Which framework divides the world into Core, Periphery, and Semi-Periphery, with the Core owning the companies and the Periphery supplying labor and cheap materials?

• A. Core-Periphery Model
• B. World Systems Theory
• C. Dependency Theory
• D. World Bank Model

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how the global economy is viewed as a single system with a hierarchical structure. In World Systems Theory, the world is organized into Core, Semi-Periphery, and Periphery. Core countries dominate with high-value industries, strong finance, and political influence; Periphery countries supply raw materials and cheap labor, creating the flows that sustain core profits. Semi-Periphery sits in between, often industrializing and shifting between roles. The description of Core owning the companies and the Periphery providing labor and cheap materials matches this framework precisely, illustrating how wealth and resources circulate through the world-system and how inequality is reproduced. Other terms may reference related ideas, but World Systems Theory is the one that formalizes this three-tiered, interconnected arrangement.