The international division of labor is what?

In today's world there is no single self-sufficient state. Doubtful exceptions are perhaps very limited systems like North Korea. However, they all the more confirm the ineffectiveness of complete self-sufficiency. No state, even a very developed one, is able to provide absolutely all conditions for a sufficiently effective reproduction of all services and goods for its citizens and state needs. And in this respect, the international division of labor is certainly a progressive and useful phenomenon. In essence, it is a specialization on a global scale. The international division of labor is a concept that modern specialists use in two aspects. First, it is directly specialization of countries in various productions of certain types of goods, for the creation of which in a particular country there are preferable conditions in comparison with other countries: cheap labor, raw materials, fertile soil, developed infrastructure, machine-building enterprises and so on. Secondly, the international division of labor is a way of self-organization of the modern world economy characterized by the specialization of different countries in creating characteristic services and goods. After this, there is a mass exchange between them.

Process history and current state

The development of the international division of labor occurred throughout human history. At a fast or slow pace. Actually, this process always went in close connection with globalization. The voyages of the Phoenicians, the trade of the ancient Greeks, the conquests of the Roman Empire, the caravan routes of the medieval era, the great geographical discoveries are all steps and stages of the subject of this article. Any export or import of goods already presupposes an international division of labor. Countries have long traded within and outside Europe. At the same time, this process began to develop especially intensively in the New Times. Moreover, with increasing speed. If the prevailing role was formerly played by the characteristic geographical and climatic conditions: weather, natural resources, population size, the size of the territory, location on the map, then now scientific and technological progress has led to a decrease in the significance of these factors. The development of transport links and many other opportunities that have become available today have brought completely different factors to the fore. The international division of labor is in the modern world the result of the development of the following traits:

• Prevalence of intensive type of economic growth ;
• The emergence of new industries;
• Reduction of the production cycle;
• Expansion of services: banking, insurance, tourism, transport and other (this factor has become especially important in information societies).

In addition, the very nature of society has changed. Important socio-economic factors are the following:

• Way of organizing production within the country;
• Mechanism of organization of state foreign economic relations ;
• Levels of well-being in the country: economic, social, educational and scientific and technical.