The Effects of Technology on Trade - Literature review Example

Order 436483 Topic: Essay (ON QUESTION The Effects of Technology on Trade The effects of technology on trade are numerous and cannot be addressed exhaustively in this essay. Available study findings have unanimously agreed that technological development has been responsible for turning around the lives of low-income populations as observed in recent times. According to the claims of Croucher (2004), technology has substantially increased the access to elementary education and information to a wider majority of the populace. Consequently, this has enabled individuals and communities to be more productive and capable of making rational use of the basic goods and services available in the market (Acemoglu, 2009). Moreover, it is argued that development in technology has facilitated the poor to gain access to, and creatively use knowledge and innovation in satisfying their basic needs (Babb, 2009). Likewise, Glyn (2006) has demonstrated that the advent in technology has made science-intensive industries to call for the support of an up to date infrastructure system. In line with the above argument, published research work has illustrated that communications technologies have been lauded for opening a plethora of market segments for goods and services (Harold et al, 2008). The use of electricity based communications services cannot be underrated for its enormous impact on international trade. Sending and receiving of information covering thousands of miles has never been as easy and efficient as argued out by Harold et al (2008). Additionally, researchers have indicated that communications technologies have opened up wider possibilities of instant access to previously inaccessible information (Smith, 2007). However, studies claim that this has not been considered as a blessing in some quarters of leadership where certain information is considered classified, particularly to the members of the public (Smith, 2007). Ostensibly, this variance between availability and accessibility of information has not lacked in producing deleterious results in regards to international trade. A good number of research findings have indicated that the introduction of any new technology in international trade is bound to result in some legal consequences like the erection of non-tariff trade barriers (Boone and Kurtz, 1992). This is attributable to the costs of innovation which are usually high and the greater risks faced by firms in a real competitive environment (Boone and Kurtz, 1992). It is therefore the author’s contention to hold that technological advancement has impacted on service transactions by causing problems that are more legal than any other form (Harold et al, 2008). Arguably, the impact of modern biotechnology (Smith, 2005) on world trade has currently been raising ripples among the developed and the developing world alike. Probably the breakthrough in genetic manipulation has been the greatest thing to happen in the business world of all times. Research has shown that this single innovation has been able to exploit technology with such abandon that GMOs are ruling the market the world over. This has not been without controversy over a host of both ethical and legal setbacks (Friedman, 2005). Research shows that numerous governments have been at pains whether to patent these products or not and the rightful route to adopt in their utilization (Harold et al, 2008). How the foregoing effects have impacted on poverty Various attempts have been made to reach at a universal meaning of the term poverty. Experts worldwide have proposed several different ways in which poverty of a certain populace can be measured. But for the purpose of this essay, the author intends to apply one common measure of poverty employed in Australia as proposed by Babb in her study of 2009. According to her, ‘the Henderson Poverty Line’ “estimates the amount of money that families of different sizes require to cover basic costs of living, thus constituting an austere living standard which indicates income poverty”. In line with this measure, Babb (2009) argues that “people are considered to be poor if their living standards fall below an overall community standard”. Conversely, she advices that family income should not be considered in isolation in the estimation of poverty levels in individuals, but other factors such as home ownership and access to basic services including health, education and transport should also be evaluated. In connection with the foregoing, studies done by Smith (2005) and Friedman (2005) have indicated that the perception of poverty in richer countries is more or less the same as in the poor countries. Poverty in these countries is “as much about being able to participate in the life of the community as it is about having a roof over ones head and enough money to feed the family” (Babb, 2009). In the views of the author, poverty can be taken to mean any situations that are characterised by segregation of any community from the mainstream population due to disproportionate distribution of resources (Harold et al, 2008). Statistical data available attest to the fact that cases of abject poverty are rife amongst the indigenous Australians who have little education (Acemoglu, 2009). Records indicate that these people receive about 55% of their income from their respective governments (Acemoglu, 2009). Further published works hold that this “extremely high welfare reliance can be contrasted to a rate of only 13% for non-indigenous persons in comparable statistical surveys” (Acemoglu, 2009). Research has variously demonstrated that the mentioned effects of technology have impacted on poverty in major ways. Firstly, it is claimed that technology has freed much of humanity from dire poverty even though the very poorest are still wallowing in it (Babb, 2009). In fact, the proportion of the world population living in poverty has been steadily declining over the years as stressed by Babb (2009). Secondly, experts further argue that technological development “has intensified interdependence and competition between economies in the world market” (Acemoglu, 2009). This has in effect improved the performance of international trade, thus reflecting a rise in the standards of living (Harold et al, 2008). However, some studies have shown that women in developing countries have become poor in contrast to their male counterparts for the past three decades. A lot of disparities have been observed in the lopsided gender balance in the access of education and career prospects both in developing and industrialised countries as stipulated by Glyn (2006). Girls and women are largely missing in scientific careers and decision-making bodies in these countries. Governance of trade is an important aspect In comparing the indigenous people in developed countries like Canada and the USA, studies by Glyn (2006) have shown that “the socio-economic gap between indigenous populations of developing nations is very wide and current policies are not closing that gap”. This as argued by Smith (2007) raises a concern that governments in developing nations are not taking their human rights obligations seriously enough. Moreover, it seems that these governments are not doing much to initiate the indigenous populations to stand above their deeply entrenched welfare problems (Smith, 2005). Similarly, the modern day increased interdependence of the world economy coupled with movements toward political pluralism, popular participation, and democratic processes; living have become such a challenge particularly for the poor as cited in Babb (2009). Furthermore, Croucher (2004) explains that the current prolonged conflicts among countries with varying political and economic ideologies, any successful truce toward democracy, peaceful coexistence and recognition of human rights is a pipe dream. In connection to this, the issue of governance has become a disturbing concern in recent years both in industrialised and developing countries (Croucher, 2004). For instance, the causes of this may be traced to the changing norms of political and economic life as is the case in industrialised countries according to (Croucher, 2004). In developing countries on the other hand, “the problems have been intensified by the sharp contrast between the growth in social demands and the capacity of the institutional framework” (Friedman, 2005). In view of this, the type of governance in major economies has been critical in determining the performance of world trade. Poverty is not a privilege of developing countries The lopsided belief that poverty is synonymous to the developing countries has been in existence for quite sometime. To date, this is not the ordinary thing thanks to the advancement in technology in which case instances of poverty are being reported in most industrialised countries. This not withstanding, research findings by Boone and Kurtz (1992) and Churchill and Peter (1995) claim the most disturbing feature of the present technological breakthrough to be “the widening fissure between the very poor minority of the world’s population and the remaining majority”. This is in spite of improvements achieved in life expectancy and standards of living in many parts of the world in the past several decades according to the ideals of Smith (2005). The enormous economic differences between the industrialised and developing nations have been responsible for the disparities in the cases of poverty, however negligible (Smith, 2005). Thus, the absolute number of poor people in the world has continued to increase substantially widening the disparities between the rich and the poor. Unfortunately, the unrealistic population increases reported in developing countries recently have been a strain on the meager social amenities (Harold et al, 2008). Conversely, there has been a marked slow rate of population growth in the industrialised nations. It is claimed that this has substantially resulted in a “highly skewed worldwide distribution of social needs and capacities to satisfy them” (Glyn, 2006). Thus the demands for basic requirements have more than quadrupled in poor countries as opposed to the rich ones (Babb, 2009), thus amplifying the rate of unemployment in the third world. List of References Acemoglu, Daron, 2009. Introduction to Modern Economic Growth, Princeton University Press. Babb, Sarah, 2009. Behind the Development Banks: Washington Politics, World Poverty, and the Wealth of Nations. University of Chicago Press. Boone, L and Kurtz, D., 1992. Contemporary Marketing. New York: Dryden Press. Churchill, G and Peter, P., 1995. Marketing: Creating Value for Customers. Austen Press. Croucher, Sheila., 2004. Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity in a Changing World. Rowman & Littlefield. Friedman, Thomas, 2005. The World Is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Glyn, Andrew, 2006. Capitalism Unleashed: Finance, Globalization, and Welfare. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harold, O et al., 2008 Eds. The Measurement of Productive Efficiency and Productivity Change. Oxford University Press Inc, USA. Smith, Charles., 2007. International Trade and Globalisation, 3rd edition. Stocksfield: Anforme. Smith, Stephen., 2005. Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More