Various forms of participation in the global system have been hypothes
ized to distort the structure of industrialization in developing count
ries, influencing the relations between industrial capital, labor and
output. We operationalize Kuznets's (1965) theoretical definition of i
ndustrialization utilizing energy consumption per capita, percent of t
he labor force employed in industry, and percent of GDP accounted for
by industry, to test several predictions about the effects of a countr
y's involvement in the global system on the structure of its industria
lization. We first estimate a measurement model for 1970 that includes
these three basic indicators as influenced by the latent variable of
industrialization. Elaborations of the basic model allow us to measure
the influence of the world system on the structure of industrializati
on. Types of goods imported and exported affect the structure of indus
trialization; position in the world system and direct foreign investme
nt have no net direct effects. A Marxist-Leninist regime has an indepe
ndent influence on the structure of industrialization in some years. W
e replicate the model using data from 1965, 1980, and 1986.