Recent technological trends and, particularly, the global technology fracture, significantly affect power distributionin the world economy. However, the problems that arise due to these tendencies and their possible consequences forthe economic world order remain understudied. This article assesses the impact of the global technology fracture oneconomic leadership in the context of the contradictions of the West-East development models, taking into considerationboth interstate conflicts in the innovative field and the rising power of big-tech companies. Complex index constructionis employed to formalize the concept of leadership in the world economy, and a panel data regression modelis used for estimating effects of the technology fracture on it. The sample contains data on major macroeconomic andtechnological indicators for 30 western and 10 Asian countries from 2010 to 2019. As a result, it is concluded that thepresence of a clear plan for the implementation of information and communication technologies by the state can havea positive impact on the economic leadership of a country, and the growing importance of technology giants has anegative impact on this indicator. Finally, this article contributes to a better understanding of the economic leadershipconcept among scholars and draws policymakers’ attention to the necessity of new regulations in the technologicalsphere.

This article was submitted on 24.06.2022.