A comparative study of the impact of globalisation on the development of Bangladesh and Tanzania

Abstract

Across the extensive body of literature on the subject of developing countries in the most recent period of globalised economic activity three main arguments are evident, firstly, that globalisation has had a positive impact on these countries, secondly, that globalisation has had a negative impact on these countries, and thirdly, that these countries have been by-passed by the most recent period of globalisation. This research seeks to understand what the impact has been on two of the world’s poorest developing countries, Bangladesh and Tanzania. Within the research globalisation is measured by openness, specifically changes in trade and investment flows. Impact is measured through change in development, and in order to do this, a modified Human Development Index is created. Through analysing each of the two countries during the globalisation period and comparing and contrasting the experience with the period prior to globalisation utilising common econometric techniques, this research reaches the conclusion that neither country has been excluded from the most recent period of globalisation. Further, it is concluded that the net impact of globalisation on development in both countries has been neither positive nor negative, thereby suggesting that both positive and negative forces have counterbalanced one another