unit 7.2

Question 1

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)

Answer 1

A measurement of gender equality that includes the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments, the percentage of women in economic decision-making positions, and women’s versus men’s share of earned income

Question 2

Gender Parity

Answer 2

A way of documenting progress toward gender equality using measures such as relative access to education, average incomes for women versus men, and workforce participation

Question 3

Microloan

Answer 3

A very small loan to poor people with little income or collateral intended to help them establish or expand a small business

Question 4

Mercantilism

Answer 4

A theory of trade stating that each country strives to export more than it imports in order to accumulate wealth

Question 5

Protectionism

Answer 5

Trade rules that restrict imports in order to protect domestic industries

Question 6

Absolute advantage

Answer 6

A nation’s ability to produce a good or service more efficiently than another nation

Question 7

Comparative advantage

Answer 7

A country’s ability to produce one product much more efficiently than it can produce other products within its economy

Question 8

Complementarity

Answer 8

A measure of how well one country’s export profile matches another country’s import profile

Question 9

Transnational corporation (TNC)

Answer 9

A firm with the power to coordinate and control operations in more than one country, even if it does not own those operations

Question 10

Competitive advantage

Answer 10

A firm’s relative ability to outperform other transnational corporations (TNCs) in its industry

Question 11

Neoliberalism

Answer 11

A range of pro-market and anti-government positions on the economy, such as reducing government ownership and regulation and promoting privatization and market-based solutions

Question 12

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Answer 12

International organization that seeks to foster global monetary cooperation, achieve financial stability, facilitate international trade, and promote sustainable economic growth

Question 13

World Bank

Answer 13

An international financial organization that provides funding and expertise to promote sustainable economic growth in developing countries

Question 14

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Answer 14

An international organization that regulates trade among 184 member states, providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and resolving trade disputes

Question 15

Free-trade agreement

Answer 15

A treaty between two or more countries that reduces tariffs and promotes foreign investment

Question 16

Tariffs

Answer 16

Tax on imported goods and services

Question 17

Custom unions

Answer 17

A free-trade agreement among two or more member countries, combined with a single, common external trade policy for nonmembers

Question 18

Mercosur

Answer 18

Spanish acronym for the Southern Common Market, a South American customs union that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay as its full members

Question 19

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Answer 19

An intergovernmental organization created to coordinate and unify petroleum policies among member countries

Question 20

Trade embargo

Answer 20

An official ban on trade with a specific country or of a specific good

Question 21

Financial market

Answer 21

Marketplace where financial instruments are traded; stock markets, bond markets, and foreign exchange markets are all financial markets

Question 22

Debt crisis

Answer 22

Occurs when a government’s debts exceed its tax revenues to the point that it cannot meet its loan payments

Question 23

Import substitution industrialization (ISI)

Answer 23

An economic development policy intended to replace imported goods with domestically produced goods as a way to spur industrialization and reduce dependence on other nations

Question 24

Fordism

Answer 24

The economic and social arrangement based on the mass production of standardized goods, high labor union membership rates, stable and full-time manufacturing employment, and high factory wages that enable mass consumption

Question 25

Corporate disinvestment

Answer 25

A process in which companies stop investing in factory construction, equipment, and improvement and begin selling off assets, such as machinery, buildings, and land

Question 26

Offshoring

Answer 26

The relocation of manufacturing and support services from one country to another

Question 27

Outsourcing

Answer 27

The transfer of part of a firm’s internal operations to a third party

Question 28

Deindustrialization

Answer 28

The decline, and sometimes complete disappearance, of employment in the manufacturing sector in the core’s industrial centers

Question 29

Special economic zones (SEZs)

Answer 29

Specific area within a country’s borders where business and trade laws are different from those in the rest of the country

Question 30

Export processing zones

Answer 30

Industrial zone with special incentives to attract foreign investment to places where imported materials undergo processing or assembly before being re-exported

Question 31

Free-trade zones (FIZs)

Answer 31

Specially designated duty-free area that provides warehousing, storage, and distribution facilities for goods intended for trade or reexport

Question 32

New international division of labor

Answer 32

The spatial shift of manufacturing from developed countries to developing countries, including the global scaling of labor markets and industrial sites

Question 33

Post-Fordism

Answer 33

The shifts from manufacturing centers to spatially dispersed production sites, from standardized mass production to specialized batch production, and from a permanent workforce to temporary and contract workers

Question 34

Just-in-time-manufacturing (JIT)

Answer 34

The production of small batches of goods as needed by customer demand

Question 35

High-technology industry

Answer 35

An industry that develops and uses the most advanced technologies available and has the highest levels of research and development

Question 36

Agglomeration economies

Answer 36

Occur where firms cluster spatially in order to take advantage of geographic concentrations of skilled labor and industry suppliers, specialized infrastructure, and ease of face-to-face contact with industry participants

Question 37

Multuplier effects

Answer 37

The creation of new business and jobs in other industries as the result of investment in a different industry

Question 38

Growth Poles

Answer 38

Geographically pinpointed center of economic activity organized around a designated industry, commonly in the high-tech sector

Question 39

Sustainable development

Answer 39

Development that meets present consumption needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their consumption needs

Question 40

Resource depletion

Answer 40

The consumption of natural resources faster than they can be replenished

Question 41

Environmental pollution

Answer 41

The contamination of the physical (air, water, earth) and biological components of the environment to the point that normal functions are negatively affected

Question 42

Point source pollution

Answer 42

Any single identifiable source from which contaminants are discharged, such as a pipe or smokestack

Question 43

Nonpoint source pollution

Answer 43

Contamination originating from multiple, diffuse sources

Question 44

Climate change

Answer 44

A long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns

Question 45

Cogeneration

Answer 45

Producing two forms of energy from one fuel

Question 46

Carbon neutrality

Answer 46

Achieving zero CO2 releases through a combination of emissions reduction and carbon removal

Question 47

Carbon offsets

Answer 47

Processes that remove or sequester (store) carbon from the atmosphere to make up for CO2 emissions elsewhere

Question 48

Ecotourism

Answer 48

Travel to natural areas of ecological value in support of conservation efforts and socially just economic development