Karla Perez

Corruption: A Negative Effect of Globalization

In “How Soccer Explains the World” Franklin Foer argues that globalization has had no effect on positively changing or eradicating corruption at the local level in under-developed countries. Globalization’s benefits are prominent in developed nations with strong financial and government structures. In developing nations that become more involved in the world economy with significantly weaker institutions however, globalization leads to corruption within these already weak institutions.

            Already existing corruption is only entrenched and “undermines the potential benefits of globalization” in undeveloped or developing nations. This corruption only further pushes away foreign investment and chases away any additional capital that could enter these states. This could be seen as a significant reason for why developing nations are left behind as a cause of globalization, the relation between globalization and corruption is increasingly tied to this observation. The known corruption of these nations often times affects the foreign aid that these developing nations receive as well, only adding more strain to their economic situation. An example of this is seen in many African countries like Uganda in which conducted study showed that only twenty seven cents of every dollar donated to the country for education actually went to the cause. Unfortunately the bulk of such aid and donation was invested into local political purposes. While donations are being skimmed by corrupt politicians and elites of such countries, the overall economic prosperity of the nation declines and the corruption remains the same.

            Corruption is an issue within the legal systems of under developed nations. Some argue that this corruption enables more income distribution however the flaws are far more detrimental to the overall condition of these countries. The main small-scale and local corruption of officers that accept bribes when issuing tickets propagates and continues to support the large scale level corruption of multibillion dollar organizations. This essentially creates a culture of crime and corruption within these organizations and their entire nations as well. (http://yourknowledge.hubpages.com/hub/Negative-Effects-of-Globalization-Corruption)

           Globalization can obviously have many benefits, but the distinction of its effects is clear between developed and developing nations. Corruption is definitely among the most signaled negative effects of globalization among under-developed nations because the weak institutions within these nations become an easy breeding ground for the corruption to occur in the first place.