A New Trichotomous Measure of World-system Position Using the International Trade Network

Snyder and Kick's (1979) measure of world-system position continues to serve as the premier trichotomous network indicator of a state's location in the capitalist world economy. In this study, we identify several problems with this orthodox measure concerning its age, informal construction...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of comparative sociology 2009-02, Vol.50 (1), p.5-38
Main Authors: Clark, Rob, Beckfield, Jason
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Center and periphery
Development
Economic Development
Economic growth
Economic sociology
General studies. Economic systems
Global economy
Globalization
Human Capital
Inappropriateness
International Trade
Networks
Partition
Sociology
Sociology of economy and development
World Economy
World order
World system theory
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Snyder and Kick's (1979) measure of world-system position continues to serve as the premier trichotomous network indicator of a state's location in the capitalist world economy. In this study, we identify several problems with this orthodox measure concerning its age, informal construction, and incorporation of inappropriate networks. We introduce a trichotomous network measure of world-system position that addresses these concerns, applying Borgatti and Everett's (1999) core/periphery model to a three-tiered partition using international trade data. Our trichotomous measure of the trade network identifies an expanded core, consisting of an old orthodox core joined by a set of upwardly mobile states. We estimate the effect of world-system position on economic growth and find that our trade measure significantly outperforms Snyder and Kick's orthodox measure. When controlling for human capital, the strong effects of our trade measure persist, while the weaker effects estimated by the orthodox measure largely disappear. Moreover, our models with human capital reveal that states economically converge within world-system zones, while continuing to diverge between zones.
ISSN:0020-7152
1745-2554
DOI:10.1177/0020715208098615