International labor division in the contemporary epoch

2.1. Division of labor in the world economy

The material basis of the world economy and international exchange is the international labor division. It ​​is a special case of the social labor division (Fig. 4).

Forms of international labor division (ILD) are the manifestations of international specialization and international cooperation of production. In other words, the ILD essence is manifested in the allocation of various types of business activity (international specialization) in certain countries and their complementarity and cooperation to achieve common goals (international cooperation).

Public (social) labor division (LD)

Branch LD

Territorial LD

Inter-branch LD  

Intra-branch LD  

Specialization of enterprises

Inter-regional LD

International LD

common

particular

single

Fig. 4. Labor division (LD) forms

Prevalence in exporting the products of extractive industries suggests a passive role in the country's ILD, its backwardness. Conversely, the larger is the share of the product of advanced manufacturing industries, the more progressive is the character of the ILD of the country.

The following factors influence on the place (position) of the country in the ILD [15]:

- Basic, i.e. provided by the nature (country location, natural-climatic conditions, natural resources, etc.);

- Developed, i.e. developed as a result of the social development (education level of the population, scientific-technical progress).

The international labor division in the modern sense is a complex process of specialization and regular cooperation of activities between countries, firms in different countries and within transnational corporations among their member subsidiaries.

2.2. Latest changes in international labor division

In the transformation of world economic relations and advances in the development of the spatial organization of the productive forces «the problems of forming a new ILD have objectively arisen» [16, p. 479]. Changes in the ILD are due to several shifts in the world economy [15, p. 44]:

- in the direction of more and more complex productions, especially intensive and high-tech;

- from finished products towards intermediates (parts, etc.), i.e. the cooperation covers all parts of the reproductive cycle;

- from physical products towards the scope of intangible relations ("dematerialization" of world economic relations).

One of the results of these changes is the emergence (in addition to the international labor division) of the labor division between the investment and reproduction chains which are institutionally designed as strategic alliances, enclaves, consortia, industrial and commercial conglomerates and corporations. Therefore, the labor division between them is stated as «interenclave, intercorporate». This term has recently often found in the literature [10; 15], and is formulated as a «specialization of business entities formed on a transnational basis as internationalized reproductive cores» [10; 23]. The addition to the theory of a new social labor division by its new type «interenclave, intercorporate labor division» allows specifically to solve some global problems, such as:

- to use separate private benefits of less developed countries more effectively (in their structures);

- to ensure their entry as participants into the global geo-economic systems in the world markets of final product;

- to harmonize the interests of the various actors of the world economic interaction on the base of mutual integration; to turn the raw specialization of the country into its advantage.

2.3. Basic models of the international economic relations

There is no strictly accepted classification of foreign economic relations. In its development a subjective factor plays a significant role. A set of attributes of the variety is shown in Figure 5. In practice it is difficult to draw a clear line between their types and forms.

International relations (links, ties)

The types of international relations (a set of links, united by one common feature)  

The forms of international relations (the way of the type existence of IR, the outward manifestation of IR)  

1. According to the direction of commodity flows - trade - export - barter - import - tourism  

2. According to the structure - franchising - international trade - construction - financial - leasing - manufacturing - bank servicing - investment - R&D collaboration    

Fig. 5 – Contents of International Economic Relations

For years, the system of international economic relations meant export-import operations. Import is the importation (into the country) of foreign goods and capital in the form of credits and loans, purchases by foreign companies, payment using of services of foreign persons, firms, etc. Currency imports, imports of industrial and consumer services are widespread. Import may be visible (invisible), counter, indirect, special. Export is the export (out of the country) of the goods sold to the purchaser or to be sold in foreign markets. It is also the product intended for processing (tolling) it in another country, the transportation in transit through another country. Exports and imports volumes are accounted for in the calculation of gross domestic product - GDP (formula 2 - cost version).

GDR = C + G + I + (Ex – It), (2)

C – private consumption

G – government consumption

I – investments in fixed assets

(Ex – It) – foreign trade balance

In addition, nation's exports and imports figures are used for determining the degree of openness of the economy (nation's exports and imports as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) [1, p.8].

But there is another point of view, based on the latest forms of international labor division. The geo-economic paradigm offers the following models of foreign economic relations (IER) [10]:

· Supply-sales model of IER is the national system of the interaction with the external sphere on the long-term base (monotonic, standard commodity mass (gross), pure assortment (blank range), without any conjuncture).

· Commercial or trade-medial (agential) model of IER is built on the base of the interaction between the enterprise and the agent.

· Trade model of IER is the national system of the interaction with the external sphere only within such links of the chain as «realization of commodity, exchange phase» (but on the base of the conjuncture).

In the present situation the closest to the equilibrium (balance) model of the IER is a geo-economic (investment and reproductive) model. The highest form of internationalization of economic activities in its most developed (geo-economic) form assumes the form of global economic cooperation in all the links of the investment and reproduction process. In the first place it means the investment cooperation. The investment and reproduction model of IER is the national system of interaction with the external economic sphere on the base of collaboration (cooperation) at all levels of the reproductive process taken out the national boundaries. The main features of this model are shown in Appendix 7.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-05