Globalization and Digitalization – Synergistic Effects and Transformations in the Economy and Economics

Maria Sotirova, Daniela Bobeva-Filipova and Dimitar Zlatinov

Ikonomiceski i Sotsialni Alternativi, 2026, issue 1, 5-25

Abstract: This article examines the synergistic effects of globalization and digitalization as mutually reinforcing processes that generate systemic transformations in economic processes and their theoretical conceptualization. The analysis situates industrialization as a historical precondition upon which globalization and digitalization intensify material and information flows, thereby reframing the fundamental economic problem of allocating scarce resources. The study focuses on structural shifts in consumption and employment, the increasing importance of high value-added sectors, and the role of the IT sector as a key driver of economic growth. It argues that in the digital economy human capital, knowledge, innovation, and intangible assets have emerged as dominant sources of value, necessitating adjustments in market structures and the institutional framework. Particular attention is devoted to the channels of globalization and their associated effects, assessed through the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI). The empirical analysis demonstrates that in economies such as Bulgaria, globalization has been accompanied by a persistent outflow of capital income, resulting in a structurally lower level of GNI relative to GDP. The article concludes that the synergy between globalization and digitalization is neither linear nor frictionless, but rather a contradictory and temporally uneven process, marked by growing inequalities and emerging deglobalization tendencies.

Keywords: globalization; human capital; digitalization; GDP and GNI; economic transformation. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E01 F60 J24 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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