THE WORLD-SYSTEM PARADIGM AS GENERAL-THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT - A CROSS-NATIONAL TEST

Much of the literature on development uses the world system model as a grand conceptual scheme rather than as a theory of development. I res t the world system paradigm as a general theory of development by focu ssing on three central constructs: world system role, dependency, and development. Data for five networks among 163 countries are used to op erationalize world system role. The findings indicate that world syste m role can be operationalized in terms of role equivalence, yielding r esults closer to the theoretical model than the more commonly used str uctural equivalence measures. Contrary to theoretical expectations, wo rld system role was more a function of absolute size of the economy th an of level of development. The results weakly support the world syste m model of economic performance for the period 1980 to 1989. During th is period, world system role had weak to moderate effects on several d ependency indicators but did not directly affect economic performance. Dependency had a moderate effect on economic performance.