Global inequality, water pollution, and infant mortality

Recently, Burns, Kentor, and Jorgenson [Crises and resistance in the 21st century world-system, Greenwood Press, 2003] empirically identified the effects of export commodity dependence on organic water pollution, which has disastrous effects on infant mortality rates in peripheral and semiperipheral countries. In this paper I build upon this recent study, while addressing three limitations in its analyses. First, instead of using per capita GNP as a measure of world-system position, I employ an indicator that captures the economic and political/military dimensions of position in the core/periphery hierarchy. Second, instead of excluding OECD countries from the study, I include all countries that data are available for. Third, I include a critical indicator neglected in Burns et al.’s analyses: agricultural production as a percentage of a country’s total gross domestic product. Results of the quantitative cross-national analyses provide additional support for the previous key findings of Burns et al. (2003). Moreover, agriculture production proves to be a significant predictor of both organic water pollution and infant mortality rates, a finding that enhances our overall analytical and empirical accuracy in explaining environmental degradation and disastrous social domestic conditions, particularly in non-core, export commodity dependent societies.