STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY - NETWORK ANALYSIS OF
INTERNATIONAL-TRADE 1965-1980
SMITH DA, WHITE DR
SOCIAL FORCES
70 (4): 857-893 JUN 1992
Abstract:
This article reports results
from a quantitative network analysis of international commodity trade flows
designed to measure the structure of the world economic system and to identify
the roles that particular countries play in the global division of labor. It
improves on previous network-analytic studies of the world-economy in two ways.
First, by using a newly developed measure of regular equivalence, this
operationalization of a nation's roles in the international system is
methodologically superior to previous work. Second, we have built a dynamic
aspect into the analysis by examining international trade networks at more than
one point in time (1965, 1970, and 1980). This allows us to answer questions
about change both in the overall structure of the world-economy and in the
positions of particular countries in the system. Our findings generally conform
to the theoretically expectations of the world-system perspective as well as
qualitative descriptions of recent changes in the international division of
labor.
KeyWords Plus:
WORLD-SYSTEM, SOCIAL-STRUCTURE, RAW-MATERIALS,
GROWTH, PERIPHERY, EXPORT, BLOCKMODELS, DEPENDENCY, POSITIONS
Addresses:
SMITH DA, UNIV CALIF IRVINE,SCH SOCIAL SCI,IRVINE,CA
92717
Publisher:
UNIV NORTH CAROLINA PRESS, CHAPEL HILL