Countries who have benefited from Globalization

• China: Reform led to the largest poverty reduction in history. The number of rural poor fell from 250 million in 1978 to 34 million in 1999.

• India: Cut its poverty rate in half in the past two decades.

• Uganda: Poverty fell 40% during the 1990s and school enrollments doubled.

• Vietnam: Surveys of the country's poorest households show 98% of people improved their living conditions in the 1990s. The government conducted a household survey at the beginning of reforms and went back 6 years later to the same households and found impressive reductions in poverty. People had more food to eat and children were attending secondary school. Trade liberalization was one factor among many that contributed to Vietnam's success. The country cut poverty in half in a decade. Economic integration raised the prices for the products of poor farmers (e.g. rice, fish, cashews) and also created large numbers of factory jobs in footwear and garments, jobs that paid a lot more than existing opportunities in Vietnam.

Countries who have not benefited from Globalization

• Many countries in Africa have failed to share in the gains of globalization. Their exports have remained confined to a narrow range of primary commodities.

• Some experts suggest poor policies and infrastructure, weak institutions and corrupt governance have marginalized some countries.

• Other experts believe that geographical and climatic disadvantage have locked some countries out of global growth. For example, land-locked countries may find it hard to compete in global manufacturing and service markets.

Other effects and changes caused by globalization are

• enhancement in the information flow between geographically remote locations

• the global common market has a freedom of exchange of goods and capital

• there is a broad access to a range of goods for consumers and companies

• worldwide production markets emerge

• free circulation of people of different nations leads to social benefits

• global environmental problems like cross-boundary pollution, overfishing on oceans, climate changes are solved by discussions

• more transborder data flow using communication satellites, the Internet, wireless telephones etc.

• international criminal courts and international justice movements are launched

• the standards applied globally like patents, copyright laws and world trade agreements increase

• corporate, national and subnational borrowers have better access to external finance

• worldwide financial markets emerge

• multiculturalism spreads as there is individual access to cultural diversity but at the same time this diversity decreases due to hybridization or assimilation

• international travel and tourism increases

• worldwide sporting events like the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are held

• enhancement in worldwide fads and pop culture

• local consumer products are exported to other countries

• immigration between countries increases

• cross-cultural contacts grow and cultural diffusion takes place

• there is an increase in the desire to use foreign ideas and products, adopt new practices and technologies and be a part of world culture

• free trade zones are formed having less or no tariffs

• due to development of containerization for ocean shipping, the transportation costs are reduced

• subsidies for local businesses decrease

• capital controls reduce or vanquish

• there is supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions i.e. patents authorized by one country are recognized in another