Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Charts
- List of Appendices
- Preface
- PART ONE ORIENTATION
- PART TWO FORAGING SOCIETIES
- PART THREE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
- PART FOUR INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE SOCIETIES
- 6 Advanced Market Economic Systems
- 7 Systemic Changes in Advanced Market Economies
- 8 Marxist Economic Systems
- PART FIVE FINAL WORDS
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Advanced Market Economic Systems
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Charts
- List of Appendices
- Preface
- PART ONE ORIENTATION
- PART TWO FORAGING SOCIETIES
- PART THREE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
- PART FOUR INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE SOCIETIES
- 6 Advanced Market Economic Systems
- 7 Systemic Changes in Advanced Market Economies
- 8 Marxist Economic Systems
- PART FIVE FINAL WORDS
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In this chapter, I focus on economic systems of the industrialized OECD nations. These might seem simpler to analyze than foraging and agricultural economies, because we can draw upon more plentiful and standardized information. But, the complexity of these advanced economic systems also raises difficulties that were not necessary to confront in previous chapters.
The discussion begins with a cluster analysis to define the types of economic systems, using readily available data on forty different institutions and organizations. Although the results are not startling, they do confirm our intuitions, as well as the conclusions of several other studies using many fewer indicators. I then analyze the impact of these economic systems on the functioning of the economy, a task not possible for foraging and agricultural systems because of the lack of suitable data. Finally, I look at various political, ideological, social, and cultural correlations that might indicate why these countries adopted their current economic systems. In the following chapter, I examine how these advanced market systems have evolved over time and where they are heading.
Defining the Economic Systems
Data and Statistical Technique
We face a kaleidoscope of classifications and approaches when looking at the literature on economic systems of advanced market economies. A possible alternative to the cluster analysis used in previous chapters is a factor analysis to derive “ideal types,” but because all of the OECD nations had mixed economies, this did not prove fruitful.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005