Economic Geography Flashcards
Ancillary activities
Economic activities that surround and support large-scale industries such as shipping and food service
Agglomeration
Grouping together of many firms from the same industry in a single area for collective or cooperative use of infrastructure and sharing of labor resources
Anthropocentric
Human-centered; in sustainable development, anthropocentric refers to ideas that focus solely on the needs of ppl w/o considering the creatures with whom we share the the planet or the ecosystems upon which we depend
Backwash effect
The negative effects of one region that result from economic growth within another region
Break-bulk point
A location where large shipments of goods are broken up into smaller containers for delivery to local markets
Brick-and-mortar business
Traditional businesses with actual stores in which trade or retail occurs; it does not exist solely on the Internet
Bulk gaining industries
Industries whose products weigh more after assembly than they did previously in their constituent parts; such industries tend to have production facilities close to their markets
Bulk reducing industries
Industries whose final products weigh less than their constituent parts, and whose processing facilities tend to be located close to sources of raw materials
Conglomerate cooperation
A firm that is compromised of many smaller firms that serve several different functions
Core
National or global regions where economic power, in terms of wealth, innovation, and advanced technology, is concentrated
Core-periphery model
A model of the spatial structure of development in which underdeveloped countries are defined by their dependence on a developed core region
Cottage industry
An industry in which the production of goods and services is based in homes, as opposed to factories
Deglomeration
The dispersal of an industry that formerly existed in an established agglomeration
Deindustrialization
Loss of industrial activity in a region
Development
The process of economic growth, expansion, or realization of regional resource potential
E-commerce
Web-based economic activities
Economic backwaters
Regions that fail to gain from national economic development
Ecotourism
A form of tourism, based on the enjoyment of scenic areas or natural wonders, that aims to provide an experience of nature or culture in an environmentally sustainable way
Export-processing zone
Areas where gov’ts create favorable investment and trading conditions to attract export-oriented industries
Fast world
Areas of the world, usually the economic core, that experience greater levels of connection due to high-speed telecommunications and transportation technologies
Footloose firms
Manufacturing activities in which cost of transporting both raw materials and finished product isn’t important for determining the location of the firm
Fordism
System of standardized mass production attributed to Henry Ford
Foreign investment
Overseas business investments made by private companies
Gender equity
A measure of the opportunities given to women compared to men within a given country
Globalization
The idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected on a global scale such that smaller scales of political and economic life are becoming obsolete
Gross Domestic Product
The total value of goods and services produced within the borders of a country during a specific time period, usually one year
Gross National Product
The total value of goods and services, including income received from abroad, produced by the residents of a country within a specific time period, usually 1 year
Human Development Index
Measure used by the UN that calculates development not in terms of money or productivity but in terms of human welfare; evaluates human welfare based on three parameters–life expectancy, education, and income
Industrial Revolution
The rapid economic and social changes in manufacturing that resulted after the introduction of the factory system to the textile industry in England at the end of the 18th century
Industrialization
Process of industrial development in which countries evolve economically, from producing basic, primary goods to using modern factories for mass-producing goods; at the highest levels of development, national economies are geared mainly toward the delivery of services and exchange of info
Industrialized countries
Those countries that were all at the forefront of industrial production and innovation through the middle of the 20th century; while industry is currently shifting to other countries to take advantage of cheaper labor and more relaxed environmental standards, these countries still account for a large portion of the world’s total industrial output
Least-cost theory
Alfred Weber; describes the optimal location of a manufacturing establishment in relation to the costs of transport and labor, and the relative advantages of agglomeration and deglomeration
Least-developed countries
Those countries that usually have low levels of economic productivity, low per capita incomes, and generally low standards of living
Manufacturing region
A region in which manufacturing activities have clustered together (ex. Great Lakes states, southeastern Brazil, central England, around Tokyo, etc.)
Maquiladoras
Those US firms that have factories just outside the US/Mexican border in areas that have been specially designated by the Mexican gov’t; in such areas, factories cheaply assemble goods for export back into the US
Net National Product
A measure of all goods and services produced by a country in a year, including production from its investments abroad, minus the loss or degradation of natural resource capital as a result of productivity
Nonrenewable resources
Natural resources, such as fossil fuels, that do not replenish themselves in a timeframe that is relevant for human consumption
Offshore financial center
Areas that have been specially designed to promote business transactions, and this have become centers for banking and finance
Outsourcing
Sending industrial processes out for external production; this term increasingly applied not only to traditional industrial functions, but also to the contracting of service industry functions to companies to overseas locations, where operating costs remain relatively low
Periphery
Countries that usually have low levels of economic productivity, low per capita capita incomes, and generally low standards of living
Primary economic activities
Economic activities in which natural resources are made available for use or further processing, including mining, agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Productivity
A measure of the goods and services produced within a particular country
Purchasing Power Parity
A monetary measurement of development that takes into account what money buys in different countries
Quaternary economic activities
Economic activities concerned with research, info gathering, and administration
Quinary economic activities
The most advanced form of quaternary activities consisting of high-level decision making for large corporations or high-level scientific research
Regionalization
The process by which specific regions acquire characteristics that differentiate them from others within the same country; in economic geo, regionalization involves the development of dominant economic activities in particular regions
Renewable resources
Any natural resource that can replenish itself in a relatively short period of time, usually no longer that the length of a human life
Rostow’s stages of development
A model of economic development that describes a country’s progression which occurs in 5 stages transforming them from least-developed to most-developed countries
Rust Belt
The manufacturing region in the US that is currently debilitated because many manufacturing firms have relocated to countries offering cheaper labor and relaxed environmental regulations
Secondary economic activities
Economic activities concerned with the processing of raw materials such as manufacturing, construction, and power generation
Semiperiphery
Those newly industrialized countries with median standards of living; offer their citizens relatively diverse economic opportunities but also have extreme gaps between rich and poor (ex. Chile, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, etc.)
Service-based economies
Highly developed economies that focus on research and development, marketing, tourism, sales, and telecommunications
Slow world
The developing world that does not experience the benefits of high-speed telecommunications and transportation technology
Spatially fixed costs
An input cost in manufacturing that remains constant wherever production is located
Specialty goods
Goods that aren’t mass produced but rather assembled individually or in small quantities
Sustainable development
The idea that ppl living today should be able to meet their needs w/o prohibiting the ability of future generations to do the same
Tertiary economic activities
Activities that provide the market exchange of goods and that bring together consumers and providers of services such as retail, transportation, gov’t, personal and professional services
Transnational corporation
A firm that conducts business in at least two separate countries; also known as multinational corporations
World cities
A group of cities that form an interconnected, internationally dominant system of global control of finance and commerce
World-systems theory
Immanuel Wallerstein; explains the emergence of a core, periphery, and semiperiphery in terms of economic and political connections first established at the beginning of exploration in the late 1400s and maintained through increased economic access up until the present
Spatially variable costs
An input cost in manufacturing that changes significantly from place to place in its total amount and in its relative share of total costs
