World Systems Theory

Question 1

What are core countries?

Answer 1

Highly-developed capitalist economies
Most significant production/exports are usually based on services, knowledge and finance
Taxation rates are usually low

Question 2

What are semi-periphery countries?

Answer 2

Industrialised, wealthy capitalist nations with stable governments
Usually generates income through manufacturing and food production
Taxation rates are usually high

Question 3

What are periphery countries?

Answer 3

Pre-industrial or cottage-industry based nations with unstable or ineffective governments
Usually generates income by selling natural resources, cheap unskilled labour or through tourism
Taxation is usually not regularly collected, due to lack of infrastructure and record-keeping

Question 4

What is the role of the periphery countries in the system?

Answer 4

Periphery countries provide cheap labour and raw materials to semi-periphery and core countries
They receive cheap and/or surplus technology and goods in return

Question 5

What is the role of the semi-periphery countries in the system?

Answer 5

Semi-periphery countries use the raw materials to create machines/technology/consumable products, which they sell to core countries
They purchase from periphery countries

Question 6

What is the role of the core countries in the system?

Answer 6

Core countries employ cheap labour from the periphery to perform their manual work
They provide services like banking/IT support to semi-periphery countries, and sell surplus technology/food to periphery countries