See attached. In this week’s materials, we focused on two themes: 1) globalizati

See attached.
In this week’s materials, we focused on two themes: 1) globalization and 2) the many ways countries differ from each other. This applied discussion assignment focuses on the second theme: country differences. While I covered may concepts around country differences in the lecture, the Ghemawat reading “Distance Still Matters” moved our coverage forward by linking these differences to real, impactful outcomes on trade and firms’ international activities. In that reading, Ghemawat also introduced his CAGE framework to help you think through several important dimensions of differences between countries. In this applied discussion assignment, you will apply the CAGE framework by comparing and contrasting two countries along the CAGE dimensions. Specifically, you should:
1. Find your two assigned countries by clicking on the “Country Assignments” thread that I have posted in this forum.
2. Learn a bit more about your assigned countries, starting with each country’s entry in the CIA World Factbook (click here).
3. Once you have a general grasp of your assigned countries, do more specific research on their similarities and differences using the figure from page 5 of “Distance Still Matters” as a guide. Work through each of “attributes creating distance” found in that figure for each of the CAGE dimensions. For the cultural distance dimension, also include a comparison of each country’s scores from the Hofstede country comparison tool (found under “Course Information”). I’ve listed several helpful data sources under the “Course Information” tab that should make your job easier for comparing several of the distance attributes.