A Contribution to the Empirics of Development and Globalization

by Steffen Lohmann
Doctoral thesis
Date of Examination:2015-05-08
Date of issue:2015-05-13
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Stephan Klasen
Referee:Prof. Dr. Stephan Klasen
Referee:Prof. Dr. Axel Dreher
Referee:Prof. Dr. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso
Persistent Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.53846/goediss-5069

 

 

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Abstract

English

There are arguably few topics in current global economic policy as intensely debated as the impact of different facets of globalization on human development. Given that the concept of globalization reflects a multitude of economic and societal transformations, the scope of these discussions needs to be equally nuanced. This dissertation sheds light on some of the channels through which less researched facets of globalization affect human lives. Specifically, the first essay scrutinizes the role of informational globalization, characterized by the exchange of information. It focuses on the spread of modern information and telecommunication technologies, such as the internet, and how this development has the potential to shape concerns about relative status and people’s perception of happiness. The second essay deals with the implications of environmental globalization - more precisely, with climate change as its most perceptible phenomenon and the consequential increased prevalence of extreme weather events in many parts of the world. Focusing on the impact of drought conditions on health outcomes in the agrarian economy of Vietnam, the results reveal one component of the costs of environmental globalization for a population vulnerable to poverty. Emanating from the long-debated question whether development aid is effective in increasing economic growth, the third essay is concerned with the role of the World Bank as one key player of political globalization in alleviating poverty and fostering development and the role of cross-border official capital flows in the form of development aid. It also has a methodological focus through bringing the aid-effectiveness literature to the subnational level. Being grounded on economic theory, a unifying feature of all essays in this dissertation is an evidence-based approach to economic problems. Their research method is the use of empirical data in order to draw quantitative conclusions on the effects of different aspects of globalization on human development.
Keywords: development; globalization; information technologies; subjective well-being; drought; health; Vietnam; aid; economic growth
 
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