Economic Geography Exam 2

EES 330

What is the Weberian Model

It emphasizes transportation costs in industrial location decisions. It assumes that transportation costs are a linear function of distance, producers face no risk, and implies that demand is infitine.

When is the total transport cost lowest at the raw material site?

When the transportation cost of the raw material is lower than the finish product.

When is the total transport cost lowest at the market?

When the transportation cost of the finished product is lower than the raw materials.

What are the limits of the Weberian model?

Not all firms minimize transportation costs, modern production processes are much more complex, transportation is not linear.

What are the major factors of location today?

labor, land, capital, and managerial and technical skills

What is labor?

It is the most important factor in location. The relative contribution of it varies by industry (Labor intensive vs capital intensive). Demographic structure of a region shapes the labor supply. It may be mobile. Productivity is more important than saving money wage wise.

What is land?

The cost of land is the most important factor affecting location decisions. The need for agglomeration and land are inversely related.

What is capital?

It can be machinery, equipment, or plant buildings, profits, savings, loans, or stocks. In some sectors, it is replacing labor.

What are skills?

Managerial skills involve all aspects of decision making. Technological innovation requires specific skill sets. Skilled jobs require high payment.

What is vertical integration?

It is when a firm controls more steps up and down in the total production process. Ex. oil companies

What is Horizontal integration?

It is when a firm controls an increasingly large market share of a given niche in a particular industry. Ex. Disney

What is diversification?

When firms enter a different product market from the one in which it has traditionally been engaged. Ex. Yamaha: pianos to motorcycles

What is agglomeration?

Firms benefit from clustering near other firms.

What is the role of the government in economic geography?

They limit free markets. They set fiscal and monetary policies. They shape labor markets and housing markets.

Describe the population distribution pattern and growth trend of the world.

East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe account for 2/3rds of the world population. Environments that are too dry, cold, wet, or mountainous are less populated. Overall, population is decreasing, growing the most in Africa and Asia.

What is the TFR trend?

2.1 is the replacement rate that is needed for a stable population. The TFR rate for developed countries is very low.

Explain international migration

There is a large amount of migration from Asia to Asia, Europe to Europe, Asia to North America, South America to North America, Africa to Africa.

Explain interregional migration?

It is moving from one area to another in the same country. Ex. general southwest migration pattern in the U.S.

Explain intraregional migration

It is migration like rural to Urban or urban to suburban areas.

What are the impacts of migration?

Brain gain/drain, remittances, diaspora networks for trade and investment, cultural melting pots, children and elderly left behind, anti-immigrant sentiment.

What are recent trends in the labor market against population growth and migration trends?

Less stable employment opportunities, employers are contracting work out to other companies, deepening inequality in wages, automation is replacing skilled work, expanding number of domestic workers and caregivers, globalization of production.

What are the major economic sectors?

Agriculture, manufacturing, services

What is the primary sector?

Agriculture, and gather or extracting raw materials from earth — mining, fishing, forestry.

What is the secondary sector?

It is turning raw materials into finished goods — manufacturing, power generation

What is the tertiary sector?

“Services” — retail and wholesale, personal services

What is the quarternary sector?

It is information, Research and design, management, and decision making.

What are the trends of agricultural employment and production in the U.S.?

Decreasing

What are the top food commodities of most value and global flow of agricultural products in general?

Rice, corn, wheat, beef, pork, milk, chicken, soy beans.

What are the factors that influence agricultural land use patterns?

Soil type and fertility, slope, drainage, sun and wind exposure, rainfall, temperature, food preferences, taboos, cultural interpretations of the environment, land degradation.

What is the Von Thunen Model?

It assumes a large city is the only market with flat terrain, uniform soils, or barriers to transportation.

Compare industrial agricultural and sustainable agricultural practices.

Industrial agriculture form monocultures, mechanical, biological, and chemical inputs. Sustainable agriculture relies on local knowledge and minimize ecological impacts.

What are common forms of subsistence farming?

More common in developing countries. Produces food primarily for consumption by family. Types of farming include: pastoral nomadism, shifting cultivation, intensive subsistence, and plantation.

What are common forms and characteristics of commercial agriculture?

More common practice in developed countries. Primarily for sale off the farm. Very capital intensive, highly mechanized, high energy use, alters the environment, leads to land degradation and resource depletion.

What are the world’s major manufacturing regions?

North America, Western Europe, Western Russia and Ukraine, East Asia

What is the role of transportation in the manufacturing supply chain?

The price of transportation changes with the distance that goods are being sent. Goods can be sent via trucks, trains, water, and air.

What is the cause of de-industrialization?

It is the late twentieth century periodic restructuring in capitalistic societies. It was caused by a deep recession in 1974-75 following the 1973 oil shock.

What are the trends of manufacturing employment and productivity?

Employment is decreasing, productivity is increasing

What are the impacts of NAFTA/USMCA on manufacturing?

It allowed for free trade in North America. Mexico attracted industries with low cost labor with maquiladoras.

How is the economy shifting?

From Fordism to post-Fordism