AP Human Geography Vocab CH 1-20

Stages of Economic Growth Model

A modernization theory developed by Walt Rostow focuses on the shift from a traditional to a modern society. This model believes that all countries want to modernize and they will at different rates in stages

World Systems Theory

A theory created by Immanuel Wallerstein that focuses on the dependency of countries on other countries classifying them into core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral countries

Dependency Model

Model showing that countries do not exist in isolation, and they are all dependent on each other

Non-Governmental Organization

International non-profit agencies

Commodities

Raw Materials

Commodity Dependence

A country is dependent on the export of their raw materials

Trade

An exchange of goods and services

Barter

A system of exchange that does not involve money

Comparative Advantage

The ability to produce good and services at a lower cost than others

Complementarity

A country has a service or good another country desires

Free trade

An economic policy that allows the unrestricted exchange of goods and services between countries

Neoliberalism

Economic ideology that promotes free markets, deregulation, and minimal government intervention and taxations

Trading Blocs

A set of countries that agree to a common set of trade rules

Mercosur

Southern Common Market - Several South American Countries

World Trade Organization

A global organization that was established in 1995 that monitors international trade, trade disputes, and trade deals

International Monetary Fund

A fund created in 1945 to aid countries caught in financial disparity (in need of financial assistance)

Outsourcing

Contracting work to external companies or employees to reduce cost; usually in different country

Offshoring

Companies will move operations overseas if it yields lower costs and it is worth the risk

Reshoring

Returning jobs to the business’ home country

New International Division Of Labor

A changed system of employment in various economic sectors around the world

Basic Economic Activity

Actions that have created new wealth for a region - more manufactured goods, more distribution, and consumption

Transnational Corporations

Businesses that operate in multiple countries

Multinational Corporations

Businesses that operate in multiple countries (MC)

Export Processing Zones

Special manufacturing zones that provide economic incentives that attract foreign companies, usually for exporting goods

Special Economic Zones

Export Processing Zones in China; used to attract business and foreign trade

Maquiladoras

Export Processing Zones in Mexico; 2nd largest source of income for Mexico

Free-Trade Zones

Locations in which a foreign company can store, warehouse, transfer, or process without additional taxes

Postindustrial Economy

Economy that shifts from manufacturing - based industries to service oriented ones

Assembly Line

An item is moved from worker to worker with each repeatedly preforming the same task

Fordism

System of mass production that uses assembly lines to improve efficiency

Substitution Principle

Businesses maximize profit by substituting one factor of production for another

Post-Fordist

A new form of economic organization that occurred after fordism - less mass production

Just-in-Time Delivery

A system in which inputs in the assembly process arrive at assembly location when they are needed

Locational Interdependence

Location decisions for factories are determined by the location of other factories

Agglomeration Economics

Spatial grouping of several businesses to share costs, resources, and people (access to roads or workforce)

Technopoles

A hub for information-based industry and high-tech manufacturing

Growth Poles

An area that experiences economic growth or development

Spin-off Benefits

Positive economic effects that are caused by the economic development of another region

Backwash Effects

Negative economic effects that are caused by the economic development of another region

Brownfields

Sites of abandoned factories

Rust Belt

Regions that have large numbers of closed factories - Northeast & land near Great Lakes

Corporate Parks

Places where office buildings congregate together - places where multiple office buildings are located

Sustainability

Using the earth's resources without doing permanent damage to the

environment

Sustainable Development

Development in which the goal is to not compromise the Earth’s natural resources and to reduce mass consumption and pollution

Ecological Footprint

One’s impact on the environment

Ecotourism

A practice in which tourists are attracted to a specific location due to its distinctive and unique ecosystem

Sustainable Development Goals

Goals implemented to improve prior practices that caused environmental instability; replaced Millennium Development Goals

Industry

Process of using machines and large-scale process to convert raw materials into manufactured goods

Raw Materials

Basic substances, minerals and crops

Market

Place where products are sold

Cottage Industry

Small home-based business that made goods

Industrial Revolution

A series of technological advancmenrs in the 18th century that resulted in more complex machinerey; steam and water power, produce faster at lower cost

Industrial Belt

Industiralized regions found along midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere

Deindustrialize

Process of decreasing reliance on manufacturing jobs

Rust Belt

Regions that have large numbers of closed factories

Primary Sector

Sector in which people are extracting natural rescources from the earth

Secondary Sector

Sector in which people make products from natural resources (Factories)

Quaternary Sector

Sector in which information is processed and managed (Scientists, software development)

Quinary Sector

Sectors with postions that make descions (goverment officals, ceo)

Multiplier effect

The potential of a job to produce additional jobs

Least Cost Theory

Theory that explains key descions made by businesses about where to locate factories

Agglomeration Economics

Spatial grouping of several businesses to share costs, resources, and people (access to roads or workforce)

Locational Triangle

A diagram that shows the best location for a production facility based on cost of transporting raw materials and labor

Bulk-Reducing Industries

Industries that are weight-losing, raw material-oriented, or raw-meterial-dependent industry

Bulk-Gaining Industries

Industries that are weight-gaining, market-oriented, or market-dependent industries

Labor-oriented industry

An industry that is highly dependent on workforce, want to be near a large source of workers

Break of bulk

Moving the contents piece by piece between different transports

Containerization

System in which goods are loaded into a standardized shipping unit (containers are loaded instead of individual units)

Intermodal

Items can be carried on various modes of transport

Footloose

Businesses that can pack up and leave for a new location quickly and easily

Front Offices

Expensive spaces that are designed to impress clients that hold prestigous employees

Back offices

Space that locates the rest of the employess in less expensive office spaces

Tertiary Sector

Sector in which services are performed for the general public

Gross National Product

Money generated by citizens and businesses of a country

Gross Domestic Product

Dollar amount of all final goods and services produced within a country in one year

Remittances

Money sent from migrant workers back to their families in the origin country - money or goods migrants send back to their home countries

Per Capita

Country’s total output divided by country’s total population

Purchasing Power Parity

Measure of what similar goods cost in different countries

Formal Sector

Portion of economy that is monitored by government

Informal Sector

Portion of economy that is not monitored by goverment

GIni Coeffcient

Measure of the distribution of income within a population; measures economic inequality

Life Expectancy

Number of years a person is expected to live

Literacy Rate

Percentage of population that can read and write

Gender Gap

Differences in the privileges offered to males and females in a society

Gender Inequality Index

A model that measures the gender disparity (inequality) within a country

Human Development Index

A model that measures the human development of a country

Non-govermental Organziations

International non-profit agencies that operate independently from any gov

Microcredit

Small loans to low-income individuals to provide the resources to start or expand a business

Bid-rent theory

A theory supporting a distance-decay relationship between an urban center and the land around it; the value of the land is influenced by the relationship to the market

Capital Intensive

The use of expensive machinerey and other inputs

Labor Intensive

The use of large amounts of human labor

Factory Farming

A capital-intensive livestock operation in which animals are kept in close quartered facilites and raised in a controlled environment; function like a factory

Aquaculture (Aquafarming)

A type of intensive farmng that raises sea animals and grows water plants instead of land animals; raised in tanks, bodies of water, and netted areas

Double Cropping

Planting and harvesting a crop 2-3 times a year on the same peice of land

Intercropping (Multicropping)

Farmers grow 2 or more crops simutanelousy on the same field

Monoculture

One type of crop is grown or animal is grown per season on the same piece of land

Feedlots

Confined spaces in which cattle and hogs have limitied movements - CAFOs

Agribusiness

Farms run as corporations - Corporations that organize food production for commerical purposes

Transnational Corporations

Corporations that operate in many countries

Vertical Intergration

The owndership of other business involved in the steps of producing a good