Core Regions - economic areas with good communications, high wages, better technology, better development, and more industrialization.

Peripheral Regions - economic areas with poor communications, lower wages, lacking technology, lower development, and less industrialization.

Law of Diminishing Returns - when a company puts more money or resources into production, eventually the increased investment will not create any more profit 

Division of Labor (Adam Smith) - to enhance productivity, individuals should be assigned specific tasks in the manufacturing process

Comparative Advantage - the ability to produce a particular good or service at a lower cost than any competitor

Globalization - the international exchange of goods, services, and and ideas

Neo-colonialism - the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries

Transnational Corporation - a company that operates in multiple countries

Fast World (Technology) - more developed regions where all aspects of life happen quicker because of better technology (communicate faster, travel faster, receive goods faster, receive information faster, etc.)

Slow World (Technology) - less developed regions where all aspects of life happen slower

More Developed Country (MDC) - a state with generally more wealth, technology, educational opportunities, available consumer goods, health services, gender equality, availability of raw materials, etc.

Less Developed Country (LDC) - a state with generally less…

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total value of all of the goods and services produced in a country in a given year

Gross National Product (GNP) - the GDP, plus the investments and income earned by citizens of the state that live outside the country     

Primary Sector - workers who directly extract minerals or food from the Earth (vast majority  in LDC)

Secondary Sector - workers who make goods (majority in LDCs)

Tertiary Sector - workers who provide services to others (majority found in MDCs)

Quaternary Activities - workers who provide a service, for another service, usually in the form of information, research or intellectual guidance

Value Added - the amount by which the value increases when features are added to a basic model of a product

Break-of-Bulk Point - an area where shipments change modes of transportation (Ex: airport, train station, shipyard, etc.)

Bulk-Reducing Industry - an industry where the products becomes lighter in weight during production (final product is lighter than at the start)

Bulk-Gaining Industry - an industry where the products become heavy as they are assembled (final product is heavier than at the start)

Walt Rostow Model - a model of economic growth that states that countries go through five stages of economic growth, starting as an agricultural society, then becoming more industrial, then finally becoming more consumer driven

Alfred Weber Model (Least-Cost Theory) - industries will locate factories where they can minimize their costs, and maximize their profits

Cumulative Causation - the effects of investment in an area will affect other aspects of the economy. (Ex: A new store will hire workers, those workers will spend money at other shops, those shops will spend more for their workers, etc.)

Backwash Effects - Economic growth in one area will have a negative effect on the economic growth of another (Ex: a new sports team in Fredericksburg will mean fewer people in the area will travel to Washington DC for that sports

Spread Effects - economic prosperity in the core, will lead to increased economic prosperity on the periphery (Ex: technological advances in the core will eventually trickle down to the periphery)

Agglomeration - certain companies will benefit from being located near each other because the cost of production will be cheaper by attracting more suppliers and customers (Ex: fast food restaurants, car dealers)

Deindustrialization - a decline in manufacturing

Creative Destruction (Joseph Schumpeter) - capitalism requires the destruction of long standing methods and ideas of industry, in order to make way for new ideas to generate wealth

Conglomerate Corporations - a company that consists of several unrelated industries under one corporate group (Ex: Disney has theme parks, a movie studio, clothing lines, cruise ships, television stations, etc.)

Export-processing (or Free-trade) Zones - an area where goods may be landed, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported without going through customs. Makes international manufacturing and transportation cheaper

Maquiladoras - American owned factories that are located just across the border in Mexico, to take advantage of cheaper labor, but still close to the U.S. for delivery

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) - a region that has economic and other laws that are more free-market-oriented than the normal laws (Ex: lower tax rate, less regulations)

Footloose Industry - an industry that can be placed anywhere without having to consider needed resources or transportation issues because they are lightweight. (Ex: computer chips)