AP Human Geography Unit 7: Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from AP Human Geography Unit 7.

Agglomeration

Grouping together of many firms from the same industry in a single area for collective or cooperative use of infrastructure and sharing of labor resources.

Ancillary activities

Economic activities that surround and support large-scale industries such as shipping and food service.

Backwash effects

The negative effects on one region that result from economic growth within another region.

Break-bulk point

A location where large shipments of goods are broken up into smaller containers for delivery to local markets.

Brick-and-mortar businesses

Traditional businesses with actual stores in which trade or retail occurs; they do not exist solely on the internet.

Bulk-gaining industries

Industries whose products weigh more after assembly than they did previously in their constituent parts.

Bulk-reducing industries

Industries whose final products weigh less than their constituent parts, and whose processing facilities tend to be located close to sources of raw materials.

Commodity dependence

When peripheral economies rely too heavily on the export of raw materials, which places them on unequal terms of exchange with more-developed countries that export higher-value goods.

Conglomerate corporation

A firm comprising many smaller firms that serve several different functions.

Core

National or global regions where economic power, in terms of wealth, innovation, and advanced technology, is concentrated.

Core-Periphery Model

A model of the spatial structure of development in which under-developed countries are defined by their dependence on a developed core region.

Cottage industry

An industry in which the production of goods and services is based in homes, as opposed to factories.

Deglomeration

The dispersal of an industry that formerly existed in an established agglomeration.

Deindustrialization

Loss of industrial activity in a region.

Development

The process of economic growth, expansion, or realization of regional resource potential.

E-commerce

Web-based economic activities.

Economic backwaters

Regions that fail to gain from national economic development.

Ecotourism

A form of tourism, based on the enjoyment of scenic areas or natural wonders, that aims to provide an experience of nature or culture in an environmentally sustainable way.

Export-processing zone

Area where governments create favorable investment and trading conditions to attract export-oriented industries.

Fast world

Areas of the world, usually the economic core, that experience greater levels of connection due to high-speed telecommunications and transportation technologies.

Footloose firms

Manufacturing activities in which the cost of transporting both raw materials and finished products is not important for determining the location of the firm.

Fordism

System of standardized mass production attributed to Henry Ford.

Foreign investments

Overseas business investments made by private companies.

Gender equity

A measure of the opportunities given to women compared to men within a given country.

Globalization

The idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected on a global scale such that smaller scales of political and economic life are becoming obsolete.

Gross domestic product

The total value of goods and services produced within the borders of a country during a specific time period, usually one year.

Gross National Product

The total value of goods and services, including income received from abroad, produced by the residents of a country within a specific time period, usually one year.

Human Development Index

Measure used by the United Nations that calculates development not in terms of money or productivity but in terms of human welfare.

Industrial Revolution

The rapid economic and social changes in manufacturing that resulted after the introduction of the factory system to the textile industry in England at the end of the 18th century.

Industrialization

Process of industrial development in which countries evolve economically from producing basic goods to using modern factories for mass-producing goods.

Industrialized countries

Countries that were at the forefront of industrial production and innovation through the middle of the 20th century.

Least-Cost Theory

A concept developed by Alfred Weber to describe the optimal location of a manufacturing establishment in relation to the costs of transport and labor.

Least-developed countries

Countries with low levels of economic productivity, low per-capita incomes, and generally low standards of living.

Manufacturing region

A region in which manufacturing activities have clustered together.

Maquiladoras

Cities where US firms have factories just outside the United States–Mexican border.

Microlending

Provision of small loans to poorer people, typically women, to encourage the development of small businesses.

Net national product

A measure of all goods and services produced by a country in a year, including production from its investments abroad.

Nonrenewable resources

Natural resources, such as fossil fuels, that do not replenish themselves in a relevant timeframe.

Offshore financial centers

Areas designed to promote business transactions, becoming centers for banking and finance.

Outsourcing

Sending industrial processes out for external production.

Periphery

Countries that usually have low levels of economic productivity and low standards of living.

Primary economic activities

Economic activities in which natural resources are made available for use or further processing.

Productivity

A measure of the goods and services produced within a particular country.

Purchasing-power parity

A monetary measurement of development that considers what money buys in different countries.

Quaternary economic activities

Economic activities concerned with research, information gathering, and administration.

Quinary economic activities

The most advanced form of quaternary activities consisting of high-level decision-making.

Regionalization

The process by which specific regions acquire characteristics that differentiate them from others.

Renewable resources

Any natural resource that can replenish itself in a relatively short period of time.

Rostow’s Stages of Development

A model of economic development that describes a country’s progression through five stages.

Secondary economic activities

Economic activities concerned with the processing of raw materials.

Semiperiphery

Newly industrialized countries with median standards of living.

Service-based economies

Highly developed economies focusing on research, marketing, tourism, and telecommunications.

Slow world

The developing world that does not experience benefits of high-speed technologies.

Spatially fixed costs

An input cost in manufacturing that remains constant wherever production is located.

Spatially variable costs

An input cost in manufacturing that changes significantly from place to place.

Specialty goods

Goods that are not mass-produced and assembled individually or in small quantities.

Sustainable development

The idea people today should be able to meet their needs without compromising future generations.

Tertiary economic activities

Activities that provide the exchange of goods and bring together consumers and providers of services.

Transnational corporation

A firm that conducts business in at least two separate countries.

World cities

A group of cities forming an interconnected, internationally dominant system of global finance.

World-Systems Theory

A theory explaining the emergence of core, periphery, and semiperiphery through economic and political connections.