Monopoly power and uneven development: Baran revisited

Abstract

Baran examined the implications of the rise in monopoly power in advanced economies for the underdevelopment in poor countries, and the process of uneven development on a world scale. This article examines his work critically, and then presents a North‐South model which defines uneven development in a precise manner, and analyses the mechanism by which the rise in monopoly power leads to such uneven development. It is shown that the process can work even without reference to imperialism, which is a central, but controversial, element in Baran's analysis.