HUMAN GEO UNIT 7

Industrial Revolution

The transformation of the economy through machines, new power sources, and chemicals in the United States and Europe (1760-1830)

Textiles

A fabric or cloth woven from wool, cotton, or flax

Labor productivity

The average amount of goods or services produced per worker per unit of time

Fossil Fuels

Natural fuels derived from the fossilized remains of living organisms

Crude Oil

A yellowish black fossil fuel that is found in geological deposits

Commercial Farms

Farmers who raise crops and livestock to sell in the market for a profit rather than raising them for their consumption

Wage Labor

A socioeconomic relationship in which an employer pays a worker to complete a task by day or hour

Working Class

The people in an industrial economy who depend on wage labor to obtain the necessities of life

Capital Class

People who own the means of production and pay the wages of workers

Middle Class

People who are either salaried professionals (Such as lawyers, educators, and physicians) or office wage workers (Such as bank tellers and store clerks)

Labor Unions

Associations of workers in particular industries established to collectively bargain with capitalists

Mass Consumption

The purchase of large amounts of mass-produced goods by large numbers of people

International division of labor

The situation in which the labor forces of different countries and world regions play complementary roles in an interdependent global economy

Economic sectors

Groupings of industries based on what is produced and the activities of the workforce

Primary sector

Industries that extract natural resources from the environment

Secondary Sector

Industries that process the raw materials extracted by primary industries transforming them into finished, usable goods

Tertiary sector

Industries that provide services to businesses and consumers, including all the different types of work necessary to transport and deliver goods and resources

Quaternary Sector

The portion of the economy dedicated to intellectual and informational services, such as scientific research and development

Semi-periphery

Countries or regions whose economies have elements of both the core and the periphery

Break of Bulk point

A location where cargo is transferred from one mode of transportation to another

Shipping containers

Standardized, stackable, intermodal metal boxes used to transport goods by ship or truck

Containerization

The system of intermodal metal boxes used to transport goods by ship, railroad, or truck

Least cost theory

Alfred Weber’s theory that transportation and labor costs play a strong role in determining the location of manufacturing facilities

World systems theory

Wallerstein’s theory of economic development that regards world history as moving through a series of socio-economic systems, culminating in the modern world system by about the year 1900

Dependency Theory

The theory that the periphery is poor because it was economically dependent on the core in a disadvantageous relationship originally established under colonialism and imperialism

Commodity dependence

Occurs when commodities account for more than 60% of the value of a country’s total exports

Gross National Product (GNP)

The total value of all the goods and services made by a country’s residents and businesses in a specific time period, regardless of the country or location in which they were made

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of all goods and services produced within a country over a specific period, regardless of the producers national origin

Gross National Income (GNI)

Total income of a country’s residents and businesses, including investment income, regardless of where it was earned as well as money received from abroad such as foreign investment and development aid

GDP Per Capita

A country’s GDP divided by its total population

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Measures how much a common basket of goods costs locally in the currency of each country being compared

Gender Equality Index

A statistical measure of gender inequality that combines data on reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation

Human development Index (HDI)

A Statistical measure of human achievement that combines data on life expectancy at birth, education levels, and GNI per capita, PPP, and population

Informal Sector

The part of any economy that is not officially recorded, monitored, or taxed by the government

Formal Sector

The part of the economy that is officially recorded with the government

Income Distribution

How a country’s GDP is distributed among the individuals in it’s population

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)

A measurement of gender equality that includes the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments, percent of women in economic decision making, and woman vs mens share of earned income

Gender Parity

A way of documenting progress toward gender equality using measures such as relative access to education, average incomes for women vs men, and work force participation

Microloans

A very small loan to people little income to collateral intended to help them establish and expand a small business

Mercantilism

A theory of trade stating that each country strives to export more than it imports in order to accumulate wealth

Protectionism

Trade rules that restrict imports in order to protect domestic industries

Absolute Advantage

A country’s ability to produce a good or service more efficiently than it can produce other products within its economy

Comparative Advantage

A country’s ability to produce one product much more efficiently than it can produce other products within its economy

Complementarity

A measure of how well one country’s export profile matches another country’s import profile

Transnational Corporation (TNC)

A firm with the power to coordinate and control operations in more than one country, even if it does not own those operations

Competitive Advantage

A firm’s relative ability to out perform other TNCs in its industry

Neoliberalism

A range of pro-market and antigovernment positions on the economy, such as reducing government ownership and regulation and promoting privatization and market based solutions

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

International organization that seeks to foster global monetary cooperation, achieve financial stability, facilitate international trade, and promote sustainable economic growth

World Bank

An international financial organization that provides funding and expertise to promote sustainable economic growth in developing countries

World Trade Organization (WTO)

An international organization that regulates trade among 184 member states, providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and resolving trade disputes

Free Trade Agreement

A treaty between two or more countries that reduces tariffs and promotes foreign investment

Tariff

Tax on imported goods and services

Customs Union

A free trade agreement among two or more member countries, combines with a single common external trade policy for nonmembers

Mercosur

Spanish acronym for the southern common market, a south American customs union that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay as its full members

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

An international trade agreement designed to regulate the output of oil

Trade Embargo

An official ban on trade with a specific country or specific good

Financial Market

Marketplace where financial instruments are traded, stock markets, bond markets, and foreign exchange markets

Debt Crisis

Occurs when a governments debt exceeds its tax revenues to the point that it cannot meet its loan payments

Import Substitution Industrialization

Trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production based on the premise that a country should reduce foreign dependency

Fordism

Economic and social arrangement based on the mass production of standardized goods, high labor union membership rates, stable and full manufacturing employment, and high factory wages that enable mass consumption

Corporate Disinvestment

A process in which companies stop investing in factory construction, equipment, and improvement and begin selling off assets such as machinery buildings and land

Offshoring

The relocation of manufacturing and support services from one country to another

Outsourcing

The transfer of part of a firm’s internal operations to a third party

Deindustrialization

The decline and sometimes complete disappearance of employment in the manufacturing sector in the cores industrial centers

Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

specific area within a country’s borders where businesses and trade laws are different from those in the rest of the country

Export Processing Zone (EPZ)

Industrial zone with special incentives to attract foreign investment to places where imported materials undergo processing or assembly before being re exported

Free Trade Zone

Specially designated duty free area that provides warehousing, storage, and distribution facilities for goods intended for trade or re-export

New International Division of Labor

The spatial shift of manufacturing from developed countries to developing countries including the global scaling of labor markets and industrial sites

Post-Fordism

The shifts from manufacturing centers to spatially dispersed production sites, from standardized mass production to specialized batch production, and from a permanent workforce to temporary and contract workers

Just in time manufacturing (JIT)

The production of small batches of goods as needed by customer demand

High Technology Industry

An industry that develops and uses the most advanced technologies available and has the highest levels of research and development

Agglomeration economies

Occur when firms cluster spatially in order to take advantage of geographic concentrations of skilled labor and industry suppliers, specialized infrastructure, and ease of face to face contact with industry participants

Multiplier Effects

The creation of new businesses and jobs in other industries as the result of investment in a different industry

Growth Poles

Geographically pin pointed center of economic activity organized around a designated industry, commonly in the high tech sector

Sustainable Development

Development that meets present consumption needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their consumption needs

Resource Depletion

The consumption of natural resources faster than they can be replenished

Environmental Pollution

The contamination of the physical and biological components of the environment to the point that normal functions are negatively affected

Point source pollution

Any single identifiable source from which contaminants are discharged, such as a pipe or smokestack

Non-point source pollution

Contamination originating from multiple diffuse sources

Climate Change

A long term shift in global or regional climate patterns

Cogeneration

Producing 2 forms of energy from one fuel

Carbon Neutrality

Achieving zero CO2 releases through a combination of emissions reduction and carbon removal

Carbon offsets

Processes that remove or sequester carbon from the atmosphere to make up for CO2 emissions elsewhere

Ecotourism

Travel to natural areas of ecological value in support of conservation efforts and socially just economic development