Globalization and Shifting Economic Centers of Gravity

Changes in the political economy of countries in several parts of the world changed its economic balance, where traditional economic centers lost their relative significance and emerging countries gained. This study identifies and tracts the changes in economic centers of gravity for each country and regional economic bloc, and the whole world for the period of 1970 to 2009. It uses a different methodology and significantly higher number of locations, resulting in more reasonable centers than the previous research. The results demonstrate the increasing significance of Asian economies and illustrate the changes in the soft economic power across regions and the world, in countries’ ability to increase their multinationals’ market access, influence international policies, and be an attraction for skilled immigrants. Further, results can be used by multinationals for their location decisions. Results also suggest that the economic centers of gravity for countries in an economic bloc are moving toward the regional centers for that bloc. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.