The Economic World
Revision Notes
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
activities in MEDCs and LEDCs
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Primary activities involve taking
raw materials directly from the
ground, they remain unaltered.
Activities include farming,
fishing, mining and logging.
Secondary industries (also
called manufacturing
industries) involve processing
the raw materials into other
products. For example, latex
can be made into rubber which
can be used for tyres.
Tertiary industries are service
industries, such as teachers,
nurses and shop assistants.
Quaternary industries are
modern high tech service
industries involving research
activities and computing.
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
activities in MEDCs and LEDCs
• MEDCs (such as the UK)
tend to have very little
primary industry, some
secondary industry and
the majority of people
working in tertiary or
service industries.
• LEDCs (e.g. Mali) tend to
have most people working
in primary industries and
very few workers in the
secondary and tertiary
industries.
The change PST over time for in
LEDCs and MEDCs
•
China's changing employment structure
100%
90%
Percentage employed in sector
80%
70%
60%
Tertiary
50%
Secondary
Primary
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1960
1980
Year
2000
All countries undergo changes in their
economic systems. The percentage of
people working in primary, secondary
and tertiary industries can change over
time as a country develops. A decrease
in primary sector jobs is caused by
1. Improvements in technology allowing
machines (mechanisation) to do the
jobs of people. This has been
particularly important in agriculture.
2. Raw materials such as coal run out or
become too expensive to mine.
3. Workers prefer well paid less “dirty”
tertiary jobs to primary jobs.
• Increased Tertiary employment has
resulted from improvements in
technology allowing micro electronics,
research and biotechnology to grow.
• Secondary industries decline in MEDCs
because of competition from Newly
Industrialising Countries (NICs like
Taiwan) that have cheaper labour costs.
• Changes are also occurring in LEDCs.
Characteristics of farm systems
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Organic farming is farming that
takes place without the use of
chemicals.
Intensive farming is one that
has high inputs of capital
and/or labour. The idea is to
maximise the amount of
produce gained from a unit area
of land.
Extensive farming has low
levels of input of labour or
money and produces a low
yield per unit area of land (e.g.
Grain farming in the Prairies)
Commercial farming is when a
farmer produces food for sale.
Subsistence farming is where
most of the food produced is to
be eaten by the farmers and
little is left over for sale.
Arable farms produce crops.
Pastoral farms rear animals.
The physical and human factors
affecting a farmer’s choices
Physical factors
Human factors
Soils – the fertility will affect the
type of farming and whether or
not the farmer uses fertilisers.
On a loam soil arable farming
usually takes place.
Market – The farm needs to be
close to its market or to routes of
communication that allow the
farmer to sell his goods. Also, is
there demand for the product?
Relief – flat land is perfect for
arable farming while steep land
tends to be used for grazing
animals. Over 20° it is difficult to
use the machinery needed for
arable farming.
Cost of land – if the land is
expensive then farmers must
farm intensively to make a profit.
Climate – the key physical factor,
both rainfall and temperature are
important.
Tradition – farmers may have
farmed in a certain way and may
be reluctant to make changes .
E.G. Wheat needs temps of at
least 15°C for 3 months and less
than 750mm of rain to grow. Oats
can grow at less than 15 °C and
require over 1000mm of rain.
Government – through grants, tax
barriers and subsidies
governments like the EU and
British government can have a
major influence on farming.
Farmers face many
decision when deciding
what to grow or rear on
their farm.
The table opposite
contains the factors the
farmer need to consider.
Intensive wet rice farming from SE
Asia (LEDC)
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Intensive wet rice farming has traditionally involved
many people working on small plots of land
maximising the amount of rice and other fruit and
vegetable produce they can get out of that plot of
land. Most of the produce is eaten by the farmers
and only a small amount goes to market for sale, so
this is subsistence farming.
The inputs to a traditional wet rice farm include
seeds, manure from oxen and other animals, lots of
water from the wet climate and labour. The climate
is hot and wet, soils are fertile, all ideal for wet rice
farming.
The processes include terracing hillsides, building
retaining walls to keep rainwater, ploughing with the
Oxen, sowing the seeds and harvesting.
Outputs include rice, rice, rice and more rice. Some
fruit and vegetables are produced.
Recent pressures and changes are occurring in this
type of farming. Genetically modified rice has been
introduced that produces more crop, and farmers
are under pressure to use pesticides and
insecticides from big businesses and government.
Our case study was the Da Meize Village in South
Eastern China.
European Union Farming –
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
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CAP was a government policy funded by the
EU to help farmers. CAP use to spend 70%
of the European Union’s total budget
through the following ways
1. Subsidies – this was money given to
farmers per head of livestock to help
towards the cost of rearing them.
2. Set–aside – This was money given to
farmers when they did not grow food on an
area of their farm (£200 per hectare)
3. Guaranteed prices – Farmers were
guaranteed that if their crops did not get a
certain price at market the EU would make
up the differences.
4. Quotas – a set amount of produce that a
farmer can produce. If the more is
produced the farmer is fined. This was
introduced after the overproduction of milk.
5. Grants – this is money given to farmers who
do activities that are environmentally
friendly such as planting hedges.
Can you think of the positives and negatives of
this system? (for EU and non EU farmers)
Case study – Home farm near
Birmingham
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For many years British farmers had
the price of their food subsidised by
government. This support is being
withdrawn leaving farmers with a
shortfall in their income.
Home farm in Birmingham has been
affected. The owner, Mr Redfearn,
has over 200 hectares and fertile
sandy soils. The land is relatively
flat, rain fall is 700mm and summer
temperatures of 16°C. He is
therefore not limited by physical
factors and has a mixed farm where
livestock (cows, sheep and bulls)
are raised and crops grown.
Mr Redfearn is more affected by
human factors, Banbury and
Uttoxeter are his local markets. His
crops are sold to merchants who
visit the farm.
Case study – Home farm near
Birmingham
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Mr Redfearn has sold all of his cows
because he was getting a very poor return
on the milk they produced, only 8p a litre
(for a product that sells for 45p a litre in the
shops).
The withdrawal of subsidies has meant that
Mr Redfearn’s income from his cereal crops
dropped by £40,000 between 1998 and 1999.
These losses have meant that Mr Redfearn
has had to do the following to diversify (find
non farming activities to make money from
his farm) and earn more income;
He stores up to 26 caravans on his farm for
which he needed planning permission for
£250 a year.
He will convert the old unused cow sheds
into a bed and breakfast for businessmen
who go to the nearby NEC in Birmingham.
Another possibility is for him to offer car
parking at £3 per day.
Ponies are also kept on the farm at £100 a
pony.
Other farmers have tried paintball,
adventure sports, growing wood and turf to
make money.
The physical, economic and human
factors affecting the location of
secondary industries in MEDCS
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1.
2.
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4.
5.
6.
7.
What factors would affect a steel
industries location? Which factors
are most important and why?
8.
There are several factors that influence the
location of an industry including
Energy – often needed in manufacture of
goods
Labour – the skill level and cost of workers
is important.
Capital – businesses need money in order to
get started.
Land – for secondary industry large areas fo
flat cheap land are often needed.
Raw materials – if these are heavy (e.g. coal,
limestone ad iron ore) then the factory
needs to be close to raw materials.
Transport – roads, rivers and rail offer ways
for businesses to move inputs and finished
products.
Government policy – the British government
used to give money to companies (e.g.
Nissan) to locate in depressed areas
(Sunderland!).
Markets – fragile goods need to be produced
colse to their market, bulky goods must also
be close because of the cost of transport.
Identifying Industrial Location
Factors from maps and photos
This is the
Nissan plant,
attracted to
the NE by
government
grants and a
strong
tradition of
engineering
in the region.
Additional
land is
available for
expansion.
The A 19
offers a major
north-south
transport
route for the
shipping in of
components
needed to
build the cars
and the export
of the finished
product to a
European
market.
The site is close to the major
cities of Newcastle an
Sunderland, a handy and skilled
workforce.
Identifying Industrial Location
Factors from maps and photos
The
Nissan
site was
built on a
greenfield
site, close
to
farming
areas
The
Nissan
plant
occupies
a site of
over
2miles2
The room for
expansion is clear
here
A test
track –
fancy a
drive?
This major transport
axis is good for
workers and the
movement of finished
products and
components.
The river
Wear offers
another
transport
option
Factors affecting the location of HiTech Industry in MEDCs
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2.
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Hi-Tech industries are those that use
research and technology to create
products of high value e.g. medicines
and electronics.
Hi-tech industries are said to be
footloose, not tied to a location (like the
steel industry).
Bracknell in the Thames valley has a high
number of such firms, but why are they
there?
Communications- Bracknell is located
next to the M3 motorway and is within
reach of London by train. The UK’s 2
major airports are no more than 60miles
away.
The local labour force is skilled – Royal
Holloway and Brunel Universities are
close by offering computing degrees.
There are good leisure facilities in the
region – including dry ski slope, cinema
etc.
Panasonic, ICL and Dell all have plants in
Bracknell
LEDC industry – formal and
informal industries
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LEDCs have different economies
to MEDCs.
Most people in MEDCs have
formal jobs in which they have
regular hours, a weekly set wage,
pay taxes and reasonable
working conditions.
In LEDCs, while many people do
have formal jobs many workers
have Informal jobs. These jobs
do not involve the payment of
taxes, are often unskilled and
labour intensive, require little
money to set up and offer no
protection to the worker if they
are sick or fall upon hard times.
Examples of informal jobs include
shoe shining, beach vendors and
small shanty town businesses, all
rob governments of valuable tax
money.
TNCs
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Trans National Companies are
companies that operate
globally. They tend to have
their headquarters and
management in their parent
country and other factories
around the globe. e.g. Nike is
from the USA, but has branch
factories in South East Asia.
Fiat is an Italian car
manufacturer with an annual
turnover of 48 billion euros
which operates in 64 different
countries.
Fiat opened a plant in Betem in
Belo Horizonte in 1976 and this
plant now produces 650 000
cars a year and employs 12,000
people.
Factor’s attracting a TNC to an
LEDC - Fiat
• Why did Fiat open a plant in Brazil?
1. The Brazilian government started a
motor industry in Brazil for long term
employment, this created a market for
cars.
2. The state of Mina Gerais offered loans,
grants and cheap land to Fiat, cutting
their costs.
3. Fiat could sell its cars to all of South
America.
4. There was a large pool of workers
earning half of a British motor industry
worker.
5. Strikes are rare in Brazil.
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Fiat has since opened another factory
in Brazil, with a £100million sweetener
from the Brazilian government
softening production costs.
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In your opinion, are TNCs good for a
LEDC?