Dependent Industrialization in the World Economy

Recent cross-national studies that analyze the impact of multinational corporations in the world economy on economic growth and inequality in peripheral and core countries have been interpreted as empirical tests of "dependencia" theories. Such a limited interpretation does not fully acknowledge the theoretical approach of some researchers who contributed to the findings. Although several cross-national findings are not at variance with dependencia expectations, at least one finding is. This relates to "dependent industrialization." This article addresses the theoretical and empirical debate that followed a survey of the cross-national research. In the theoretical section dependent industrialization is discussed. The argument is in important ways different from dependencia thoughts, especially concerning the prediction of long-term economic growth. In the empirical section the recent empirical critique is addressed and reanalyses are performed. The findings suggest indirect support for some propositions developed in the theoretical section.