Chapter 8: Geographies of Economic Development

Question 1

agglomeration diseconomies

Answer 1

the negative economic effects of urbanization and the local concentration of industry

Question 2

agglomeration effects

Answer 2

interdependencies associated with various kinds of economic linkages, including the cost advantages that accrue to individual firms because of their location among functionally related activities.

Question 3

ancillary industries

Answer 3

industries that manufacture parts and components to be used by larger industries.

Question 4

autarky

Answer 4

an economic policy or situation in which a nation is independent of international trade and not reliant upon imported goods.

Question 5

backward linkages

Answer 5

develop as new firms arrive to provide the growing
industry with components, supplies, specialized services, or facilities.

Question 6

backwash effects

Answer 6

the negative impacts on a region (or regions) of the economic growth of some other region.

Question 7

carrying capacity

Answer 7

the maximum number of users that can be sustained, over the long term, by a given set of natural resources.

Question 8

conglomerate corporations

Answer 8

companies that have diversified into various economic activities, usually through a process of mergers and acquisitions.

Question 9

creative destruction

Answer 9

the withdrawal of investments from activities (and regions) that yield low rates of profit in order to reinvest in new activities (and new places).

Question 10

cumulative causation

Answer 10

a spiral buildup of advantages that occurs in specific geographic settings as a result of the development of external economies, agglomeration effects, and localization economies.

Question 11

deindustrialization

Answer 11

relative decline in industrial employment in core regions.

Question 12

dependency

Answer 12

high level of reliance by a country on foreign enterprises, investment, or technology.

Question 13

ecological footprint

Answer 13

measure of the human pressures on the natural environment from the consumption of renewable resources and the production of pollution indicating how much space a population needs compared to what is available.

Question 14

elasticity of demand

Answer 14

degree to which levels of demand for a product or service change in response to changes in price.

Question 15

export-processing zones (EPZs)

Answer 15

small areas within which especially favor- able investment and trading conditions are created by governments in order to attract export-oriented industries.

Question 16

external economies

Answer 16

regions of the world not yet absorbed into the modern world system.

Question 17

flexible production systems

Answer 17

ability of manufacturers to shift quickly and efficiently from one level of output to another, or from one product configuration to another.

Question 18

Fordism

Answer 18

principles for mass production based on assembly-line techniques, scientific management, mass consumption based on higher wages, and sophisticated advertising techniques.

Question 19

foreign direct investment

Answer 19

total of overseas business investments made by private companies.

Question 20

forward linkages

Answer 20

develop as new firms arrive to take the finished products of the growing industry and use them in their own processing, assembly, finishing, packaging, or distribution operations.

Question 21

geographical path dependence

Answer 21

historical relationship between the present activities associated with a place and the past experiences of that place.

Question 22

gross national income (GNI)

Answer 22

similar to GDP, but also includes the value of income from abroad.

Question 23

growth poles

Answer 23

economic activities that are deliberately organized around one or more high-growth industries.

Question 24

import substitution

Answer 24

process by which domestic producers provide goods or services that formerly were bought from foreign producers.

Question 25

initial advantage

Answer 25

critical importance of an early start in economic development; a special case of external economies.

Question 26

international division of labor

Answer 26

specialization, by countries, in particular products for export.

Question 27

just-in-time production

Answer 27

manufacturing process in which daily or hourly delivery schedules of materials allow for minimal or zero inventories.

Question 28

localization economies

Answer 28

cost savings that accrue to particular industries as a result of clustering together at a specific location.

Question 29

neo-Fordism

Answer 29

economic principles in which the logic of mass production coupled with mass consumption is modified by the addition of more flexible production, distribution, and marketing systems.

Question 30

neoliberal policies

Answer 30

economic policies that are predicated on a minimalist role for the state, assuming the desirability of free markets as the ideal condition not only for economic organization but also for political and social life.

Question 31

newly industrializing countries

Answer 31

countries formerly peripheral within the world system that have acquired a significant industrial sector, usually through foreign direct investment.

Question 32

primary activities

Answer 32

economic activities that are concerned directly with natural resources of any kind.

Question 33

producer services

Answer 33

services that enhance the productivity or efficiency of other firms’ activities or that enable them to maintain specialized roles.

Question 34

purchasing power parity

Answer 34

measures how much of a common “market basket” of goods and services each currency can purchase locally, including goods and services that are not traded internationally.

Question 35

quaternary activities

Answer 35

economic activities that deal with the handling and processing of knowledge and information.

Question 36

secondary activities

Answer 36

economic activities that process, transform, fabricate, or assemble the raw materials derived from primary activities or that reassemble, refinish, or package manufactured goods.

Question 37

spread effects

Answer 37

positive impacts on a region (or regions) of the economic growth of some other region.

Question 38

strategic alliances

Answer 38

commercial agreements between transnational corporations, usually involving shared technologies, marketing networks, market research, or product development

Question 39

sustainable development

Answer 39

vision of development that seeks a balance among economic growth, environmental impacts, and social equity.

Question 40

terms of trade

Answer 40

ratio of prices at which exports and imports are exchanged.

Question 41

tertiary activities

Answer 41

economic activities involving the sale and exchange of goods and services.

Question 42

trading blocs

Answer 42

groups of countries with formalized systems of trading agreements.

Question 43

transnational corporations

Answer 43

companies with investments and activities that span international boundaries and with subsidiary companies, factories, offices, or facilities in several countries.

Question 44

vertical disintegration

Answer 44

evolution from large, functionally integrated firms within a given industry toward networks of specialized firms, subcontractors, and suppliers.