Human Geography

Jerome D. FellmannMark BjellandArthur GetisJudith Getis

Human Geography

Chapter 9Livelihood And

Economy: From Blue Collar

to Gold Collar

Insert Figure 9.6 here

© Getty RF

Human Geography 11e

Components of the Space Economy

• Concepts and Controls• Market Equilibrium

Human Geography 11e

Secondary Activities:

• Gives form utility to the products of primary industry through manufacturing efforts

• Involved in material processing and goods production

• Movable, rather than spatially tied

• Locational decision involves the weighting of the locational “pulls” of a number of cost considerations and profit prospects

Human Geography 11e

Secondary Activities: Manufacturing

• Locational Decisions in Manufacturing– Principles of location– Raw materials– Power supply– Labor– Market– Transportation

• Transportation and location

Human Geography 11e

Industrial Location Theories

• Least-cost theory• Locational interdependence theory• Profit-maximization approaches• Other locational considerations and

controls

Human Geography 11e

Industrial Location Theories• Least-Cost Theory

– Based on the work of Alfred Weber (1868-1958)– Explains the optimum of a manufacturing

establishment based on minimizing three basic expenses:• Relative transport costs• Labor costs• Agglomeration costs

– Agglomeration refers to the clustering of productive activities for mutual advantage

– Weber concluded that transport costs are the major consideration determining location

Human Geography 11e

Industrial Location Theories

• Least-Cost Theory– The optimum

location will be found where the costs of transporting raw materials to the factory and finished goods to the market are at their lowest

Insert figure 9.10

Human Geography 11e

Least-Cost Theory

• Assumptions– Isotropic plain– Single product to a single market– Raw materials from two or more sources– Labor infinitely available but immobile– Transportation routes are not fixed but

connect places by a straight line

Human Geography 11e

Locational Interdependence Theory

• Variable revenue analysis• Competitive locations in a linear

market

Human Geography 11e

Profit-Maximization Approaches

• Spatial margin of profitability• Satisficing locations• Price sensitivity (elasticity of

demand) will encourage industrial dispersion

Human Geography 11e

Other Locational Considerations and Controls• Agglomeration economies• Just-in-time and flexible production• Comparative advantage• Outsourcing• Offshoring• Imposed considerations• Transnational corporations

Human Geography 11e

World Manufacturing Patterns and Trends

• Anglo America• Western and Central Europe• Eastern Europe• Eastern Asia

Human Geography 11e

High-Tech Patterns

• Impacts of high-tech industries• Agglomerating forces• Contributors to production

Insert figure 9.23

Human Geography 11e

Tertiary and Beyond

• Services• Business and labor

specializations that provide services to the primary and secondary sectors, to the general community, and to the individual

• Tertiary– Lower-level services

largely related to day-to-day needs of people and to the usual range of functions found in smaller towns and cities

Human Geography 11e

Tertiary and Beyond

• Service activities are by definition market oriented

• Retailers and personal service providers tend to locate where market density is greatest and multiple service demands are concentrated

• Quaternary- Information,

administration, and “knowledge”

- Dependent on communication

- Dispersion has been facilitated by electronic digital processing and telecommunication transfer of data

Human Geography 11e

Quaternary and Quinary Activities

• Quaternary– An advanced form of

services involving specialized knowledge, technical skills, communication ability, or administrative competence

– Transportability of these activities means that many of them can be spatially isolated from their client base

• Quinary– “Gold Collar”

professions– Special and highly

paid skills of top business executives, government officials, research scientists, financial, and legal consultants

Human Geography 11e

Services in World Trade

• Impact in international trade flows• Impact in economic interdependence• Foreign direct investment (FDI)