should be clearly defined. According to the degree of involvement of a state in the international division of labor, countries with open and closed economies are distinguished.

A closed economy should be understood as an economic system, the development of which is determined only by internal needs, problems and trends. Such an economy is to a small extent subject to changes taking place in world economic interaction. Although economic ties with other countries are present, they are minimal at the same time.

An open economy is understood as an economic system, which in its development is subject to the influence of global trends. External ties are very strong. At the same time, countries receive both undoubted pluses and minuses: dependence on the international economic situation and exposure to global crises.

Just the fact that a given state has links with others does not mean that the economy of this country is open. But today, at this stage in the development of the international economic system, no country can develop in isolation from other countries.

The degree of openness of the economy can be different. It depends on many factors: the size of the country, its endowment with natural resources, the level of development of productive forces, the sectoral structure of production, the degree of participation in the international division of labor, etc.

To assess the degree of openness of the economy, concepts such as export and import quotas are used. The export quota characterizes the level of significance of exports for a given country, and the import quota characterizes imports.

Speaking about the relationship between internal and external equilibrium, it is necessary to consider models that explain their essence.

The Keynesian model of economic equilibrium involves the analysis of two markets - money and commodity, the equilibrium state of which is reflected using the LM and IS curves, respectively.

When these curves intersect, an equilibrium of the commodity and money markets sets in, i.e., this is the so-called internal equilibrium for a closed economy.

The problem of equilibrium in the commodity and money markets was analyzed by the English economist John Hicks. To do this, he proposed using the IS-LM model (IS - investment and savings; LM - liquidity - money). American economist Alvin Hansen also contributed to its development. He proposed to combine the real and monetary sectors of the economy, and therefore the IS-LM model is called the Hicks-Hansen model.

One part of this model shows the condition of equilibrium in the goods market, and the other - in the money market. Equilibrium in the commodity market requires equality of investment and savings, and in the money market, the correspondence of the demand for money to the available money supply.

Changes in the commodity market can lead to changes in the money market, and vice versa. According to studies conducted by E. Hicks, the equilibrium in these markets is determined by the rate of interest and the level of income at the same time. Thus, the situation in these markets establishes an equilibrium level of income and an equilibrium level of the rate of interest.

But with all this, this model somewhat simplifies the real picture, since it assumes price stability, a short period under consideration, equality of savings and investment, and matching of supply and demand for money. Thus, this model will not always be able to show the exact real situation.

The Hicks-Hansen model was endorsed by D. M. Keynes and soon became very popular. It allows to present the functional relationships in the commodity and money markets. But this model can only be used for a closed economy.

An additional BP curve is used to describe an open economy. The points on this curve show the combinations of interest rate and income that balance the balance of payments and the foreign exchange market.

External equilibrium is the intersection of all three curves - IS, LM, BP. The point of intersection will show the equilibrium in the commodity, money and currency markets.

To ensure both internal and external balance in the economy of a given state, it is necessary to use state regulation measures, which are described by the IS-LM-BP model. The results of the conduct of monetary and tax policy may differ depending on the exchange rate. For example, with a fixed exchange rate, monetary expansion will not have an effective result, while fiscal expansion will have a positive effect.

It is very important to ensure the balance of the foreign exchange market and the balance of payments. The balance of payments plays an important role as an indicator that shows the multilateral complex of relations between the state and other countries. This reflects not only economic, but also political, cultural and military ties between countries. The balance of payments is a value expression of the volume, structure and nature of the country's international operations and the degree of its participation in the world economic system.

An important role in this matter is played by the balance of current operations. In a closed economy, all products produced within a given country are sold there, and all costs can be divided into three parts: consumer spending, investment, government spending. But in an open economy, part of the output produced is subject to export, which means that the costs of non-residents of this state for goods or services produced in the country's territory should be taken into account when calculating the output. In addition, domestic spending includes spending on products manufactured abroad. To obtain accurate information about products manufactured in the territory of a given state, it is necessary to deduct the cost of products imported from abroad.

The current account balance can be represented as the difference between exports and imports. The current account balance can then be defined as Y = consumer spending + government spending + investment + current account balance (net exports). This is the most common form of notation. If the value of net exports is positive, then this indicates a positive current account balance of the country, and negative net exports indicates the presence of a deficit balance of payments.

The net export indicator is one of the most important indicators reflecting the state of the economy. Its changes can lead to changes in the aggregate output and in the sphere of employment.

It is also an equation for the relationship between total output, domestic spending, and net exports. If output is greater than domestic expenditure, then the country in question can be said to export this difference: net exports are greater than zero. If output is less than domestic spending, then this means the import of the difference, and in this case the value of net exports is negative.

The interconnection of accounts of the balance of payments is very important for macroeconomic analysis. The relationship between the current account and the capital account can be represented algebraically by transforming the basic national accounts identity. From the equation it follows that they balance each other. If investments exceed national savings, then this implies financing from abroad through investments and foreign loans. This allows the country to import more than it exports. This in most cases means that the country is in debt and the current account deficit is covered by net capital inflows. Conversely, with more national savings than domestic investment, the state itself can act as a creditor in relation to other countries of the world, which means an outflow of excess capital.

Thus, the capital account and the current account are balanced, from which it should be concluded that international financial flows and international flows of manufactured products are closely interconnected.

Issues and problems relating to external and internal balance are closely intertwined. The instruments by which the regulation of internal equilibrium is achieved (monetary and fiscal policy) affect the state of macroeconomic equilibrium. This is also related to currency regulation, for example, with the system adopted in this state as the basis for setting exchange rates (floating or fixed).

2. Spending multiplier in an open economy

In general, a multiplier is a coefficient that shows the change in the level of investment depending on the change in income.

According to Keynesian theory, an increase in consumption, government spending, or investment leads to an increase in national income (total output), and this increase will be greater than the increase in any part of spending.

With an increase in investment, GNP growth will occur much faster, since investment leads to the so-called incremental effect. In addition to the primary results, there will be further effects, i.e., spending in any one area will automatically entail an increase in production and employment in other areas.

There are various multipliers: government spending multiplier, tax multiplier, etc.

In order to talk about a multiplier in an open economy, it is necessary to introduce into the analysis such an element as net exports. At the same time, it is assumed that the volume of exports depends not on the national income of a given state, but on the growth in the amount of income abroad. In addition, an increase in a country's national income leads to an increase in its imports due to the marginal propensity to import. Marginal propensity to import measures the extent to which imports increase when a government's national income increases by $1.

The marginal propensity to import is, to some extent, similar to the marginal propensity to save, since it is also essentially a "leak" from the flow of spending within the country.

The value of the multiplier calculated for an open economy will be less than for a closed one. This is explained by the fact that the cost of importing products, as well as savings, cease to be a constituent part of the aggregate demand for the domestic product.

Thus, according to Keynesian theory, an increase in aggregate demand through an increase in the national income of the state can in turn lead to an increase in imports. In this case, the balance of current operations of this country will worsen, which may lead to a decrease in the level of the balance of payments as a whole.

At the same time, it cannot be argued that the causes that cause an increase in national income will necessarily lead to a deterioration in the current account of a given country. If the increase in national income is due to an increase in demand for products manufactured in the territory of this state, then the current account balance will not only not worsen, but will improve.

Also, the current account balance will improve even when the growth of the country's national income is carried out by increasing the domestic production of goods and services.

3. Macroeconomic role of the exchange rate

The exchange rate has a huge impact on macroeconomics. With the help of the exchange rate, prices for goods and services are compared in different countries of the world. The competitiveness of domestic goods in the world market, the value of exports and imports also depend on the exchange rate.

Fluctuations in the exchange rate can show the economic and political state of society, its stability.

The exchange rate is an object of macroeconomic regulation. This is due to the fact that with its help the settlement of the balance of payments is carried out.

The exchange rate is taken into account in the development and implementation of monetary (monetary) policy.

For countries with economies in transition, the exchange rate serves to stabilize in the event of high inflation.

The concept of the real exchange rate is important. It evaluates the competitiveness of products manufactured in the territory of a given country in the world market. If this indicator increases, then goods and services abroad become more expensive, which means that consumers will prefer cheaper domestic goods to foreign ones. If this indicator decreases, then this will mean that the goods and services of this country have risen in price, and, consequently, they will be bought less.

As a result of numerous observations, it was found that there is a dependence of the price level in a given country on real per capita income. In other words, the purchasing power of a particular currency will be higher the lower the per capita income in that country.

The low general price level in developing countries can be explained by the low price level of those goods that are not used in international trade, compared, of course, with those that are objects of international trade. The reason for this phenomenon is the lower level of labor productivity in developing countries. If the prices of world trade goods are approximately equal among themselves in all countries, then the relatively low level of labor productivity in these industries is an explanation for low wages and low production costs in industries oriented to international trade.

With the growth of economic development, the share of capital increases in comparison with labor in industries that produce products oriented to international trade, labor productivity and, therefore, wages grow. Labor and capital "prefer" more modern and high-tech industries that produce goods suitable for import.

At the same time, the supply of goods not used for international trade decreases, followed by an increase in their prices, and, as a result, the general price level will also rise. Thus, with an increase in real per capita income, the national currency of a given country becomes more expensive. The macroeconomic policy pursued in the state has a certain impact on the exchange rate in an open economy.

The depreciation stimulates the growth of exports, i.e. leads to an improvement in the current account balance. There is a direct relationship between the real exchange rate and net exports. The larger the depreciation, the lower the prices of goods and services produced in the country, the net exports will be larger, and, therefore, this leads to an increase in the current account surplus.

The real exchange rate is influenced by the fiscal policy of the government. An increase in state spending, as well as a reduction in taxes, leads to a reduction in national savings, a decrease in the supply of the national currency intended for foreign investment. This, in turn, will lead to an appreciation of the national currency and a reduction in net exports. This is all true for a small open economy.

In a large open economy, a decrease in world savings and an increase in the world interest rate cause a reduction in investment in a small open economy. There is an increase in loans provided abroad, which means an increase in the exchange rate. This, in turn, means an improvement in net exports through a decrease in the purchasing power of the country's currency.

4. Model of macroeconomic equilibrium in an open economy

Macroeconomic equilibrium has played a large role in economics since the Great Depression in the 1930s. It was at this time that macroeconomics itself appeared. DM Keynes proposed measures to achieve full employment through the regulation of domestic demand.

But in the context of the ever-increasing internationalization of economic life, macroeconomic equilibrium presupposes not only minimum inflation and full employment, but also an equilibrium system of external payments.

Current account imbalances, as well as large balance of payments deficits and rising external debt, could adversely affect the domestic economy. This can lead to an economic recession, a crisis in various spheres and sectors of the economy. But due to the close interrelations between different countries of the world, these consequences will manifest themselves beyond the borders of this state.

To achieve macroeconomic equilibrium, it is necessary to achieve internal and external equilibrium simultaneously. Internal equilibrium assumes the equality of aggregate demand and aggregate supply under the condition of minimum inflation. External equilibrium assumes a balanced balance of payments, a zero current account balance, a fixed level of foreign reserves.

If in the domestic economy macroeconomic policy is carried out with the help of monetary and fiscal policy, then for an open economy they use foreign trade, foreign exchange policy, etc. This, of course, implies a complication of macroeconomic relationships between countries of the world. This is done much more difficult, since it requires taking into account ever-increasing factors and conditions.

But in the course of implementing macroeconomic policy, a number of difficulties may arise. For example, due to the fact that it takes a lot of time to discuss monetary and monetary policy, and measures to change it may be needed very quickly. In addition, it is necessary to accurately choose exactly the point that is the equilibrium. Unfortunately, not all parameters are amenable to point estimation and not always.

It is also difficult to foresee changes in demand, investor behavior, and global behavior towards a given commodity.

The effectiveness of the development and implementation of such measures also depends on such indicators as the degree of trust in the government, economic expectations, etc.

Macroeconomic equilibrium cannot always be accurately described using an economic model.

If we are talking about the long term, then the national economy will react poorly to changes in the volume of money supply and the level of the exchange rate.

Authors: Nosova N.S., Ronshina N.I.

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Random news from the Archive Traco TEC 2(WI) and TEC 3(WI) DC/DC Converters 28.11.2021 Traco has updated its line of 2W and 3W regulated DC/DC converters with the new TEC_2, TEC_2WI, TEC_3 and TEC_3WI families with 2:1 and 4:1 input widths (for models suffix "WI"). New generation converters have improved circuitry and modern components. The production is fully automated, thanks to which it was possible to increase the efficiency of products and reduce costs without compromising quality and reliability. The transducers are manufactured in a standard SIP-8 housing, have 1600 V DC input-output isolation, in accordance with EN 62368-1. These DC/DC converters do not require a minimum load as they operate over the full 0...100% load range. The range of converters includes models with an extended input voltage range in the range of low values ​​- 4,5 ... 13,2 V and 4,5 ... 18 V (for models with the ending "WI"). The permissible operating temperature range is -40...90/95°C. The converters have output protection against short circuit and it is possible to remotely turn on/off (CTRL output). These families are intended for a wide range of applications in industrial devices, instrumentation, telecommunication systems and other applications where high reliability and long life cycle are required, combined with optimal component cost.

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