Agglomeration
The clustering of economic activities or industries in a specific geographic area. It occurs when related businesses (such as factories, suppliers, and service providers) locate near each other to benefit from shared resources, labor pools, and knowledge exchange.
Asian Tigers
Refers to the highly industrialized economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Climate change
Long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place.
Comparative advantage
The ability of a country, individual, company, or region to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than others.
Complementarity
The degree to which two regions can provide goods and services to each other that they can't provide for themselves.
Deindustrialization
The decline in the importance of manufacturing industries within an economy. It often results from shifts toward service-based or knowledge-based sectors.
Dependency Ratio
The ratio of the economically dependent part of the population (children and elderly) to the productive part of the population (working-age adults).
Diffusion
The spread of ideas, behaviors, or other phenomena from one place to another.
Economic development
The process by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its people.
Economic sectors
Primary sector
Involves the extraction and production of raw materials.
Secondary sector
Involves the processing of raw materials into goods and products.
Tertiary sector
Involves the provision of services.
Quaternary Sector
Involves intellectual activities such as information technology, research, and development.
Quinary Sector
Involves high-level decision making and policymaking roles.
Economic restructuring
The process of realigning the structure of an economy, often in response to changes in technology or global economic conditions.
Ecotourism
Tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.
Empowerment
The process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes.
Environmental degradation
The deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water, and soil, as well as the destruction of ecosystems and habitat.
European Union
A political and economic union of 27 European countries that are located primarily in Europe.
Equity (all forms)
Fairness and justice in the distribution of resources and opportunities.
Female Labor Force Participation
The percentage of women who are economically active either by being employed or actively seeking employment.
Free trade zones
Designated areas where goods may be landed, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured, and re-exported without the intervention of customs authorities.
Gender Inequality Index (GII)
A measure of gender disparity that takes into account reproductive health, empowerment, and economic status.
Gender Wage Equity
The principle of equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
Globalization
The process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments of different nations driven by international trade, investment, and information technology.
Global financial crises
Large-scale disruptions in financial markets characterized by steep declines in asset prices and economic activity.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period, typically annually.
Gross National Income (GNI)
The total income earned by a country's residents and businesses, including foreign earnings, within a specific time period, typically annually.
Growth poles
Urban centers with attributes that stimulate economic development in their hinterlands.
Human Development Index (HDI)
A composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.
Industrial location theory
A set of theories explaining the spatial distribution of economic activities, particularly industries.
Imperialism
A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
Income distribution
The way in which a nation's total income is distributed among its population.
Industrial Revolution
A period of rapid industrialization, technological advancement, and urbanization that began in the late 18th century.
Infant mortality rate
The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births in a given year.
Interdependence
The reliance of countries on each other for goods, resources, knowledge, and technology.
Labor-market participation
The percentage of the working-age population that is economically active, either employed or seeking employment.
Location Theories
Theories explaining the placement of economic activities in space.
Market area (hinterland)
The area surrounding a central place from which people are attracted to use the place's goods and services.
Maquiladoras
Manufacturing plants, often near the US-Mexico border, that operate under preferential tariff arrangements.
Mass consumption
The consumption of goods on a large scale, often facilitated by industrialization and advertising.
Microloans
Small loans, typically provided to entrepreneurs in developing countries to help them start or expand a business.
NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement, a trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, eliminating most tariffs on trade between these countries.
Newly industrialized countries (NICs)
Countries that have experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth in recent decades.
Outsourcing
The practice of contracting out certain business functions or operations to external providers.
Per capita
Per person; often used to express averages or rates relative to the population.
Primate cities
Cities that are disproportionately larger than other cities in the country and dominate the economic, political, and cultural life.
Quality of Life
The overall well-being of individuals and societies, encompassing various factors such as health, education, income, and environment.
Reproductive health
A study that encompasses physical, emotional, and social well-being related to sexual and reproductive processes. It includes family planning, maternal health, safe childbirth, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
Rostow
Stages of economic growth
A linear model of economic development consisting of traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and age of high mass consumption.
Social development
The process of improving the well-being of individuals, groups, and communities in terms of their social, economic, and political circumstances.
Special Economic Zones
Geographically designated areas within a country that are subject to different economic regulations and incentives than the rest of the country.
Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Time-space compression
The increasing sense of connectivity that seems to be bringing people closer together even though their distances are the same.
Trading bloc
A group of countries that have agreed to reduce or eliminate trade barriers among themselves.
UN Millennium Development Goals
a set of eight global development goals established by the United Nations in 2000. They aimed to address poverty, education, health, gender equality, and environmental sustainability by 2015.
Weber's least cost theory
A theory that views the world as a single capitalist system with core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral regions. Core countries dominate economically, while peripheral countries provide cheap labor and raw materials.
World cities
Cities that play a significant role in global economic and cultural networks.
Wallerstein's World System Theory
A theory that divides the world into core, periphery, and semi-periphery regions, based on economic and political power relations.
Just-in-Time Production
Just-in-time production is a manufacturing strategy where companies order the necessary parts precisely when needed to assemble a product without storing excess inventory. This method aims to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and respond quickly to changes in demand
Footloose Industry
A type of industry that is not tied to a specific location and can easily relocate based on factors like labor costs. These industries are often characterized by minimal fixed costs, simple work processes, and the ability to move production to exploit low-cost labor in different regions. Footloose industries are known for their mobility and tendency to shift locations in search of cost advantages
Break-in-Bulk Point
where products or goods are shifted from one mode of transport to another, facilitating the movement of cargo between different transportation systems
EntrepĂ´t
A transshipment port, is a crucial intermediary center where goods are imported, stored, or traded before being re-exported without undergoing additional processing or incurring customs duties.