Geography Final Chapter 4: Geography of Economic Development

sustainable development

a balance among economic growth, the environmental impacts of that growth, and the fairness, or social equity, of the distribution of the costs and benefits of that growth

gross national income (GNI)

a measure of the income that flows to a country from production, no matter where in the world that production occurs

flexible production systems

a production system in which manufacturers can quickly respond to changing market conditions by changing between different levels of output or product configurations

just-in-time production

a production system in which manufacturers no longer maintain inventories of supplies but rely on frequent deliveries by subcontractors

deindustrialization

a relative decline in industrial employment in core regions

cumulative causation

a spiral buildup of advantages that occurs in specific geographical settings as a result of the development of external economies, agglomeration effects, and localization economies

fordism

an economy based on mass production and mass consumption, based on higher wages and sophisticated advertising techniques

neo-fordism

an economy in which the logic of mass production coupled with mass consumption has been modified by the addition of more flexible production, distribution, and marketing systems

gross domestic product (GDP)

an estimate of the total value of all materials, foodstuffs, goods, and services produced by a country in a particular year

sectionalism

an extreme devotion to regional interests and customs

technology systems

clusters of interrelated energy, transportation, and production technologies that dominate economic activity for several decades at a time

strategic alliances

commercial agreements between transnational corporations, usually involving shared technologies, marketing networks, market research, or product development

transnational corporations

companies with investments and activities that span international boundaries and with subsidiary companies, factories, offices, or facilities in several countries

import substitution

copying and making goods previously available only by trading

conglomerate corporations

corporations that consist of several divisions engaged in quite different activities

agglomeration effects

cost advantages that accrue to individual firms because of their location among functionally related activities

localization economies

cost savings that accrue to particular industries as a result of clustering together at a specific location

external economies

cost savings that result from circumstances beyond a firm's own organization and methods of production

newly industrializing countries (NICs)

countries, formerly peripheral within the world-system, that have acquired a significant industrial sector

dependency

describes a high level of reliance by a country on foreign enterprises, investment, or technology

tertiary activities

economic activities involving the sale and exchange of goods and services

primary activities

economic activities that are concerned directly with natural resources of any kind

growth poles

economic activities that are deliberately organized around one or more high-growth industries

quaternary activities

economic activities that deal with the handling and processing of knowledge and information

secondary activites

economic activities that process, transform, fabricate, or assemble the raw materials derived from the primary activities, or that reassemble, refinish, or package manufactured goods

neoliberal policies

economic policies that are predicated on a minimalist role for the state that assume the desirability of free markets not only for economic organization but also for political and social life

trading blocks

groups of countries with formalized systems of trading agreements

offshore financial centres

islands or microstates that have become specialized nodes in the geography of worldwide financial flows

purchasing power parity (PPP)

measures how much of a common "market basket" of goods and services a currency can purchase locally

foreign direct investments

overseas business investments made by private companies

world cities

places that, in globalized world economy, are able not only to generate powerful spirals of local economic development but also to act as pivotal points in the reorganization of global space

autarky

self-sufficiency of a state that does not contribute significantly to the flows of imports and exports that constitute the geography of trade

producer services

services that enhance the productivity or efficiency of other firm's activities or that enable them to maintain speicalized roles

export-processing zones

small areas within which especially favourable investment and trading conditions are created by governments to attract export-oriented industries

initial advantage

the critical importance of an early start in economic development; a special case of external economies

price elasticity of demand

the degree to which levels of demand for a product or service change in response to change in its price

vertical disintegration

the evolution from large, functionally integrated firms within a given industry toward networks of specialized firms, sub-contractors, and suppliers

geographical path dependence

the historical relationship between the present activities associated with a place and the past experiences of that place

carrying capacity

the maximum population that can be maintained in a place at rates of resource use and waste production that are sustainable in the long term without damaging the overall productivity of that or other places

logistics

the movement and storage of goods and the management of the entire supply chain, from purchase of raw materials through sale of final product

agglomeration diseconomies

the negative economic effects of urbanization and the local concentration of industry

backwash effects

the negative impacts on a region of the economic growth of some other region

spread effects

the positive impacts on a region of the economic growth of some other region

terms of trade

the ratio of the prices at which exports and imports are exchanged

international division of labor

the specialization, by countries, in particular products for export

creative destruction

the withdrawal of investments from activities (and regions) that yield low rates of profit to reinvest in new activities (and new places)