Modernization Theory and Globalization: The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment and INGOs on Homicide Rates

• In Event: Cross-National Research on Correlates and Causes of Homicide

Abstract

Modernization theorists posit that rapid economic development can produce increased rates of homicide. While modernization theory has been tested extensively, it has not accounted for the way in which nations currently develop. Many nations are recipients of inward foreign direct investment. This form of investment, by multi-national corporations, has produced economic growth, inequality, and urbanization in many countries. These correlates, economic growth, inequality, and urbanization, have all been linked to homicide. In an examination of up to 62 nations, inward foreign direct investment is found to promote urbanization and inequality. In separate analyses, urbanization is found to increase homicide – suggesting that foreign investment may produce homicide by increasing urbanization. Analyses also show that a strong civil society, represented by the presence of international-non-governmental organizations (INGOs), is associated with decreased rates of homicide. INGO presence also significantly reduces the positive effect of urbanization on homicide rates.

Author

• Philip Levchak, Texas A&M University, San Antonio