Global Stratification: Understanding the World's Wealth Divide

1. Chapter 8 Global Stratification

2. Global Stratification • The unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige on a global basis, resulting in people having vastly different lifestyles and life chances both within and among the nations of the world.

3. High-income Countries • Characterized by highly industrialized economies; technologically advanced industrial, administrative, and service occupations; and high levels of national and per capita income.

4. Middle-income Countries • Nations with industrializing economies, particularly in urban areas, and moderate levels of national and personal income.

5. Low-income Countries • Primarily agrarian nations with little industrialization and low levels of national and personal income.

6. Income Gap: World’s Richest and Poorest People

7. Economies in Global Perspective

8. Gini Coefficeient • A measure of income inequality which ranges from zero (meaning that everyone has the same income) to 100 (one person receives all the income).

9. List of recent Gini Indexes for a select group of nations: A Gini value of 0 would indicate equal income for all earners. A Gini value of 100 would mean that one person had all the income and nobody else had any.

10. Life Expectancy in Years for Persons Born in 2001

11. Per Capita Gross Domestic Product in U.S. Dollars

12. Modernization Theory Low-income, less developed countries can move to middle- and high-income economies by achieving self-sustained economic growth.

13. Dependency Theory Poor nations are trapped in a cycle of dependency on richer nations.

14. World Systems Theory How a country is incorporated into the global capitalist economy is the key feature in determining how economic development takes place in that nation.