World-Economic Integration, Supply Depots, and Environmental Degradation: A Study of Ecologically Unequal Exchange, Foreign Investment Dependence, and Deforestation in Less Developed Countries

Abstract

This article engages multiple perspectives to consider how forms of world-economic integration allow for developed countries to treat less developed countries as supply depots to satisfy their unsustainable resource consumption levels. Particular attention is paid to the role of ecologically unequal exchange relationships in the mode of the vertical flow of exports and the transnational organization of extraction and production in the context of foreign investment dependence. It is argued that these interrelationships in the primary sector contribute to deforestation in less developed countries. Following theoretical discussions, regression analyses are conducted to assess the validity of the proposed relationships. Results suggest that both types of integration do contribute to deforestation in less developed countries, net of other factors. Ultimately, this research suggests that the structure of the world-economy allows for developed countries to externalize their consumption-based environmental costs, which often leads to increased environmental degradation in many less developed countries.