World society approaches to development; neo-dependency approaches; Poland in the capitalist world economy - the limits of Wallerstein's approach; a socio-liberal alternative?; methods and data; recent research, new results and discussion; a transition that never happened; towards a pacific age of capitalism?; corporatism, development and the European model; the future of the socio-liberal model.

A study of the determinants of world development from 1960 onwards, using advanced statistical techniques and data from up to 171 countries and territories. Arno Tausch also debates the perspectives for world socialism and for neo-corporatism in the industrialized West.