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foreign trade. In our chosen reference states, this indicator<br />
usually falls between 35% and 70%, exceeding this level<br />
in Singapore, Ireland, Switzerland and Estonia (75.4% in<br />
Estonia, based on 2011 statistics), and remaining under<br />
35% in South Korea, Slovenia, Uruguay and, based on the<br />
statistics for the last few years, also in Finland. In the case<br />
of South Korea and Slovenia, we can say that this is the<br />
result of economic policies that favour domestic capital.<br />
Of course, it must be recognised that the stage of<br />
globalisation is reflected not only by the inflow of FDI,<br />
but also by the outward FDI made by a country’s companies<br />
. While in the former socialist states the volume of<br />
inward FDI is much higher that outward FDI, then, in the<br />
Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Austria as<br />
well as Ireland the outward volume is notably larger than<br />
the inward volume.<br />
The indicators based on both trade and investments<br />
have one shortcoming when it comes to measuring the<br />
stage of globalisation – they do not differentiate the economic<br />
connections with large rising markets (the majority<br />
of which are far from Europe) from the economic relations<br />
with neighbouring markets, which may be wealthy, but<br />
have a low growth potential. In the case of Estonia, both<br />
the foreign trade and foreign investment statistics indicate<br />
that its economic relations are primarily with neighbouring<br />
countries, especially in the Baltic Sea Region.<br />
The best-known synthetic indicator of globalisation<br />
is probably the KOF Index of Globalisation compiled by<br />
the researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology<br />
(ETH) in Zurich and is comprised of three components<br />
(economic, social and political). In addition to indicators<br />
for foreign trade and foreign investments (both FDI and<br />
portfolio investments), the economic globalisation section<br />
also includes the levels of direct and indirect barriers to foreign<br />
partners. Social globalisation is computed on the basis<br />
of such indicators as foreign residents’ share of the total<br />
population, the movement of people across state borders,<br />
and personal contact and information flows (international<br />
Internet and telephone traffic, access to global TV channels,<br />
and the availability of international newspapers), as well<br />
as the presence of iconic international chains (McDonald’s<br />
restaurants and Ikea home furnishings stores). The political<br />
globalisation indicators include the number of foreign<br />
embassies in the country, the number of international treaties,<br />
membership in various international organisations,<br />
and participation in various, especially U.N.-initiated,<br />
forms of international cooperation.<br />
It appears that all ex-socialist countries with the<br />
exeption of Slovenia are lower in the synthetic globalisation<br />
ranking than in the economic globalisation ranking.<br />
It can be argued, of course, whethter all indicators used<br />
for measuring the level of social and political globalisation<br />
are best suited for it; e.g. the popularity of McDonalds or<br />
Table 5.1.1.<br />
Globalisation rankings based on the calculations of the<br />
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) (2013)<br />
Positions in the economic<br />
globalisation ranking<br />
1. Singapore 1. Belgium<br />
2. Luxembourg 2. Ireland<br />
Positions in the synthesised<br />
(economic, social and political)<br />
globalisation ranking<br />
3. Ireland 3. Netherlands<br />
4. Malta 4. Austria<br />
5. Netherlands 5. Singapore<br />
6. Belgium 6. Denmark<br />
7. Hungary 7. Sweden<br />
8. Estonia 8. Portugal<br />
9. Bahrain 9. Hungary<br />
10. Sweden 10. Switzerland<br />
12. Denmark 13. Canada<br />
14. Czech Republic<br />
15. Finland 15. Czech Republic<br />
16. Austria 16. Finland<br />
17. Slovakia<br />
19. Chile 19. Slovakia<br />
22. New Zealand 25. Estonia<br />
24. Israel 28. New Zealand<br />
27. Switzerland 29. Israel<br />
30. Slovenia<br />
33. Slovenia 35. Chile<br />
34. Canada 52. Uruguay<br />
62. Uruguay 63. Costa Rica<br />
72. Costa Rica<br />
Assessment, data from 2010-2013<br />
Ikea out of all brands or international book trade rather<br />
than TV formats or popular music.<br />
Estonia is in second place in the world for the openness<br />
of its global information flows, which is also included<br />
in this index, and the indicators for the movement of people<br />
(international tourism and the percentage of foreign<br />
residents) are quite high. Based on the latest general globalisation<br />
level calculated by ETH, we just barely miss being<br />
included among the 24 world’s most globalised states. The<br />
majority of the EU Member States are more globalised than<br />
Estonia, but it must be kept in mind that the European<br />
Union is one of the world’s most globalised regions. Only<br />
a few countries outside of Europe (Singapore, Canada, and<br />
Australia) outpace Estonia in regard to the general globalisation<br />
level, according to the ETH methodology.<br />
References<br />
1. Dicken, P. (1998) Global Shift. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.<br />
2. Terk, E. (2012) “Globaliseerumine, jah, aga milline?,” Eestist ja<br />
ettepoole. Terk, E. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikool, Eesti Tuleviku-uuringute<br />
Instituut (first published 2002).<br />
3. Beck, U. (2002) What is Globalization? Cambridge (UK): Polity Press.<br />
4. Bhagwati, J. (2004) In Defence of Globalization. Oxford (UK) &<br />
New York: Oxford University Press.<br />
5. Amoroso, B. (1998) On Globalization. Capitalism in the 21st<br />
Century. Basingstoke (UK) & New York: Palgrave,.<br />
6. Dehesa, G. (2006) Winners and Losers in Globalization. Malden<br />
MA (USA) & Oxford (UK): Blackwell Publishing.<br />
7. KOF (2013) KOF Index of Globalization. Detailed Index Information.<br />
www.globalization.kof.ethz.ch<br />
196<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013