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It’s a Big World After All

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Author Info
Steven Brakman ()
Charles van Marrewijk ()

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Abstract

Thomas Friedman’s book the world is flat has been a bestseller since it appeared in 2005. The remarkable success of the book reflects to a certain extent the present fears with respect to increasing globalization. Using many examples, Friedman argues that distance (however defined) is no longer a dominant characteristic of the world economy, or will cease to be so in the very near future. Competition is thought to be a race to the bottom, with the lowest-wage countries as the big winners. We disagree, and with us many other economists (see, for example, Leamer, 2006). Distance dominates all aspects of international trade and many stylized facts of international trade can only be understood by pointing towards the importance of distance. Furthermore, there is little evidence of income convergence. Using various methods and data sets, we show that many threats of global competition for the position of the traditionally developed (OECD) countries are unwarranted.

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File URL: http://www.cesifo-group.de/DocCIDL/cesifo1_wp1964.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number CESifo Working Paper No. 1964.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1964

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Related research
Keywords: income levels; convergence; trade; distance; leapfrogging;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
F00 - International Economics - - General - - - General
N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General
O00 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - General - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Robert C. Feenstra, . "Integration Of Trade And Disintegration Of Production In The Global Economy," Department of Economics 98-06, California Davis - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. M. G. Quibria, 2005. "Measuring Global Poverty Right," World Economics, World Economics, Economic & Financial Publishing, PO Box 69, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, RG9 1GB, vol. 6(4), pages 111-121, October. [Downloadable!]
  3. Branko Milanovic, 2006. "Global Income Inequality," World Economics, World Economics, Economic & Financial Publishing, PO Box 69, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, RG9 1GB, vol. 7(1), pages 131-157, January. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-12-1.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.