Family and Economic Growth: A World-System Approach and a Cross-National Analysis

Abstract

Family research in sociology has concentrated on the national-level determinants of family structure and process. The approach we propose, in contrast, reverses the causal ordering to consider the effects of family characteristics on national outcomes, especially economic growth. This effort is further stimulated by neglect in the sociology of national development literature, where the plausible impact of the family on economic development has been ignored. The modified world-system perspective that we present links the institution of the family to modernization and the developmental profile of nations. We use cross-national data to test this perspective and demonstrate that the family is a vital, but differential contributor to national development around the world.