Richard Rubinson

The World-Economy and the Distribution of Income Within States: A Cross-National Study

Inter-country di/Jerences in income inequality have usually been explained by developmental models which posit that income inequality decreases as a consequence of economic growth. Recent research, however, points to the inadequacy of such models. This paper develops an alternative model which explains inter-country differences in inequality as a consequence of the relation of states to the world-economy. This model posits that inter-country differences in inequality are partially a result of the degree of economic dominance and influence that states, and the economic actors wit hin them, exercise in the world-economy. Three mechanisms of this economic dominance and influence are identified: state strength, direct foreign financial control and dependence on external markets. A cross-sectional regression analysis shows that indicators of these three mechanisms do have the hypothesized effects on the degree of inequality within countries. The results suggest the importance of considering the position of states within the world-economy as a cause of inter-country differences in inequality.

Cultural Capital, Student Achievement, and Educational Reproduction: The Case of Greece.

This paper studies the role of cultural capital in the relationship between social background inequalities and educational attainment. Using data from a national sample of Greek high school seniors, we assess a model that cultural capital mediates the relationships of school success with family class position and socioeconomic status. While the analysis finds that both fathers class position andfamily socioeconomic status determine a students cultural capital, we find no evidence that cultural capital has direct or indirect effects on educational achievement. While reproduction of the social hierarchy in Greece occurs through schooling, student ability and effort are the major mechanisms maintaining and legitimating the process.

Parent and Peer Communication Effects on AIDS- Related Behavior Among U.S. High School Students

Data from a 1989 national probability sample of 8,098 high school students in the United States indicate that young peoples discussions about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with parents and with peers are highly correlated and have opposite effects on behavior. Students who discussed HIV with their parents were less likely than those who did not to have had multiple sex partners, to have had unprotected sexual intercourse and to have ever injected drugs; on the other hand, students who discussed HIV with their peers were more likely than those who did not to have had multiple partners and to have had unprotected sexual intercourse. Subgroup analyses show that young women were influenced more by HIV discussions with parents, while young men were influenced more by discussions with peers; some communication effects differed by race and ethnicity. Students who received HIV instruction in school were more likely to have talked about HIV with both parents and peers.

Educational Expansion and Economic Output in the United States, 1890-1969: A Production Function Analysis.

Our research analyzes the effect of educational expansion on economic output in the United States from 1890 to 1969. In a departure from the individual-level inferences often used in prior research, we use an aggregate production function framework to estimate directly educational effects on economic output, net of labor and capital, the two basic factors of production. Using aggregate, time-series analyses, we find that expansion at the secondary and doctorate levels was positively related to economic output in the years since 1933. We do not, however, find consistent evidence for effects of these or other levels of schooling from 1890 to 1928. Consequently, while we have found that educational expansion has made contributions to economic output, the effects of education are more limited and time-specific than shown in previous studies.

Immigration and the expansion of schooling in the United States 1890-1970

The authors examine the effects of immigration on the rate of growth of education in the United States from 1890 to 1970. The differences in the effect of various immigrant groups on educational growth over time are identified and the reasons for the negative or positive effects of varying immigrant groups on educational growth are discussed (ANNOTATION)

Comparative Dependence and Economic Development

most striking characteristic of these studies is that they focus on a limited set of processes and ask a specific set of questions of similar sets of data. As a consequence, a review of these studies can be systematically organized around the empirical findings produced by this research. The coherence in these studies results from the relatively recent emergence of a particular theoretical perspective, referred to as either the dependency or world-system perspective. The basic elements in this perspective relevant to these studies are: (1) The countries in the world are conceptualized as existing in a single social system, the capitalist world-economy. This world-economy is

5: Education and Political Development

Since World War II, national educational systems have expanded rapidly (Coombs, 1968) and have become increasingly structured by centers of political authority. Nation-states have also consolidated their control over more aspects of social life. These two phenomena are related. The consolidation of national political authority extends education throughout society as a means of incorporating its human material in its structure, and politically incorporated educational systems integrate and legitimate political action. This chapter reviews the research literature on these reciprocal effects of education and political developments. Because both political development and educational expansion occur within the context of a particular world system (Cohen, 1970; Wallerstein, 1973), the first section of the review discusses the ways in which this context affects the two processes. The second section considers educational effects on political development, and the third discusses the effects of national political development on education. Most studies of education and political development investigate the interrelations between the educational and political attributes of individuals. Yet both political development and education are institutional properties. We must, then, review research efforts to address the relations among these institutional structures using data on individuals. Because the making of inferences about institutional relations using individual-level data is problematic, there is a great need for more comparative and institutional-level studies.

Dynamics of world development

Twelve previously unpublished essays discuss particular cases and issues of theory from the world-system perspective. The effect of changes in Europe on l8th century coffee production; how the Mexican revolution helped the country fit a new international role; the agrarian crisis that helped precipitate the fall of the Shah; and the ways in which dependence leads to the creation of strong national regimes are among the topics discussed in order to show the interdependence of the world system.

Structural Determinants of Student Political Activity: A Comparative Interpretation*

The argument is advanced that the level of university student political activity in a society tends to reflect the degree to which the student social status is developed and formulated as a social type. In societies in which this position is incorborated centrally and is given a great deal of distinctive meaning, political activity will tend to be high. This is particularly true when the student status is normatively incorporated in, regulated by, and given meaning with respect to the national political system. The educational system and the student status tend to be centrally incorporated and highly defined in modern societies because they provide normative and symbolic answers to certain crucial problems which arise in the nation-building process: the justification of the integration and political authority of citizens and the legitimation and explanation of elite authority. Thus, students tend to be seen in most nations as a peculiarly important corporate constituent of the national society and tend to be more politically active than many other groups. The historically exceptional position of students in the United States and the recent changes toward a more typical level of politicization are considered. THE DRAMATIC NATURE of student protest in the last few years has provoked many attempts at explanation. Empirical studies have examined the characteristics of the individual university students involved: their social class backgrounds, the political and ideological orientations of their families, their academic competence, and various psychological properties. (See, for example,