The effect of positioning in the world economic system on economic and social development: A relational approach to services

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to evaluate how the positioning of the countryin the world economic system influences economic development ( percapita income) and social development (HDI). Taking exchange of servicesas a reference point, through social network analysis and panel data, wefound that the positioning of the country in more central positions,i.e., the core and semiperiphery, and capacity for betweennesspositively interfere with economic development, but not with socialdevelopment. However, we did observe that those countries with greateroutsourcing of services to other countries tend to enjoy greater socialdevelopment.