Мировая экономика и международные экономические отношения = World economy and international economic relations

Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации

Уральский федеральный университет

имени первого Президента России Б. Н. Ельцина

Е. Д. Фролова, Л. А. Кривенцова, Т. В. Куприна

МИРОВАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА  

И МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЕ  

ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЕ ОТНОШЕНИЯ

WORLD ECONOMY AND INTERNATIONAL 

ECONOMIC RELATIONS 

Учебное пособие

Рекомендовано методическим советом УрФУ 
для студентов, обучающихся по направлению 

«Экономика» по дисциплине «Мировая экономика  

и международные экономические отношения»

Екатеринбург

Издательство Уральского университета

2016 

УДК 339(075.8) 
ББК 65.5я73 

    Ф91 
Рецензенты:
д-р экон. наук, проф. Е. Л. Андреева, руководитель Центра 

региональных компаративных исследований;

кафедра «Мировая экономика» Уральского государственного 
экономического университета, завкафедрой д-р экон. наук, 
проф. А. А. Мальцев

На обложке использовано изображение с сайта http://goo.gl/3DQfqr

Ф91

Фролова, Е. Д.
Мировая 
экономика 
и 
международные 
экономические 
отношения = World economy and in-
ternational economic relations : учебное пособие /  
Е. Д. Фролова, Л. А. Кривенцова, Т. В. Куприна. — Екатеринбург : 
Изд-во Урал. ун-та, 2016. — 176 с.
ISBN  978-5-7996-1782-0

The course book includes all basic elements of the world economic sys-

tem and their relations; presents the peculiarities of the modern stage of its 
development. The book presents and compares the traditional and modern 
(including geoeconomics) approaches to understanding the world economy 
development.

The book includes statistical data about global trends of the world econ-

omy and countries’ development.

It will be useful to students, post-graduate students, specialists in the 

field of the world economy and international business.

УДК 339(075.8) 
ББК 65.5я73 

ISBN 978-5-7996-1782-0
© Уральский федеральный 
      университет, 2016

INTRODUCTION 

The general purpose of the course is to help students to get basic 

knowledge about the main development trends of the world econom-
ic system in globalizing world, especially at its current stage.

The main tasks of the discipline are the following:

 
–
get some knowledge of basic and modern theories and ap-
proaches (including the geoeconomic approach) and the 
problems and trends of the world economy development, to 
seek solutions to these problems;

 
–
study the stages, structure and dynamics of the modern world 
economic system;

 
–
get some knowledge of the attributes of the new methodology 
of world perception: globalistics and geoeconomics;

 
–
study the experience of integration groups and transnational 
companies, leading countries and global actors;

 
–
get special knowledge and practical skills on cross-cultural com-
munications for improving ways of leadership in any organization.

As a results the course has to form students’ knowledge, skills, 

experience to analyze the current situation in the field of globalizing 
world, to apply theoretical knowledge in practice, to obtain informa-
tion on the new trends of the world economy development and to be 
able to forecast some factors.

The course book includes theoretical aspects such as the essence 

of World Economy, old and modern global actors and main global 

INTRODUCTION 

trends of the world economy development — globalization, inter-
nationalization, transnationalization, regionalization and integra-
tion. Special attention is paid to the problem of transformation of 
the world order under the influence of globalization, cross-cultural 
diversity, international migration problems.

The course book provides the concept of education international-

ization. In addition to the authors listed on the title page in the prep-
aration of the course book there are colleagues from the MGIMO 
University, Financial Academy and People’s Friendship University 
(Moscow), Alberto G. Canen (Brazil) and Jiang Jing (China).

Part 1. WORLD ECONOMY  
AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC  
RELATIONS: THEORETICAL ASPECTS

1. World Economy and IntErnatIonal EconomIc  
rElatIons: maIn concEpts 

Tasks:

 
–
understand the essence of World Economy as a system, its elements;

 
–
understand the essence of World Economy in the context of 
the geoeconomic approach;

 
–
compare basic theories and new approaches to researching of 
World Economy;

 
–
discover all forms and types of international economic relations;

 
–
clarify the features of World Economy and International Eco-
nomic Relations development;

 
–
discover new actors of World Economy.

1.1. Traditional Concept of World Economy and Interna-
tional Economic Relations 

World Economy (WE) is a collection of national economies and 

other entities that are in a constant dynamics, interconnected by the 
system of the division of labor, international economic and political 
relations (fig. 1.1).

Part 1. WORLD ECONOMY AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS: THEORETICAL ASPECTS  

 

Basic subjects (entities) of World Economy

Countries (national economies) 

TNC, TNB

Integration groups

International economical organizations

Fig. 1.1. Basic subjects (entities) of the world economy 

The term Global Economy refers to an integrated world economy 

with unrestricted and free movement of goods, services and labor 
transnationally: it projects the picture of an increasingly inter-con-
nected world with free movement of capital across countries [7; 23].

International economic relations (IER) are the multi-level complex 

of economic relations between the actors of the world economy.

Basic forms of the IER are the following:

 
–
international trade in goods, services and technologies;

 
–
international cooperation in the field of solving global problems;

 
–
international labor migration;

 
–
international monetary and financial relations;

 
–
international economic integration;

 
–
international movement of capital.

In spite of critics (it does not take into account the underground 

(shadow) economy, etc.) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains one of 
the world economy basic terms. It is the monetary value of all the fin-
ished goods and services produced within the country’s borders in a spe-

1. World Economy and International Economic Relations: Main Concepts 

cific time period, though GDP is usually calculated on an annual basis 
(1). It includes all of private and public consumption, government outlays, 
investments and exports less imports that occur within a defined territory.
 
GDR = C + G + I + NX,  
(1) 

where C is equal to all private consumption, or consumer spending, 
in a national economy;

G is the sum of government spending;
I is the sum of all the country’s businesses spending on capital;
NX is the nation’s total net exports, calculated as total exports mi-

nus total imports (NX = exports — imports).

1.2. Basic Theories of World Economy 

In 1990s in connection with the activization of the process of coun-

tries’ integration into world economy, there is a noticeable increase 
of interest in theoretical and practical problems of the world econo-
my. For the past two decades a variety of native and foreign schools, 
approaches, theories of the world economy have been formed and 
developed. We have systematized the main ones in table 1.1.

Table 1.1 

Basic Approaches in World Economy Research 

Approach
Terminology
Essence of Approach

Integrative approach to 
economics as a system 
of scientific knowledge 
(named by the scale of 
the object researches)

Maxieconomics
Megaeconomics
International 
economics

The subject of WE 
studying in this approach is 
the whole world processes; 
the processes are placed at 
the supranational level

‘Х’ — centric 
approach
‘Х’ — oriented 
approach

World-system
One-polar (Multi-
polar) world, 
City-centric model 
of WE; Space of 
communications (flows)
International economics

‘Х’ is an element of WE; 
it is in the center of this 
WE model

Part 1. WORLD ECONOMY AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS: THEORETICAL ASPECTS  

Approach
Terminology
Essence of Approach

Marketing approach
New economics
The main characteristic is 
Glocalization (‘global’ + 
‘local’) 

Paradigmatic 
approach

Space economy
Geoeconomic 
approach

Comprehension of WE 
as an equal economical 
space.
Economic dimension of 
globality

Hierarchical 
approach 

World Economy 
system (WES) or 
National Economy 
system (NES) 

System is closed by the 
administrational borders 
(is situated within the 
administrational  
borders)

Characteristic 
approach 

Global economy
Comprehension of the 
scale of international 
links, the process 
of increasing of this  
scale 

Terminological 
approach

World activities
Complex of NE

Civilization approach World Civilization 
Development of 
Civilizations

 Systemic approach
WE as a system
Complex economic 
system

 

All proposed approaches complement each other and give a com-

plete picture of the world economy as a complex system simultane-
ously. The basic theories of the world economic interactions are pre-
sented in table 1.2.

The end of table 1.1

1. World Economy and International Economic Relations: Main Concepts 

Table 1.2 

Main theories of international interactions 

Theory
Attitude 

Theory of comparative advantages 

The case of an abso-
lute advantage 

The ability to produce goods more effectively (than 
other countries) due to the natural peculiarities

The case of the com-
parative advantage

The ability to produce goods with low costs

Heckscher– 
Ohlin’s internation-
al trade theory

The country tries to export such goods that under 
the process of their generation demand the in-
tensive use of factors located in the country in 
more volume than other trade partners

The alternative theory of international trade 

The theory of com-
modity life-cycle

The production of commodity that is transferred 
from one country to the other ones depending on 
the stage of the commodity life-cycle

The theory of the 
scale effect 

Countries have the equal resources but they receive 
the effect due to the scale of production

The theory of the 
new protection 
D. Bhavatti

“Protection of rich countries”

The theory of 
the managerial 
(manage-able) trade 
policy

Government protection

The theory of the 
arbitrage 

The transfer of jobs overseas. It is not free trade but 
the classic arbitrage

 

Theories that form the basis of modern ideas about the develop-

ment of the WE and world economic relations are:

Group 1 — theoretical origins (theory and concepts of interna-

tionalization, “World-system” theory of Wallestain; theory of labor 
division (international and inter-enclave); theory of manufactures 
location; theory of rent; theory of postindustrial society etc.