The acceleration of globalisation

Question 1

Transnational corporations

Answer 1

businesses whose operation are spread across the world, operating in many nations as both makers and sellers of goods and services

Question 2

Gross domestic product

Answer 2

a measure of the financial value of goods and services produced within a territory, often divided by population to produce per capita, easier to compare

Question 3

Emerging economies

Answer 3

countries that have begun to experience high rates of economic growth, usually due to rapid factory expansion and industrialisation

Question 4

Remittances

Answer 4

money that migrants send home to their families via formal or informal channels

Question 5

Interdependency

Answer 5

if two places become over-reliant on financial and/or political connections with one another, then they have become interdependent

Question 6

Spatial division of labour

Answer 6

common practice among TNCs of moving low-skilled work abroad to places where labour costs are low

Question 7

Intermodal containers

Answer 7

large-capacity storage units can be transported long distances using multiple types of transport

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 group

Answer 10

the four large, fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, recently joined at their annual summit meeting 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 that have large revenues from oil, such as Qatar

Question 13

Trade blocs

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Tariffs

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Special economic zone

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 and 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 or 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, some described as “fail states” by politicians, eg Somalia and South Sudan