Globalization and Perceptions of Economic Insecurity

Abstract

One of the fundamental assumptions in the literature on economic globalization is that economic openness generates greater economic volatility and insecurity. Casting doubt on this assumption, this study explores how openness affects workers perceptions of economic insecurity. Analyzing the combined aggregate and individual-level survey data, I find a significant divergence in the impact of openness between developed and developing countries; both the level and growth of trade are linked to greater perceived job insecurity in the non-OECD countries but to less perceived job insecurity in the OECD countries. Calling into question the openness-insecurity link, this study emphasizes that understanding the complexity of the linkages between globalization and economic insecurity is crucial for assessing various causal arguments of the existing studies of globalization as well as for better understanding the problems and constraints brought up by global economic forces.