Primary sector
Where people are employed in acquiring raw materials
Secondary sector
Where people are employed in manufacturing (taking the output of the primary industry and processing it to make finished goods)
Tertiary sector
Where people are employed in providing commercial services
Quaternary sector
Where people are involved in high-tech research (R&D), consultancy and computing
Examples of jobs in the primary sector
Farming, mining, fishing and forestry
Examples of jobs in the secondary sector
Any factory based jobs
Examples of jobs in the tertiary sector
Shop worker, banker, teacher, lawyers, doctors, nurses
Examples of jobs in the quaternary sector
Research scientist, people working on new medicines, AI developers
Globalisation
The increasing links between different countries throughout the world as a result of the movement of good, services and money
5 reasons of globalisation
- Transport developments — containerisation has lowered the cost of trade and become a catalyst for globalisation
- Freedom of trade — goods can move freely around the world in trade blocs like the European Union (EU)
- Improvements in technology and communication — eg. the internet, satellites, mobile phones
- Transnational Corporations — large companies that operate in more than one country
- Labour availability — large countries often have a large skilled and educated workforce
TNCs
TNCs stand for Transnational Corporations and are large companies that operate in more than one country around the world
TNCs often relocate their headquarters in….. because…..
High Income Countries (HICs); more management and innovation skills
TNCs often relocate their factories in….. because…..
Low Income Countries (LICs); labour wages are lower = more profit, less regulation, governments make it easier to set up factories compared to HICs
Sweatshops
A factory where manual workers are employed to labour but are often exploited with low wages, long working hours, poor working conditions and little to no human rights
Advantages of TNCs
- Creates jobs in LICs which can help boost the host country’s economy
- Triggers the positive multiplier effect
- Creates jobs in HICs, often managerial jobs
- Provides important goods and services to the rest of the world (eg. Apple iPhones, Nike trainers, etc)
Disadvantages of TNCs
- Exploitation of workers; low wages, long hours, poor working conditions, little human rights, no unions
- Allegations of child labour
- Potential job losses in HICs or MICs as TNCs are only relocating to LICs
- Small businesses are forced to close as they cannot compete with giant TNCs
In favour of globalisation
- Globalisation promotes peace as countries who trade with each other are unlikely to go to war
- Globalisation and free trade is an important engine for growth
- Globalisation promotes different cultures that can be spread across the world
- Globalisation allows communication all over the world
Against globalisation
- Globalisation makes international trade vulnerable in times of conflict and can disrupt supply chains
- Globalisation goes against fair trade, social justices and human rights as they mostly focus on more profit
- Globalisation can promote cultural homogeneity; if McDonald’s is everywhere then the original culture is gone
- Globalisation widens the wealth gap as the rich get richer, but the poor only get poorer
Why might different people have different views of globalisation?
- Globalisation creates winners and losers and impacts different people in very different ways - if you benefitted from globalisation then your view is most likely going to be positive and vice versa
- Views of globalisation are subjective and it depends on which perspective you are basing your opinion on - the HICs or the LICs? The factory workers or the products?
- Views of globalisation on the ‘outside’ can be very different from views on the ‘inside’ and from the people who are actually experiencing the impacts of globalisation first hand - eg. factory workers in Vietnam are actually in favour of globalisation as they have a job and an income, but we on the ‘outside’ only think of them being exploited so are against globalisation
