Globalisation Flashcards
Transnational corporations
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
Gross domestic product
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
Emerging economies
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
Remittances
Money that is sent home by migrants to their families via formal or informal channels
Interdependency
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
Spatial division of labour
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
Intermodal containers
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
Shrinking world
Thanks to technology, distant places start to feel closer and take less time to reach
Foreign direct investment
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
BRICs
The four large, fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, recently joined at their annual summit by South Africa
Trickle-down
The positive impacts on peripheral regions (and poorer people) caused by the creation of wealth in core regions (and among richer people)
Sovereign wealth funds
Government-owned investment funds and banks, typically associated with China and countries which have large revenues from oil e.g. Qatar
Trade blocs
Voluntary international organisations that exist for trading purposes, bringing greater economic strength and security to the nations which join
Tariffs
The taxes that are paid when importing or exporting goods and services between countries
Special economic zones
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
Offshoring
TNCs move parts of their own production process (factories or offices) to other countries to reduce labour or other costs
Outsourcing
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
Global production network
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
Least developed countries
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
Deindustrialisation
The decline of regionally important manufacturing industries
The decline can be chartered
Absolute poverty
When a person’s income is too low for basic human needs to be met, potentially resulting in hunger and homelessness
Millenium Development Goals
Eight specific objectives for the global community created by the UN Millenium Summit in New York in 2000
Relative poverty
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
Informal sector
Unofficial forms of employment that are not easily made subject to government regulation or taxation
Post-accession migration
The flow of economic migrants after a country has joined the EU
Diaspora
The dispersion or spread of a group of people from their original homeland
Crude birth rate
The number of live births per 1000 people per year
Nationalist
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
Post-colonial migrants
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
Net migration
The overall balance between immigration and emigration
Spatial inequality
The differences across places at a neighbourhood or street level as well as between cities or regions and countries
Place representations
Can be represented in various ways
Formal representations and official statistics e.g. from government organisations which may differ from media or locals
Perception
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
Pump priming
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
Legacy
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
