Divergence and Convergence in International Development: A Decomposition Analysis of Inequality in the World System

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.The "convergence hypothesis" of conventional modernization theory suggests that the nations of the world are becoming more similar. Critics have argued that nations are diverging and becoming dissimilar over time. This paper brings unique data, analytic procedures, and a world-system perspective to bear on this debate. We suggest that world-system theory provides a framework for explaining the simultaneous occurrence of both convergence and divergence. Specifically, the logic of world-system theory suggests that divergence occurs between the three zones of nations (core, semiperiphery, and periphery), whereas convergence occurs within them. With respect to economic development, our analyses indicate that predictions concerning divergence were partially supported and predictions concerning convergence held only for the core. Trends within the periphery and semiperiphery question the utility of world-system theory. INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESESDebate has long revolved around what has come to be known as the "convergence hypothesis" (Meyer, Boli-Bennett, and Chase-Dunn 1975). This hypothesis proposes that the societies of the world will become more similar over time with regard to various characteristics such as labor force structure, technology, level of development, occupational prestige rankings, and state bureaucratization and power (Lenski and Lenski 1987; Inkeles and Rossi 1956; Moore 1963). Central to this homogenizing process is the diffusion of industrial technology and "modern" values throughout the world. For instance, Kerr, Dunlop, Harbison, and Myers (1964, pp. 14-29) have described the "logic of industrialization," which pulls all nations toward a common point: industrial society. Others suggest that late developers can adopt rational policies and advanced technology and * Direct all correspondence to Walter Gillis Peacock, Department of Sociology, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899.The authors would like to thank Walter Sullins and Rick Christenson -for their assistance, two anonymous ASR reviewers for their helpful comments, and the Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, for supporting early stages of this research. achieve rapid development that will enable them to catch up with the already developed nations (Feldman and Moor 1969). In this scenario, the developing nations will skip the preliminary stages of development through which the leading nations gradually passed. Taking advantage of the latest in technological advances, developing nations are catapulted into the modern world.The critics of this hypothesis have argued that rather than converging, nations are diverging in many important respects. For instance, some have argued that ...

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