Luciano Ciravegna, associate professor at INCAE, published an interesting article in the Journal of International Business Studies, ranked in the prestigious Financial Times list.
Beyond the health, occupational and social context, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected humanity in many other ways. Economics and politics have also been severely affected, as explained by associate professor at INCAE, Luciano Ciravegnain a recent article he published with Prof. Snejina Michailova in the Journal of International Business Studies. The article is entitled "Why the world economy needs, but will not get, more globalization in the post-COVID-19 decade."
In their text, the authors point out the reasons why globalization will not be the same when the pandemic ends. One of them is the weakening of the hegemonic leadership exercised by the United States - Pax Americana -, which has become very evident in the recent events in Afghanistan. Without such leadership, multilateralism and international collaboration cannot work. Even in the face of a common enemy such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, countries have generally acted selfishly.
The major powers have prioritized their geopolitical agenda, competing in influence and accusing each other instead of coordinating their actions within a multilateral institutional framework such as the World Health Organization (WHO). The COVAX initiative, which promotes collaboration for equitable global access to vaccines against CVID-19, has failed to achieve its objectives, and today poor countries continue to suffer from a lack of vaccines and medical equipment, while rich countries accumulate strategic stockpiles of vaccines.
Another reason why globalization will change, the authors argue, is that the pandemic has legitimized the return of a large, interventionist state and the adoption of protectionist measures, such as subsidies for domestic industries in countries like Japan and India. Large companies have reacted to this by reconfiguring their global supply chains and making them more resilient, seeking near-shoring and reshoring.
The article states that this situation presents great opportunities for Latin America, because U.S. companies are exploring alternatives to reduce their dependence on Asian suppliers in many areas, and the region has many competitive near-shoring sites.
The work of Professors Ciravegna and Michailova is clear in pointing out that the pandemic has emphasized inequalities in the world. It is a fact that the digitalization of work and services has benefited the most qualified, leaving behind the most vulnerable part of the population in all countries. There is a latent risk that in the next decade the feelings of nationalism and anti-globalization, which inequality had generated even before the pandemic, will explode, resulting in the election of protectionist leaders, as has just occurred in Peru, one of the countries in the world that has suffered most from the coronavirus.
You can read the full article HERE.
