An Assessment of the Level of Globalization in the Baltic States

Abstract

The globalization phenomenon has become a subject of research in scholastic literature. The impact of globalization is the subject of ongoing debate, which is based more on personal provisions than on objective evidence. A need arises to evaluate the process of globalization based not on a subjective view, but rather on empirical studies grounded in scientific reasoning. Scholars, attempting to add rationality to the discussion, use empirical data, namely indicators of globalization. Such empirical evidence would allow for a more objective assessment of the essence of the globalization process, its scope and impact on various social sectors.Quantitative assessment of globalization is a complex matter, since there is no generally accepted valuation methodology. Different quantitative indicators are used in the separate spheres of globalization: economic, cultural, social, and political. A need to measure the phenomenon of globalization as a whole, to establish an integrated set of indicators, presents itself. Attempts to assess the extent of globalization with one complex set of indicators are a new phenomenon, which has not been studied sufficiently.Attempting to measure and assess a country 's level of globalization, researchers use different sets of indicators and different methodologies. The extent of globalization in a state very often depends on the assessment methodology. The two most widely known and most freąuently analyzed globalization indices, which bring together indicator groups of different areas of globalization - economic, political, social and cultural, are the Kearney globalization index and the Dreher (KOF) globalization index.Kearney was the first to attempt to combine aspects such as personal contacts, technological and political integration together with measurements of economic globalization. The compilers of the index look for correlations between the globalization level of a state and economic, social, political and other characteristics of the country, but do not address the ąuestion of positive or negative effects of globalization. Dreher improved Kearney's index-creation methodology, expanding the number of indicators. Despite the fact that Kearney and KOF globalization indices are calculated by assessing the same - economic, political and social - aspects, the selection of different number of indicators, the different relative weight of the indicators, and different calculation methods lead to different results. The advantage of the KOF index is the ability to assess the impact of globalization on a country's development.In the Baltic countries, the globalization processes are intense, but their volume and tendencies, the influence of globalization  on  the  economic,   social  and cultural development of the countries, and which ąuantitative assessment methods can be applied to measure the level of globalization are not known. The analysis, evaluation, and application of research and methodologies developed by foreign scholars would allow for an assessment of the volume and perspectives of globalization in the Baltic countries.The aim of the article: to assess the level of globalization and the tendencies of its changes in the Baltic countries using the methodology of the KOF globalization index. The creation methodology and collected data of the KOF index enable one to investigate and compare the overall level of globalization and the dynamics of the globalization level in individual sectors of the Baltic countries and to assess the level of globalization in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, in the context of all the countries in the world. The collection and processing of data needed to calculate the index takes a long time, so the globalization indices of separate countries of the world published by the compilers of the KOF index reflect three-year-old globalization levels. To assess the level of globalization in the Baltic countries in recent years, it is appropriate to examine the correlation between the globalization processes in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and the socio-economic indicators of the countries. Using data from previous periods of the KOF globalization index, having determined the correlations between the processes of globalization and different economic-social indicators, and with the help of regression techniąues, the future trends in the globalization level of Baltic countries can be foreseen.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.1.219