GSAGG: Global Systems Flashcards
What are the 5 flows of globalisation?
- Capital
- Labour
- Products
- Services
- Information
Explain the flow of capital:
The movement of money for the purpose of investment, trade or business production.
Explain the flow of labour:
The movement of people who move to work in another country
Explain the flow of products:
Flows of physical goods from one country to another.
Explain the flow of services:
- Services are ‘footloose’ industries, meaning they can be located anywhere without constraints.
- Service flows can be produced in a different country to where they are received.
Explain the flow of information:
Any type of information can flow from one place to another via the
internet e.g. international news.
What are international labour flows?
Flows of labour from one country to another.
Outline global flows of labour:
Asia:
- In 2017, 63 million people living in Asia moved to another part of Asia- making it the largest global labour flow. The largest flows are from Bangladesh and India, to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Europe:
- In 2017, 41 million people living in Europe moved to another part of Europe. Germany holds the largest number of European migrants. The largest flows are from Poland and Romania, to Germany and the UK.
Africa:
- In 2017, 19 million people in Africa moved to another part of Africa. Movement in Africa, especially sub-saharan Africa is between neighbouring countries, as moving is expensive and most of these countries are LICs. South Africa and Nigeria receive the most African migrants, while also being the 2 wealthiest African Countries.
North and South America.
- In 2017, 26 million people moved from Latin America and the Caribbean to North America. The majority of Latin America migrants are Mexican and found in California, whereas the majority of Caribbean migrants are Cuban and found in Florida.
What are highly skilled workers?
- Workers that are highly trained in jobs that require skill, e.g. medicine, IT.
- Often move to HICs as wages are more for the same job completed in LICs.
- E.g. NHS, around 65% of all doctors in the UK are trained here; many skilled professionals come from abroad e.g. India, Pakistan, Philippines.
What are unskilled workers?
- Workers that lack professional skills and often take job positions that do not require qualifications or intensive training.
- Often move to HICs for better wages and high unemployment rates in their home countries.
- This can lead to overpopulation and exploitation because many workers and left underpayed and doing illegal work.
Outline global flows of product:
- Increased globalisation has caused product flows to become international- in 2015 the value of global food and manufacered commodeties was $25 trillion.
- Previously goods were produced in more developed countries due to acess to resources e.g. factories.
- However there has been a shift in global product flows. The majority of goods are now being produced in lesser developed countries due to technological advancements, allowing improved communication and transportation.
- Investment in lesser developed countries allows for cheap labour costs to be exploited, meaning many TNCs now use offshoring to manufacture products for lower costs, and be sold to consumers in HICs for higher costs.
The two types of services are _____ level services and _____ level services
High
Low
What are high level services?
- Services that require a higher level of skill and require a trained professional to deliver the service.
- E.g. financial services require trained professionals to give advice on finances.
What are low level services?
- Services that require a low level of skill and are not as important to consumers- usually within the customer service industry.
- E.g. Call centres only need minimally skilled workers.
Outline flows of information:
- The development of the internet and social networks allow for information to transferred globally easily.
- Social media allows for people to communicate internationally, allowing for people to experience different cultures and increase cultural interconectedness.
- Data transfers to the knowledge economy has allowed for the development of online economies, such as the stock market and education system.
- The ability to research allows for individuals to seek better employment opportunities, creating more global connections and allowing online, remote jobs.
Give an example of political interdependence:
- Countries rely on other countries to intervene if there is political unrest
- E.g. Many nations intervened when the Serbian state sponsored the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo’s Albanians; eventually leading to Kosovo’s independence.
Give an example of economic interdependence:
Countries are dependent on the flow of labour, products and services entering their economy to enable it to develop.
Give an example of environmental interdependence:
All nations are affected by other nations’ greenhouse gas emissions- meaning all countries rely on eachother to protect the environment.
Give an example of social interdependence:
Countries rely on eachother for leisure activities e.g. TV shows produced in other countries.
Outline benefits of unequal flows of people:
- Migrant workers often secure jobs that must be done but are ‘unwanted’ by others e.g. 44% of the cleaning workforce in London is made up of ethnic minorities.
- Countries that people are flowing from may benefit e.g. workers send remittance payments to their home country- 30% of the UAEs population migrated from India and contribute $15 billion to India annually in remittance.
- Allows for individuals to flee from political tensions and conflict (e.g. war) and potentially experience a better quality of life.
Outline disadvantages of unequal flows of people:
- Disproportionate migration to one country may cause this host country to become dependent on the migrant workers, which may cause issues if there is a change in circumstances.
- Disproportionate migration to one country can cause overpopulation. This can cause social tensions to arise if people believe they are suffering due to pressure on services e.g. healthcare, and social tensions with migrants ‘taking’ jobs.
- As many migrants are more desperate for work than nationals they are more vulnerable to exploitation e.g. working for illegally low prices or in extremely poor working conditions e.g. Qatars astonishing death toll during infrastructure construction for the World Cup.
Outline benefits of unequal flows of money:
- Countries receiving money from FDI may have an improved quality of life for residents as it provides an income, usually an income that is higher than other employment in low income countries.
- Countries sending money are able to take advantage of loans and charge a high interest rate and use lower labour costs, maximising their profits.
Outline disadvantages of unequal flows of money:
- Companies in LICs operating for HICs can create dependencies for workers. They are dependent on the higher wages, so they must
subject themselves to dangerous situations e.g. sweatshops with dangerous working conditions and low wages. - Foreign aid can cause issues as it can reduce the incentive for country’s own government to contribute.
- Companies can pressure governments to alleviate taxes or relax social and environmental laws so that TNCs will invest.
- TNCs have been criticised for profiting too much. Flows of money within LICs are large, but the amount of profit that stays in the country is very small.
Outline benefits of unequal flows of ideas:
- HICs introducing ideas of deregulation to developing countries and
NEEs. Reducing state ownership has had benefits to developing countries, e.g. lower prices of products and services from competitive rates. - Free trade has increased globally due to deregulation, allowing for global markets to thrive.
- Developed economies can educate LICs on how to create economic growth or remove social injustice, meaning LICs can implement these strategies.
Outline disadvantages of unequal flows of ideas:
- LICs may feel forced to keep up with ideas of the wealthier countries,
even if the ideas are not the most beneficial to these countries. E.g. it is a massive disadvantage to a LICs economy if they do not join trade agreements. - Deregulation may lead to more relaxed social and environmental laws in LICs, causing social injustice and environmental damage without proper government regulation.
Outline benefits of unequal flows of technology:
- The economies of LICs can develop through technology investments, opening up factories and increasing employment. This also strengthens trade deals between HICs and LICs, which allows HICs to benefit from the exports of LICs.
- Companies benefit from products being produced overseas, meaning they can maximise profits.
Outline disadvantages of unequal flows of technology:
- HICs with developed markets have a technological advantage over LICs because they can afford to buy the technology. People in LICs cannot afford to purchase technology that will advance their economy and improve quality of life, meaning HICs can rapidly develop while LICs are left behind.
- Companies investing technology into LICs means that HIC manufacturing jobs are often lost. This can leave many out of work due to job losses, and those with relevant training in manufacturing technology often have nowhere to go.
- Employees that manufacture and assemble consumer technology receive so little compared with what they are sold for. Companies make a large majority of profits, whereas those who do a lot of the work are left with little income. These countries rarely even have the benefits of the product they are creating e.g. China is the largest producer of smartphones, yet only 55% of the population has a smartphone, compared to 77% of the USA.
How can uneuqal power systems affect the environment?
- Wealthier countries tend to hold more power over decision making. These powerful countries usually emit a lot of carbion dioxide.
- Some of these wealtheir countries may be less likely to agree to global environmental protection if CO2 emissions are reduced.
- Even though they are likely to feel the effects of climate change less, poorer, less powerful countries that are frequently affected by climate change induced natural disasters cannot do much to influence the ideas of these richer countries due to the power imbalance.
How can unequal power systems affect trade?
- Richer, more powerful countries generally control trade agreements, as those who enter trade agreements with rich countries can benefit from the country’s wealth, whereas the richer countries will not benefit to the extent of the less wealthy countries.
- Means that the rich countries have the upper hand and are able to manipulate LICs into making deals benefical to the HICs e.g. reducing tarrifs, lower taxes, SEZ production.
