This book examines the intimate link between the micro-structures of households and the structures of the world-economy at a global level. It seeks to explain differences in wage levels for work of comparable productivity by examining the different structures of households as "income-pooling units." The authors argue that the boundaries and sources of income of households are molded by the changing patterns of the world-economy, but are also modes of defense against its pressures. Empirical data is drawn from eight local regions in three different zones: the United States, Mexico and southern Africa.