World Economy, World Society, and Environmental Harms in Less-Developed Countries

World economy and world society theories are engaged to assess the extent to which environmental harms in less-developed countries are tied to particular kinds of economic and social integration. Results of panel models indicate that world economy integration in the context of sector-level foreign investment contributes to a variety of environmental harms. With the exception of deforestation, world society integration in the mode of environmental international non-governmental organization presence has no direct effect. However, a stronger presence of such organizations in less-developed countries mitigates the effect of foreign investment on all tested outcomes. The authors contend that comparative sociologists should adopt theoretically integrative approaches and pay closer attention to how and under what circumstances world economy and world society factors interact to partially shape social and environmental conditions.