Globalisation

Question 1

Transnational corporations

Answer 1

Businesses whose operations are spread across the world, operating in many nations as both makers and sellers of goods
Many of the largest are instantly recognisable global brands that bring cultural change to the places where products are consumed

Question 2

Gross domestic product

Answer 2

A measure of the financial value of goods and services produced within a territory (including foreign firms based there)
Often divided by the population to produce a per capita figure for the purpose of making comparisons

Question 3

Emerging economies

Answer 3

Countries which have started to experience high rates of economic growth, usually due to rapid industrialisation
Numerous sub-groups e.g. the BRICs, MINTs
Sometimes called newly industrialised countries

Question 4

Remittances

Answer 4

Money that is sent home by migrants to their families via formal or informal channels

Question 5

Interdependency

Answer 5

When two places become over-reliant on financial/and or political connections with one another, then they have become interdependent
E.g. If an economic recession adversely affects a host country for migrant workers then the economy of the source may shrink too due to falling remittances

Question 6

Spatial division of labour

Answer 6

The common practice among TNCs of moving low-skilled workers abroad (or offshore) to places where labour costs are low
Important skilled management jobs are retained at the TNCs headquarters in its country of origin

Question 7

Intermodal containers

Answer 7

Large capacity storage units which can be transported long distances using multiple types of transport such as shipping and rail without the freight being taken out of the container

Question 8

Shrinking world

Answer 8

Thanks to technology, distant places start to feel closer and take less time to reach

Question 9

Foreign direct investment

Answer 9

A financial injection made by a TNC into a nation’s economy, either to build new facilities or to acquire or merge with an existing firm already based there

Question 10

BRICs

Answer 10

The four large, fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, recently joined at their annual summit by South Africa

Question 11

Trickle-down

Answer 11

The positive impacts on peripheral regions (and poorer people) caused by the creation of wealth in core regions (and among richer people)

Question 12

Sovereign wealth funds

Answer 12

Government-owned investment funds and banks, typically associated with China and countries which have large revenues from oil e.g. Qatar

Question 13

Trade blocs

Answer 13

Voluntary international organisations that exist for trading purposes, bringing greater economic strength and security to the nations which join

Question 14

Tariffs

Answer 14

The taxes that are paid when importing or exporting goods and services between countries

Question 15

Special economic zones

Answer 15

An industrial area, often near a coastline, where favourable conditions are created to attract foreign TNCs
These conditions include low tax rates and exemption from tariffs and export duties

Question 16

Offshoring

Answer 16

TNCs move parts of their own production process (factories or offices) to other countries to reduce labour or other costs

Question 17

Outsourcing

Answer 17

TNCs contract another company to produce the goods and services they need rather than do it themselves
This can result in the growth of complex supply chains

Question 18

Global production network

Answer 18

A chain of connected suppliers of parts and materials that contribute to the manufacturing assembly of the consumer goods
The network serves the needs of a TNC such as Apple or Tesco

Question 19

Least developed countries

Answer 19

The world’s very poorest low-income nations, whose populations have little experience of globalisation
A number of these nations are described as failed states by politicians, for example, Somalia and South Sudan

Question 20

Deindustrialisation

Answer 20

The decline of regionally important manufacturing industries

The decline can be chartered

Question 21

Absolute poverty

Answer 21

When a person’s income is too low for basic human needs to be met, potentially resulting in hunger and homelessness

Question 22

Millenium Development Goals

Answer 22

Eight specific objectives for the global community created by the UN Millenium Summit in New York in 2000

Question 23

Relative poverty

Answer 23

When a person’s income is too low to maintain the average standard of living in a particular society
Asset growth for very rich people can lead to more people being in relative poverty

Question 24

Informal sector

Answer 24

Unofficial forms of employment that are not easily made subject to government regulation or taxation

Question 25

Post-accession migration

Answer 25

The flow of economic migrants after a country has joined the EU

Question 26

Diaspora

Answer 26

The dispersion or spread of a group of people from their original homeland

Question 27

Crude birth rate

Answer 27

The number of live births per 1000 people per year

Question 28

Nationalist

Answer 28

A political movement focussed on national independence or the abandonment of policies that are viewed by some people as a threat to national sovereignty or national culture

Question 29

Post-colonial migrants

Answer 29

People who moved to European countries from former colonies during the 1950s and 60s and 70s
The UK received economic migrants from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uganda

Question 30

Net migration

Answer 30

The overall balance between immigration and emigration

Question 31

Spatial inequality

Answer 31

The differences across places at a neighbourhood or street level as well as between cities or regions and countries

Question 32

Place representations

Answer 32

Can be represented in various ways

Formal representations and official statistics e.g. from government organisations which may differ from media or locals

Question 33

Perception

Answer 33

May include factors such as age, social class, gender, ethnicity and overall quality of life
People’s views of a place can change over time
A vital part of the lived experience and affects how people interact with their local area

Question 34

Pump priming

Answer 34

The government allocates funds for regeneration expecting outside investment to help, especially needed if toxic waste needs removal or if the area is very large
Private and charitable investment is then expected at a higher ratio

Question 35

Legacy

Answer 35

The long term effects of regeneration
Can be negative or positive
Reuse of buildings or the amount of support, private investment and if local people benefit in the long term