Globalisation (no case studies inc)

Question 1

Globalisation is a significant feature of the world in the 21st Century. What is it?

Answer 1

The increasing links between different countries throughout the world and the greater interdependence that results from this.

Question 2

What is interdependence?

Answer 2

The relationship between two or more countries, usually in terms of trade.

Question 3

How has the development of ICT increased globalisation/the spread of manufactured goods worldwide?

Answer 3

• E-mails, Internet, mobile phones and phone lines allow communication between areas to take place quickly.*
• This means that businesses where their headquarters are in one city and their factories are in another can communicate quickly and no time is lost. (E.g. Nike)

Question 4

What are call centres?

Answer 4

Offices where groups of people answer telephone queries from customers. Employees use a computer to give them information that helps them answer questions.

Question 5

Why do companies set up call centres abroad? (e.g. In countries such as India)

Answer 5

• 10% of the population (100million people) speak English fluently so there is no language barrier.
• Of the 787 million people living in villages, 80% are literate and 18% of these are graduates.
• Operating costs are between 10-60% cheaper.
• Wages are much cheaper…£1,200 in India whereas £12,000 in UK per annum.
• Have low staff turnover, working 9-hour shifts in order to fit in with origin country of company.
• Development of ICT allows fast and clear communication.

Question 6

What are TNCs?

Answer 6

Transnational Corporations are corporations or enterprises that operate in more than one country. They have their headquarters in one country and their factories in another.

Question 7

What are the characteristics of the country where TNCs place their factories in?

Answer 7

• low labour costs

- lenient laws on health and safety

Question 8

Why do TNCs sometimes set up their factories in MEDCs?

Answer 8

They are likely to have a skilled workforce.

Question 9

What are the ADVANTAGES of TNCs ?

Answer 9

• provides many opportunities to the country where the branch is set up*
• provides jobs both in factories where product is made and where the product is sold.
• multiplier effect often takes place= additional income for economy.
• training of workforce= development of skills.
• infrastructure is often improved as better access and communications are needed.

Question 10

What is the multiplier effect ?

Answer 10

Where initial investment and jobs lead on to a knock-on effect, creating more jobs and providing money to generate services.

Question 11

What are the disadvantages of TNCs?

Answer 11

• LEAKAGE
• very low wages
• key jobs go to outsiders
• if there are economic problems worldwide or within the company, branches may get shut down.
• usually very poor working conditions
• labour force expected to work long hours
• less strict rules and regulations= issues with health and safety and pollution.

Question 12

What is leakage?

Answer 12

Where profits made by the company are taken out of the country and given to the country of origin…= hits country does not benefit.

Question 13

What is happening in terms of manufacturing in different countries?

Answer 13

In some areas, manufacturing has become more significant (industrialisation) but in some, manufacturing has declined (deindustrialisation).
E.g. In the UK, employers in manufacturing have fallen from 6 million to 2.49 million between 1981 and 2010.

Question 14

What are the reasons for the changes in manufacturing?

Answer 14

1) Government legislation
2) Health and Safety regulations
3) Prohibition of strikes
4) Tax incentives and tax-free zones

Question 15

How can government legislation affect manufacturing?

Answer 15

By doing the following, manufacturing can increase:

• set up assisted areas/enterprise zones where conditions are favourable (e.g. Low taxes) for new industries.
• provide advanced factories of various sizes
• offer retrain and removal expenses
• ensure educational reform is high on the list in areas such as the four Asian ‘Tigers’.

Question 16

How do health and safety regulations affect manufacturing?

Answer 16

In the UK, workers have the right to:

• know how to do their job safely and be trained to do so.
• know how to get first aid.
• know what to do in an emergency.
• be supplied with protective clothing.

These regulations do not exist in some of the poorer countries or are not enforced. It is illegal for workers to sleep at their factories yet some do as they cannot get home or arrive on time for their next shift if they leave. This often means that manufacturing is higher in LEDCs.

Question 17

How does the prohibition of strikes affect manufacturing?

Answer 17

Strikes cause adverse effects on manufacturing industries and leads to the reduction of power in trade unions. Areas where strikes are prohibited mean that manufacturing increases.

Trade unions are allowed in many countries, but employees are often threatened if they take part in strikes (e.g. Sri Lanka)

Question 18

How do tax incentives and tax-free zones affect manufacturing?

Answer 18

Tax free zones attract businesses and companies to set up manufacturing industries. This is because they offset costs= cheaper production of goods.

Question 19

What factors have affected the global demand for energy?

Answer 19

1) world population growth
2) increased wealth
3) technological advances

Question 20

How has world population growth affected the global demand of energy?

Answer 20

In 1999, the world population was 5.98 billion. Since then, it has been growing exponentially and by 2050, it is expected to be at 8.91 billion. This means that more energy is required to cope with the increase population.

Question 21

How has increased wealth affected the global demand of energy?

Answer 21

• The average wage in China has risen to 1750 yuan a month, 4x higher than in 1995.
• Private car ownership in China has increased from virtually 0 in 1997 to 26 million in 2009.
• In the UK in 2009, more households owned 2 cars than owned none at all.
• As people become wealthier, they demand more products and consumer items such as electrical devices. Energy is required to make and use them.

Question 22

How have technological advances affected the global demand for energy?

Answer 22

• Technological advances=mincreasing amounts of energy and a wider variety of goods for purchase.
• -> e.g. the use of coal in power stations has fuelled the Chinese economy.
• modern technology allows the development of other sources of energy, such as nuclear power.
• Companies strive to compete with each other and produce smaller phones,faster laptops, in-house entertainment, best-quality pictures etc. People see theses and want to buy these and energy is needed to develop these, make these and and run them.

Question 23

Social effects of increasing global demand of energy

Answer 23

*effects on health
-> in UK, lung-related diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis have been associated with industrial areas where coal provides the basic source of energy.
-> power plant waste is radioactive= dangerous
*people have to move away
-> more power plants have to be built to meet the demands of higher energy requirements.
*more jobs (+)
More plants have to be built which means that more people are employed.

Question 24

Economic effects of the increasing global demand for energy.

Answer 24

• holiday destinations are affected
• > air fares could increase substantially due to rising fuel costs= more people chose to holiday at home= benefits home economy.
• new energy sources need to be found
• > as energy sources are used up, energy becomes more expensive and new sources of energy need to be found.

Question 25

Environmental effects of the increasing global demand for energy

Answer 25

• people may choose to leave cars at home and cycle to work -> improves environment
• some cities are shrouded in haze (contains dangerous chemicals from coal smoke and ozone-> blocks out sun and can cause asthma/ other respiratory illnesses.
• spoil heaps -> these have built up adjacent to coal mines when unneeded material has been dumped.
• oil transportation->has led to major pollution problems e.g. Prestige sinking NW coast of Spain 2002.
• poor air quality-> has led to ill health in local scale and global warming on a global scale.
• deforestation-> wood is burnt for energy.
• burning fossil fuels-> releases greenhouse gases= global warming and can also dissolve in water= acid rain.

Question 26

What is one way of achieving sustainable development?

Answer 26

Through the use of renewable energy.

Question 27

Why is sustainable energy useful and give some examples of sustainable energy?

Answer 27

E.g. Wind, HEP, solar, tidal and wind power.

Sustainable energy is good as it is infinite unlike coal, which we will eventually run out of and has bad effects (e.g. Release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases)

Question 28

What local ways can reduce the cost of globalisation?

Answer 28

*Recycling/ landfill
–>Local authorities provide recycling containers for paper, glass, plastic etc and encourage composting to reduce waste thrown into bins which ends up in landfills.
E.G. Between 2009-2010, 40.1% of household waste was recycled.
*Local initiatives
–> ‘think globally, act locally’ indicates the need for individuals and groups to seek to reduce pollution and to take responsibility.
*Conservation
–> these can be simple things like turning off lights and appliances when they are not being used, filling a kettle with only the water needed and using reusable carrier bags instead of plastic ones.

Question 29

What global ways can reduce the cost of globalisation?

Answer 29

Carbon credits

Countries can trade in their carbon credits and countries putting in more pollution in the atmosphere than they should can buy carbon credits from a country below its agreed level.

Question 30

What does sustainable development ensure?

Answer 30

It ensures that the environment is protected and that there are sufficient resources for future generations.

Question 31

The global search to satisfy the increasing demand for food can have positive and negative effects. What are the environmental effects?

Answer 31

• Transporting food longer distances creates a larger food mile which increases our carbon footprint.
• this happens a lot as many people in the UK demand out-of-season produce so this demand can only be met by importing food.
• ->1% of our food is imported by air, accounting for 11% of carbon emissions. The more we rely on importing food, the more we are contributing to pollution and global warming.

Question 32

What are food miles?

Answer 32

The distance that food items travel from where they are grown to where they are eaten.

Question 33

What are carbon footprints?

Answer 33

The amount of carbon generated by things people do.

Question 34

What are the costs and benefits of importing food versus local energy intensive food production?

Answer 34

Sometimes it is better to import food as opposed to producing them under artificial conditions in UK.
E.g. Apples are harvested in September and October. Some are sold fresh whilst others are chill stored and these still represent a good value in terms of carbon emissions= benefit.
However, by August, orange pippins and Braeburns will have been stored for 10 months and the amount of energy used to chill these overtakes the carbon cost of importing them from New Zealand. Therefore it is better for the environment if UK shoppers buy apples from NZ in July and August.

Question 35

How does using marginal land for food production worsen environmental problems?

Answer 35

As populations in certain areas of the world increase, there is a pressure to increase food production. Poor farmers can only often farm on marginal land, meaning that the poor quality land is likely to become even poorer as no goodness is returned to the soil.

The lack of vegetation cover makes the area more prone to soil erosion, where it is easily blown or washed away. = environmental degradation

Question 36

What is environmental degradation?

Answer 36

Undesirable changes to the natural environment through the removal of natural resources and disruption to natural ecosystems. Human activity is a major cause.

Question 37

What are the political effects of increased food production?

Answer 37

To produce a lot of food, a lot of water is needed and farmers can do this by irrigating land from lakes and streams. This can create hostilities between countries who use the same water sources.
E.g. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia all use the same water supply from the River Nile.

Question 38

What are the social effects of increased food productions?

Answer 38

• Many farmers are swapping from subsistence to commercial fa ring meaning that there is shortage of food for locals. This means that they have to buy imported food=£
• Water supplies are affected by fertilisers and are often washed into solid and seeps underground
• River Ngiro in Kenya has sections without water as farmers are over irrigating.
• Chemical sprayed frequently on crops are cashing rashes and chest problems.

Question 39

What are the economic effects of increased food productions?

Answer 39

+= creation of cash income for farmers.

-= there is often a need to intensify production which means that there is an increase in use of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides. These cost money and a vicious circle can be set up creating rural debt.

Question 40

What are cash crops?

Answer 40

Crops grown in order to sell and make financial profit.

Question 41

What is rural debt?

Answer 41

Money borrowed and now owed by farmers to banks or other organisations.

Question 42

What are the campaigns that have been used to use of locally produced food?

Answer 42

We can ensure that we support local produce by:

• looking at labels in supermarkets which are now increasingly giving the specific origin of foods.
• visiting specialist local shops.
• buying online from local producers
• supporting local farmers’ markets
• attending regional agricultural shows.
• heeding advice from celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay (my g)