Unit 6 Vocabulary

APHG

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.

assembly line production

system of workers and machinery in which a product is assembled in a series of consecutive operations; typically the product is attached to a continuously moving beltq

Bid rent theory

geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the Central Business District (CBD) increases.

Break-of-bulk point

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

Bulk-gaining industry

Industry that makes something that gain volume or weight during production

Bulk-reducing industry

An industry in which the final product weighs less or comprises a lower volume than the inputs.

Carrier efficiency

Refers to the positive or negative aspects of each type of transportation.

comparative advantage

the ability of an individual, a firm, or a country to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than competitors

Core-Periphery Model

A model that describes how economic, political, and/or cultural power is spatially distributed between dominant core regions, and more marginal or dependent semi-peripheral and peripheral regions.

Deglomeration

the process of deconcentration; the location of industrial or other activities away from established agglomerations in response to growing costs of congestion, competition, and regulation

Deindustrialization

process by which companies move industrial jobs to other regions with cheaper labor, leaving the newly deindustrialized region to switch to a service economy and to work through a period of high unemployment

Dependency Theory

a model of economic and social development that explains global inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor nations by rich ones

Economic Sectors

primary (taking raw materials from earth - agriculture, mining), secondary (manufacturing - textile or auto industries), tertiary (providing goods or services)

economies of scale

factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises

Ectourism

using the natural beauty of the land as a selling point to promote tourism

Export processing zone

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

Footloose industry

industry in which the cost of transporting both raw materials and finished product is not important for the location of firms

Fordist production

A form of mass production in which each worker assigned one specific task to perform repeatedly.

foreign direct investment

a capital investment that is owned and operated by a foreign entity

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total output of all economic activity in the nation, including goods and services.

Gross National Product (GNP)

Is the total value of all the goods and services produced by a nation in a single year.

Human devolpment index

measure of a country's development based on health, knowledge, and standard of living

infrastructure

the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

Industrial Location Theory

The theory that profit of a business is maximized by choosing a location where production costs are lowest as well as land is cheapest and the distance from the market is the smallest. This is important to geography because it is used to describe why many businesses choose their locations in a given area and is key for describing complicated dynamics of industry.

international division of labor

The process where the assembing procedures for a product are spread out through different parts of the world

Just-in-time delivery

reliably getting products there just before the customer needs them

Labor-intensive industry

An industry for which labor costs comprise a high percentage of total expenses.

Maquiladora

in Mexico, a manufacturing plant owned by a foreign company

Market Orientation

The tendency of an economic activity to locate close to its market; a reflection of large and variable distribution costs.

multipiler effect

Describes the expansion of an area's economic base as a result of the basic and non-basic industries located there.

Necolonialism

the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies.

Outsourcing

Hiring workers in other countries to do a set of jobs

Postindustrial

the time in society that came after the Industrial Revolution

primary sector

Where workers extract materials from Earth through agriculture, and sometimes by mining, fishing, and forestry; the portion of the economy concerned with the direct extraction of materials from Earth's surface, generally through agriculture, although sometimes by mining, fishing, and forestry

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Measurement tool of calculating exchange rates so that each currency buys an equal amount of goods as every other currency.

Quaternary Sector

Service sector industries concerned with the collection, processing, and manipulation of information and capital. Examples include finance, administration, insurance, and legal services.

Quinary Sector

consists of the highest levels of decision making and includes the top officials in various levels of government and business.

Secondary Sector

the part of the economy that transforms raw materials into manufactured goods

Specialized Economic Zones

specific area within a country that has tax incentives & less stringent environmental regulations are implemented to attract foreign business and investment

substitution principle

In industry, the tendency to substitute one factor of production for another in order to achieve optimum plant location.z

Tertiary Sector

the part of the economy that involves services rather than goods

Threshold/range

the minimum market needed to support the supply of a product or service.

time-space compression

through processes such as globalization time is accelerated and the significance of space is reduced

transational corporation

A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.