The process of development of the world economy is closely interrelated with the evolution of the development of international economic relations. International economic relations (IER) and the world economy are in a close logical and historical relationship. IEOs are a prerequisite for the formation of the world economy, and in the twentieth century they have already begun to be considered as an integral element of the world economy and as a result of its development. All subjects of the world economy interact with each other through the system of international economic relations, which in practice form the mechanism for the functioning of the world economy.
At the present stage of world development, IER is manifested in the expansion and deepening of economic relations between countries, groups of countries, individual firms and organizations. Thus, international economic relations are a certain way of interaction between economic entities of different countries regarding the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods.
International economic relations include a multi-level complex of economic relations between individual countries, their regional associations, as well as individual enterprises (transnational, multinational corporations) in the system of the world economy. International economic relations as a science studies not the economy of foreign countries, but the features of their economic relations. Moreover, not any economic relations, but only the most frequently repeated, typical, characteristic, defining relations [1].
MEOs have a number of specific features that reflect their differences from domestic economic relations, including:
economic relations cover a significant territorial space that goes beyond national borders; additional resources are involved; there is a movement of resources, factors of production and outputs outside individual countries; large-scale (often global) and acute competition between goods, services, sellers, buyers, associated with much greater losses in defeat; specific infrastructure for the functioning of IER in the form of international standardization of production and products, development of international transportation, communications, information environment, world foreign exchange market, etc .; a special system of IER regulation at the national level (in the form of foreign trade policy of states), bilateral (within the framework of bilateral agreements), multilateral
(within the framework of multilateral agreements and integration associations), international (under the auspices of international organizations); there is a much greater interconnection and interdependence of individual forms of IER within their system compared to a similar relationship in the domestic market.
The methodology of studying international economic relations includes consideration of their content at the macro level and micro level, their objects, subjects, forms, mechanism of their implementation.
The macro level (the level of the world economy) is the forms and ways of linking national economies in the world economy: foreign trade, international migration of factors of production.
The micro level (the level of national participants in foreign economic relations) is a special sphere of activity of national economic units, focused on foreign economic relations, based on the international division of labor. From the point of view of national producers and consumers, international economic relations are understood as export, import, re-export, re-import of goods, services, capital, technologies, international cooperation of production and R&D, providing their international transportation, insurance, settlements, etc.
The objects of IER are:
goods in material form (raw materials and food products, finished products, manufacturing products, mechanical engineering products); services (international engineering, consulting, audit, leasing, tourism, transportation, settlements, etc.); technologies (patent and non-patent licenses, trademarks); capital (direct and portfolio foreign investments, international credit); manpower.
The subjects of IER at the micro level are: firms; international corporations; business unions; state bodies and organizations engaged in foreign economic activity.
The subjects of IER at the macro level are national governments and other public bodies (for example, the Central Bank), as well as international economic organizations. The main goal of the former is to regulate the country’s MEOs through foreign trade, scientific and technical, currency, tax, and investment policies. The purpose of international organizations is to develop a common regulatory framework for the implementation of IER in a particular area for all participants.
Between the subjects of the world economy, economic relations are formed regarding the export (import) of goods and services, technologies, labor and capital, the implementation of economic activities abroad, the attraction of foreign exchange and financial transactions. This interaction of subjects determines the structure of modern IER and allows us to distinguish the following main forms of world economic relations:
international trade in goods and services; international scientific and technical exchange; international capital flows; international monetary, financial and credit relations; international labour migration.
Despite the fact that each form of international economic relations has its own specific sphere and methods of implementation, they are closely interrelated with each other, and all together form a system. International economic relations as a system are a set of forms of international economic relations in their close interdependence and interaction. As such, MEOs reflect the market character of national economies.
International trade in goods predetermines the development of international trade in services (banking, insurance services, guarantee and post-warranty services, international transportation, etc.). Trends in the development of the world market for goods and services affect the dynamics and geographical directions of international migration of entrepreneurial capital, its transnationalization, international specialization and co-operation of production, which, in turn, entail international movements of labor. All forms of IER are related to the need for international payments and the possibility of obtaining or providing international loans.
At the same time, the situation in the global financial markets affects international trade in goods and services, technologies, as well as the processes of labor migration of the labor force. The practical implementation of IER requires a mechanism for their implementation.
The mechanism for the implementation of IER is a set of legal norms and tools for their implementation (international agreements, treaties, conventions, charters, codes, etc.) adopted at the national and interstate levels, including regional and global international economic organizations.