The Persistence of Structural Inequality?: A Network Analysis of International Trade, 1965-2000

This article reports results from a network analysis of international trade from 1965 through 2000. It addresses the impact of changes associated with globalization and the "new international division of labor" (NIDL) on structural inequality in the world economy. To assess this impact, I ask three specific questions. (1) Do patterns of international trade conform to a core/periphery structure through time? (2) Does the structure exhibit inequality with regard to industrial sophistication? (3) Have globalization and the NIDL encouraged upward mobility for historically poor countries, or have they reproduced a stable set of structural positions? The findings support the view that the NIDL and globalization have benefited a few exceptional countries while at the same time producing structural inequality.