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Can Globalization Be Reversed

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With the coming of the industrial age, the wheel of progress turned. Factory based mass production replaced independent artisans, who now worked for business firms (Volti, 2009, p. 187). The workers became dependant on businesses to provide facilities to work in, tools to work with, and wages to take home, creating a society of employees (Volti, 2009, p. 187). Since work and income was now dependant on the factories, workers need to find homes in relative proximity, thus leading to higher density of individuals within the urban areas surrounding the manufacturing centers. With urbanization came a need for production and transportation of food to the growing cities. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, this food was generally produced …show more content…

Neo-classic economic theory explains business motivation to achieve maximum profitability through efficiency of production (Weintraub, 2002). Efficiency is maximized through three inter-related and adjustable parameters: technology; labor; materials. Technology, as expressed in terms of facilities and equipment, is a fixed cost of production, whereas labor and materials, including transportation expenses, remain variable costs (Starr, 2008). In achieving the optimal balance, any large discrepancy will heavily weight the calculation. For example, the wages for textile workers in southeast Asia are 7% of the wages in United States (Rivoli, 2009, p. 104). This large of a differential in the variable cost makes it virtually impossible to create an equivalent model through enhanced technology, especially when most technology advances can be applied to factories located in the lower labor cost countries. Thus Rivoli’s “Race to the Bottom” continues (Rivoli, 2009, pp. 92–104), bringing with it industrialization and urbanization. As with any race, there are winners and losers. The countries acquiring the manufacturing jobs and the companies maximizing their profits through relocating manufacturing to the lower labor cost countries are obvious winners. The employees of the factories being off-shored are initially the losers, until the race progresses to the next industrial sector. A clear example

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