What Is Eco-Social Market Economy - Research Paper Example

Introduction There is an increasing emphasis on the development of market forces in a manner that is aligned with the overall environmental factors. This is also critical to note that due to increasing emphasis on the development of technologies and business practices in a manner that can be achieved through the development of what is called eco-social market economy. The term was first coined and explained by former American Vice President Al-Gore and outlined five broader aims to achieve the desired objectives. Formulated as a network of individuals, organizations as well as groups, the Global Marshall Plan is aimed at achieving the eco-social market economy with a view to bring in changes that can sustain the planet earth. This research will therefore provide an empirical insight into the Global Marshall Plan for eco-social market economy. Purpose of the Project This project will attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of Global Marshall Plan for developing an eco-social market economy. This research study therefore will attempt to evaluate the ideas, debates, practical actions taken by the organizations as well as groups and individuals in achieving the desired objectives. What is also critical to understand that this research project will attempt to provide a sneak preview of how the implementation of Global Marshall Plan can result into the creation of eco-social market economy? Research Questions This research study aims to address following research objectives: 1. Whether implementation of the plan is practically possible? 2. What shall be strategic direction of the actions to be undertaken? 3. Whether there is a need for implementing new regulations to achieve the intended objectives of the Plan 4. Whether there must be an adaptation of a global approach to achieve the objectives? 5. What shall be the role of different stakeholders? Justification for the Project The pace of economic development in the recent past, especially after World War 2 has been really quick which further allowed the organizations to exploit the resources at the speed that was really unprecedented in the human history. The increasing pace with which the forces of globalization took their place was something that has been relatively more quick and with enormous consequences not for the economics as well as social context of the economies but also the environment also. What is however, also critical to understand that over the period of recent past, there has been a growing dissent over the ethical dimensions of conducting the business. This important initiative was particularly put forward by the individuals as well as the groups to start a debate regarding the ethical conduct of the business and market forces. This debate becomes more critical given the fact that despite achieving the economic prosperity that has been unmatched in the history, humankind is still facing hunger as well as starvation. It is estimated that approximately 30,000 people die of hunger and starvation whereas almost 1.5 Billion individuals live on average income of $1 only. This is also critical due to the fact that average expenditure on the expenditures such as Military expenses as well as exponential increase in the wealth of the individuals beyond imagination indicates the relative disparities in the world we are living in. The overall debate however, will not be sufficient if the discussion of globalization and its impact on creating these disparities is not mentioned. The following section will discuss the globalization in great detail as a part of this debate to set ground for the justification of this project. Globalization and its impacts Globalization has now emerged as a multidisciplinary subject with the roots into politics, economics, and sociology etc. however, globalization is often discussed within the perspectives of the internationalization and as such it refers to the free flow of economic and financial transactions taking place across the borders and without any significant barriers. The internationalization concept therefore also give globalization a very unique dimension where the world is perceived as the one where there are no restrictions and everything freely flows between the borders keeping in view the respective sovereignty of each nation. The notion of internationalization also gave rise to the ideas that the goods and services shall be flowing freely and countries with better competitive advantages shall export to those countries which do not possess competitive advantage in producing those goods and services. Many argue that the internationalization also shall be viewed more within the perspectives of the diplomatic relationships between the countries too as there are almost same philosophical foundations behind having the friendly diplomatic relations than inculcating the ideas of globalization into this whole equation. Within this perspective, the international politics is also viewed as the same process of internalization therefore globalization is viewed nothing more than a modified idea of global politics and international economics.(Scholte,2002). In the last three eras of 20th century, governments of developed countries started to advocate the free market economic policies and strongly argued in favor of trade as well as financial liberalization. This was mostly done due to the fact that the traditional models of economics were not yielding results for them therefore it was decided to make a radical shift into policy frameworks prevailing within developed world.( Goddard, Cronin& Dash,2003). The various concepts of globalization indicate that the returns of the globalization are unequal as it favors few and creates problems for larger masses of the society.(Gupta,1997). The integration of the economy with the politics necessitate that the countries increasingly view globalization as process of political economy also as the implications of globalization have the consequences which can easily be considered as political in nature. The process of globalization often brings with it different changes which are either harmful for a particular society or helpful for it. Some studies however indicate that the overall flow of good and services in this global economy is slightly higher than it was earlier and as such only financial capital have moved across possibly in a bid to spot the arbitrage opportunities to earn higher returns. The arguments like this weaken the overall argument that the globalization is beneficial to the economy therefore is relatively arbitrary and considering the side effects of globalization, it is now considered more as a negative phenomenon rather than a positive force. The liberalization of trade as well as financial markets have put the firms in a position where they can lobby in government for gaining advantages which can provide them easy access to the international markets. However, it has been strongly advocated that the theoretical benefits of globalization and its actual benefits are far apart from each other and as such the difference between the two creates the potential for conflicts. Since globalization’s benefits are already variable therefore coupled with these differences, the overall face of globalization, especially in developing countries is painted as one that of the negative force. Further, it is also argued that the globalization has resulted into the gradual vanishing of the traditional values of the society and as such the resulting changes which are appearing in different societies as a result of globalization are therefore largely viewed as snatching the rights from the people. It is therefore argued that the effort shall be made to bring back the lost values of the individual societies so that the globalization as a force is presented in more positive manner.(Prempeh,2004). The link between the globalization and the political economy is deeply rooted into the assumption that there is a change in the relationship between the government and the economy as the new changes which have taken place over the period of time have redefined the relationship between political systems as well as the different economic systems. This changing relationship therefore put the globalization within the perspectives of the international political economy what is however; also critical regarding this relationship is the fact that it gave rise to the transnationalism as well as economic interdependence with each other. This interdependence though considered as a qualitative affect of the globalization, creates strong policy debates of whether the forces of globalization gradually reduce the sovereign rights of the governments over their own economic policies and whether given this economic interdependence, countries will come forward to bail out each other from crisis? Globalization also creates internationalization therefore there occurs a free flow of goods and services across the borders. This also means that the governments have to accommodate those organizations which bring in capital into the country. Capital inflow also requires that the governments must provide the concessions to the multinational organizations through either tariff reductions or providing them tax free zones. The emergence of export processing zones clearly depicts an example of how the government of developing countries have to provide concessions to the international organizations in order to pursue export led growth strategies as well as availing the opportunity of creating jobs for the masses. This however, also means that the governments shall have make amendments into their policies so that the international organizations don’t turn their backs on them. These policy concessions therefore clearly depicts how the sovereignty of the countries can be compromised in terms of making indigenous economic policies which are directed at improving the conditions of the masses rather than providing policy concessions to global organizations. An important aspect of the process of globalization is also a fact that it advocates the free flow of goods and services and many agreements such as GATT, NAFTA, and WTO have been made in order to ensure the free flow of goods and services across the countries. However, it is also argued that such agreements often do not prove beneficial to the developing countries because developed countries enjoy extensive competitive advantage and often get the lion’s share in the free trade agreements. Since developing countries are often raw material suppliers therefore they have to pay high when the same raw materials are re-exported to them by making value addition. This situation can very well be described from a quote of an unknown economist which said that developing countries export potatoes and import chips. This is the situation in which globalization has placed many countries into because of structural deficiencies of these developing countries. Some empirical studies also indicated that globalization do not have any significant impacts on the welfare states and as such pursuing globalization policies either warrant changes in the policies of the welfare or abolishing globalization as a positive force for change.(Brady , Beckfield & Kaiser,2005). This argument also indicates that the globalization does not contribute towards the welfare effects on the states despite loosing control over the economic policy making. Significant other evidence also indicates that the large multinational corporations often take the benefits of such liberalization by manipulating the market forces within these developing countries. The example of NIKE’s contract factories clearly indicate that how globalization forces are re-shaping the world’s working standards as well as forcing the governments not take any corrective measures against such organization. Some Trends The above discussion indicated that due to globalization, traditional borders became vaguer and there were more affluent flow of goods and services across the countries. This therefore increased the pace of economic as well as environmental exploitation of resources. This phenomenon however, needs to be viewed in the light of certain megatrends which caused the current initiative of the Global Marshall Plan. It is estimated that the world population will increase by more than 45% in next 50 years indicating that overall stress on the world resources will be relatively higher. This would require that the more resources will be required by the highly populated countries whereas given the traditional income inequalities as well as the other damages that has been done, it will relatively become more difficult to sustain the current market practices of exploiting the resources of the world without considering the consequences of various actions on the world as a whole. What is also critical to note down that as a process of globalization, there has been an increase in the privatization in low income countries? This therefore also means that more and more people will be marginalized as the ownership of the resources change from Government to the private hands. Further, the emerging disparities in economic standing, expenditure on the health and other critical neccessasities as well as marginalization of the low income countries call for a more balanced approach to be adapted. The Global Marshall Plan therefore demands a consistent political as well as civil society forces to bring in change that can bring in more balance to the world. The Global Marshall Plan therefore is one such step in the direction to achieve more balance in a world which is sharply divided on many issues. This research project will therefore attempt to provide a case to be made for the implementation of Global Marshall Plan so that world at large can achieve more balance and social equality in order to realize our true potential and learn to live in more harmonized world. Research Methodology A Scientific research involves the systematic investigation in order to obtain or seek new answers to the fundamental questions that may be underlying the research aims. However, in order to achieve the answers, a scientific research study not only collects the data but also analyze it in systematic manner to derive or infer the results. What is also critical to note that a scientific research study shall always be un-biased in nature and produce results that are not pre-defined in advance and produce results that are generally applicable? Thus scientific research methods and tools are considered as more appropriate to conduct or perform any kind of study whether it is related with the social sciences or pure sciences.(Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill,2009). As discussed above that the major aim of this research study will be to provide an analysis of the question of whether the global Marshall Plan can be implemented for achieving a more balanced world with eco-social markets. This therefore will provide a relatively complicated set of factors to be studied in order to understand the phenomenon as well as the overall perception of the issue. This study will be qualitative as well as quantitative in nature wherein qualitative aspects of the research will involve the observation of literature whereas the quantitative part will be based on performing the quantitative analysis on the date obtained. Qualitative research always aims to understand the human behavior and the peculiar reasons behind such behavior and its impact. In a sense, qualitative research study therefore can be helpful in understanding the human behavior and its interaction with the various internal as well as external factors that can model it. A qualitative research study therefore always attempt to provide answers to the explanation of different sets of values, perceptions as well as belief systems of the individuals or groups.(Flink,2009). This research study therefore will seek to explore a phenomenon while exploring the individual and group norms and behaviors by mentioning the response of those who believe that the Global Marshall Plan can be one of the most effective platforms to bring in world in balance by correcting its imbalances in wider social and economic variations between the countries and the nations. This research study will be quantitative in nature also as it will attempt to present a quantitative analysis of the general perceptions of the various stakeholders in understanding the overall impact of the Global Marshall Plan on the world. A quantitative research study always seek to quantify the various research hypothesis made and as such the quantitative research tools will also be used to explore the research questions outlined at the beginning of this proposal. What is also however, critical to note that the quantitative tools will be used for quantifying the various causal relationships between the different factors and as such the overall orientation of the research study will be to understand as to how the various factors are basically affecting the world economic and social context and how environment is basically getting affected by the overall actions of the of the various organizations and businesses as well as governments. From its very nature, this research study will be following a constructivism philosophy which is based on the understanding of social and historical construction and attempt to address the issue of theory generation. Qualitative research also attempt to study social phenomenon from the perspective of participant therefore it attempt to develop a certain degree of detail through actual experience by understanding and analyzing present body of knowledge. From the intended aims of this study, this research study will attempt to use grounded theory as a valid methodology. Grounded theory would be used as a research methodology because this research study would also attempt to derive or generate a theory relating to the particular situation of the interaction between various factors. Since grounded theory requires emergence of theory from a large source of data therefore the basic approach to be adapted would be the reading and re-reading of the large amount of available data and theory in order to formulate a theoretical ground for Global Marshall plan. This however, will be duly supported by the quantitative analysis made. Sampling Based on the nature of the study, the sampling will be open in the initial phase of the study where potentially different groups or variables will be studied. What is also however, critical to understand that the sampling will be based on the selective sampling methods wherein samples will be selected based on the pre-defined criteria. It is also critical to note down that the data samples will also be drawn from a large pool of data comprising the statistics on various economic as well as social indicators. As such this study will choose following indicators as its samples to collect the data against: 1. The average growth rates observed in five developed and five developing countries. The selection of the developed and developing (low income countries) however, will be based on the random sampling method. 2. The extent of poverty, literacy rates, import and export business between developed and developing countries as well as the changes in other economic indicators. 3. The employment level, the presence of large corporations into the developing countries as well as the overall extent of Westernization. 4. The damage that has been done to the environment as a whole. Further, the overall sampling will be based on the availability of the respondents and their awareness of the issue. Thus the selective sampling technique will be more appropriate for achieving the desired research objectives. It is also critical to understand that the sampling of the available literature for review purposes will also be done. This is critical due to the fact that this research study will attempt to understand the available literature and will provide a review of the available literature for formulating a comprehensive theoretical framework for Global Marshall Plan. Data Collection One of the methods through which qualitative data can be collected is to involve into participatory observation. This therefore requires that the researcher obtain the data by directly involving herself into collecting the data. Based on this principle, it is therefore assumed that the this research study will mostly adapt the method of collecting the data through participatory observation. Data collection will be mostly through observation i.e. reading and re-reading of the available literature. Apart from observation as a primary means of data collection, secondary source of data would be based on development of open as well as close ended questionnaires to be distributed to understand the general perception about the plan and its impacts on the society. What is however, critical to note that there may be difficulty in accessing or getting reach to the persons who are directly involved in this whole project. Due to the overall context and scope of the study, it is therefore assumed that the researcher may not be able to get the access to the persons who may be directly involved however, in order to obtain a general opinion, the questionnaire will be distributed to the faculty as well as students to understand and know their perception about the issue. It is also critical to understand that since this study will aim to explore the different socio-economic variables and their causal impacts therefore the quantitative data on the various indicators including growth rates into countries, the world poverty rates, the extent of population, the data regarding hunger and starvation, the extent of foreign direct investments, standard of living etc will be collected in order to study their relationship with each other, The main thrust of the data collection however will be based on the review of literature as the data collection method in order to understand the case in point and further explore the possibilities of achieving the research objectives. Time The time required to collect the data will depend upon the overall selection of the literature as well as other research variables. Since this study will be limited in scope therefore our data collection will be limited and as such we are expecting to complete this study within two months. Data Analysis Data Analysis will be a complicated part of the whole research report as it will not only involve the quantitative analysis but will also required making assessment of the qualitative data. As such the various quantitative data obtained will be analyzed through performing regression and correlation analysis whereas qualitative data (observation of the literature) will be done through understanding. It is also critical to note that statistical software such as SPSS or Minitab will be used to perform the analysis and as such coding of data will also be done through the software. Ethical considerations Since one of aim of this research study will be to study the ethical dimensions of globalization and how its various forces are creating imbalances within our world therefore this research study will be based on the analyzing the ethical consequences of the various actions taken by the organizations. What is however, also critical to note that as such this research study may not involve any ethical consideration as the data collection will be mostly through secondary sources and as such the nature of the data collection will require minimum interaction with the humans (as respondents) therefore there may be relatively no ethical constraints or hazards in performing this study. However, if any ethical consideration arises during the course of the research it will be clearly mentioned in the study with an assessment of the overall impact of the particular ethical constraints on the results of this study. References 1. Brady, David, Kaiser, Martin Seelieb & Beckfield, Jason (2005) Economic globalization and the Welfare State in affluent democracies, 1975 -2001- American Sociological Review. 70(6) 921-948. 2. Flink, U (2009) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, New York, Sage Publications 3. Goddard, Cronin and Dash (2003). International Political Economy: State-Market Relations in a Changing Global Order. New York. Lynne Rienner Pub. 4. Gupta, S (1997). The Political Economy of Globalization. New York: Springer,. 3. 5. Prempeh, Osei Kwadwo (2004) Anti-Globalization Forces, the Politics of Resistance, and Africa: Promises and Perils- Journal of Black Studies 34 (02) 580-598. 6. Scholte, J (2002) What Is Globalization? The Definitional Issue – Again. CSGR Working Paper. 109 (02) 1-34 7. Saunders, M Lewis, P & Thornhill, A (2009) Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.. Read More