Characteristics of globalisation

Economically

- Increase in international trade at a much faster rate than the growth in the world economy

- Increase in international flow of capital including foreign direct investment

- Creation of international agreements leading to organizations like the WTO and economic cartels such as OPEC

- Development of global financial systems

- Increased role of international organizations such as WTO, WIPO, IMF that deal with international transactions

- Increase of economic practices like outsourcing and offshoring by multinational corporations

Culturally

- Greater international cultural exchange,

- Spreading of multiculturalism, and better individual access to cultural diversity, for example through the export of Hollywood and Bollywood movies. However, the imported culture can easily supplant the local culture, causing reduction in diversity through hybridization or even assimilation. The most prominent form of this is Westernization, but Sinicization of cultures also takes place.

- Greater international travel and tourism

- Greater immigration, including illegal immigration

- Spread of local consumer products (e.g., food) to other countries (often adapted to their culture)

- World-wide fads and pop culture such as Pokémon, Sudoku, Numa Numa, Origami, Idol series, YouTube, MySpace, and many others.

- World-wide sporting events such as FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.

- Formation or development of a set of universal values

Technical/legal

- Development of a global telecommunications infrastructure and greater transborder data flow, using such technologies as the Internet, communication satellites, submarine fiber optic cable, and wireless telephones

- Increase in the number of standards applied globally; e.g. copyright laws and patents

- The push by many advocates for an international criminal court and international justice movements (see the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice respectively).

- It is often argued that even terrorism has undergone globalization, with attacks in foreign countries that have no direct relation with the own country.

Since World War II, barriers to international trade have been considerably lowered through international agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Particular initiatives carried out as a result of GATT and the WTO, for which GATT is the foundation, have included:

Promotion of free trade

Of goods:

Reduction or elimination of tariffs; construction of free trade zones with small or no tariffs

Reduced transportation costs, especially from development of containerization for ocean shipping.

Of capital: reduction or elimination of capital controls

Reduction, elimination, or harmonization of subsidies for local businesses

Intellectual property restrictions

Harmonization of intellectual property laws across nations (generally speaking, with more restrictions)

Supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions (e.g. patents granted by China would be recognized in the US)

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