Integration activities
The extent of globalization unfolds in an uneven fashion to the degree that the question is raised whether international trade is more focused on regional rather than global integration. Trading blocs, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the European Union (EU), the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), Mercosur (South American trading bloc), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the East Africa Community (EAC), support regional cooperation between geographical neighbors.
An example of limitations to fair market access for developing countries is that developed countries subsidize agricultural producers with about $330 billion per year, which creates a significant disadvantage for poorer economies without such subsidies. The impact is exacerbated because 70 percent of the world’s poor population lives in rural communities and depends heavily on agriculture. Hence, one of the concerns with uneven distribution of globalization is its impact on poorer economies by perpetuating systems of inequality.
Impact on poorer societies
A challenge to globalization is that inequality arises from imbalances in trade liberalization where the rich gain disproportionately more than the poor. Ajit K. Ghose examined the impact of international trade on income inequality and found that inter-country inequality increased from 1981 to 1997, in a sample of ninety-six national economies, but international inequality measured by per capita GDP declined.
集成活动
全球化的程度上展现的不均匀的方式，提出的问题是，国际贸易是否是更侧重于区域而不是全球一体化程度。贸易集团，如北美自由贸易协定（NAFTA），欧洲联盟（欧盟），亚太经济合作（APEC），南方共同市场（南美贸易集团），东南亚国家联盟（东盟），和东非共同体（EAC），支持在地理上的邻居区域合作。
限制的一个例子为发展中国家公平的市场准入是发达国家补贴农业生产每年约330000000000美元，创造了没有这样的补贴，贫穷国家的一个主要的缺点。由于影响加剧了全球百分之70的贫困人口生活在农村社区，在很大程度上取决于农业。因此，一个随着全球化的不均匀分布的关系是由使系统不平等对贫穷国家的影响。
对贫穷的社会影响
全球化的一个挑战是，不平等产生失衡的贸易自由化，富人比穷人更获得不成比例。Ajit K. Ghose研究国际贸易对收入不平等的影响，发现国家间的不平等从1981增加到1997，在九十六个国家经济的一个样本，但国际不平等的衡量人均国内生产总值下降。
