Unit 7 APHUG

Agglomeration

When businesses that do similar things group close together to save money and help each other.

Agglomeration diseconomies

The problems that happen when too many businesses crowd into the same area (traffic, high rent, pollution, etc.).

Ancillary activities

“Support businesses” that help bigger industries (like packaging, repair shops, delivery services).

Austerity Measures

Actions taken by a government to reduce spending, raise taxes, or both in order to fix debt or economic problems.

Backroom operations

Company tasks that customers don’t see—like data processing, accounting, and computer support.

Backwash effects

When one region grows and accidentally hurts another region by taking its workers, money, or resources.

Barriers of trade

Things that make trade harder, like taxes on imports (tariffs), limits, or complicated rules.

Base Ratio

The number of basic jobs vs. nonbasic jobs in a place. Shows how the economy is structured.

Basic Sector vs. Non Basic Sector

Basic jobs bring money in from outside the community. Nonbasic jobs serve the local population (teachers, grocery stores).

Brain drain

When educated or skilled workers leave a country to work somewhere with better opportunities.

Break-of-bulk point

A place where goods are moved from one type of transportation to another (ship → truck → train).

Brick and mortar business

A traditional store with a physical building—not online.

BRICS

A group of large, fast‑growing countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.

Bulk gaining industry

Products get heavier or bigger during production, so factories locate near customers (e.g., cars, soda).

Bulk reducing industry

Products get lighter during production, so factories locate near raw materials (e.g., copper mining).

Call Centers

Offices where workers answer phones or provide customer service.

Commodity chain

Every step a product goes through—from raw material to finished good.

Commodity dependence

When a country relies too much on selling one or two raw materials.

Comparative advantage

A country should produce what it’s best at or what it can make most efficiently, then trade.

Complementarity

Two places that benefit each other because one has what the other needs.

Containerization

The use of large, standardized shipping containers to move goods quickly and cheaply by ship, train, and truck.

Core

Rich, powerful countries that control the global economy.

Core-periphery model

The world is divided into core (rich), semiperiphery (developing), and periphery (poor) countries.

Cottage industry

Small‑scale production made at home before the Industrial Revolution.

Cumulative causation

Success attracts more success. Once development starts, it tends to build more development.

Deglomeration

When businesses spread out because being too close becomes too expensive or crowded.

Deindustrialization

Factories close and move away, usually toward cheaper labor.

Dependency theory

Poor countries stay poor because rich countries exploit them.

Digital divide

The gap between people who have access to technology and those who don’t.

Dollarization

When a country uses the U.S. dollar instead of its own currency for stability.

Ecological footprint

How much land and resources a person or society uses.

ECommerce

Buying and selling online.

Economic Development

How wealthy, educated, and healthy a country is.

Economic Imperialism

When one country controls another using money or business power—not military force.

Economic Sectors

Primary: extract resources - Secondary: manufacturing - Tertiary: services - Quaternary: information - Quinary: high‑level decision‑making

Economies of Scale

Producing more makes each product cheaper.

Ecotourism

Tourism that protects nature and supports local people.

Environmentalism

Protecting the environment through policies and practices.

Export Processing Zones (EPZs)

Areas where businesses get tax breaks to encourage exports.

Factory Location considerations

Cost of land, labor, transportation, energy, and market access.

Fast world vs. Slow world

Fast world: very connected, high‑tech. Slow world: less connected, less access to tech and globalization

Footloose industry

Businesses that can locate anywhere (like tech or call centers).

Fordism

Mass production using assembly lines

Foreign direct investments

When companies from one country invest in another country’s businesses.

Formal economic activity

Official jobs tracked by the government and taxed.

Free trade zone

A region where goods move freely without tariffs.

Gender empowerment measure

A measure of how much power women have in a society (jobs, politics, income).

Gender equity

Fair treatment for all genders, giving everyone the opportunities they need to succeed.

Gender gap

The difference between men and women in education, income, jobs, or rights.

Gender Inequality Index

A score showing how unequal men and women are in health, education, and status.

Geothermal energy

Energy made from the heat inside the Earth.

Global division of labor

Different countries do different jobs in the global economy (e.g., design in the U.S., manufacturing in Asia).

Globalization

The world becoming more connected through trade, technology, and culture.

Glocalization

Global ideas/products changed to fit local cultures (KFC menu changes by country).

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services made inside a country in one year.

Gross National Product (GNP)

All goods and services created by a country’s people—no matter where they live.

Growth poles

Places where businesses cluster and create jobs and development around them.

High technology industries

Industries that use advanced tech—computers, biotech, aerospace.

Human development index

A score showing a country’s development based on life expectancy, education, and income.

Hydroelectric power

Energy generated from moving water (dams, rivers).

Import quote

A limit on how much of a product a country can import.

Import substitution

When countries make goods themselves instead of importing them.

Income distribution

How evenly or unevenly money is spread across a population.

Industrial revolution

A major change in the 1700s–1800s when machines replaced hand labor.

Industrialization

When a country starts using factories and machines to produce goods.

Industrialized countries

Countries with strong economies, technology, and manufacturing.

informal economic activity

Jobs that are not officially recorded—like street vending or home haircuts.

Infrastructure

Basic systems needed for a society: roads, electricity, water, internet.

International monetary fund

A global organization that gives loans to countries in crisis.

Just-in-time production

Companies keep little inventory; they get materials right when needed to save money.

Least cost theory

Factories choose locations based on minimizing transportation, labor, and agglomeration costs.

Least developed countries

Countries with low income, weak healthcare, and limited education access.

Localization economies

When similar businesses in the same area help each other reduce costs and attract workers.

Manufacturing region

An area where many factories and industries are located.

Maquiladora

Factories in Mexico near the U.S. border run by U.S. companies to use cheaper labor.

Market

Where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services.

Mass consumption

When a society buys and uses large amounts of goods.

Medical Tourism

When people travel to another country to receive medical care, usually because it is cheaper or faster.

Mercantilism

An economic system where a country tries to become wealthy by exporting more goods than it imports and controlling trade.

MERCOSUR

A South American trade group that reduces trade barriers between members.

Metallic minerals

Minerals used to make metals (iron, copper, aluminum).

Microcredit & Microlending & Microloans

Very small loans given to poor individuals to start small businesses.

Mineral fuels

Resources like coal, oil, and natural gas.

Natural resources

Materials from nature humans use (water, forests, minerals).

Neocolonialism

When rich countries control poorer ones through economics instead of military force.

Neoliberal policies

Free‑market policies: fewer rules, lower taxes, and more private businesses.

Newly industrializing countries

Countries moving from agriculture to manufacturing (e.g., Mexico, China, India).

Non-metallic minerals

Minerals not used to make metals (salt, sand, diamonds).

Non-renewable resources

Resources that can’t be replaced quickly (coal, oil, natural gas).

North American Free Trade Agreement

A trade deal between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (now replaced by USMCA).

Nuclear energy

Energy created by splitting atoms.

Offshore financial centers

Countries where companies keep money to avoid taxes or regulations.

Offshoring

Moving jobs or factories to other countries to save money.

OPEC

A group of oil‑exporting countries that controls oil prices.

Outsourcing

Hiring another company (often in another country) to do certain tasks.

Periphery

Poorer, less developed countries with weaker economies.

Petroleum

Oil—used for fuel, plastics, and many industrial products.

Poverty Tourism

When tourists visit poor communities to observe living conditions, often raising ethical concerns about exploitation.

Primary economic activities (without agriculture)

Jobs that take resources from the Earth (mining, fishing, forestry).

Purchase Power Parity (PPP)

A way to compare how much things cost in different countries.