Deck 1: Thinking Geographically

Question 1

Contemporary economic geography may be summarized as the study of:

A) Generalized principles of how the global economy functions
B) Universal laws determining the location of firms and their markets
C) The uneven, complex patterning of economic activities on the earth's surface
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Answer 1

The uneven, complex patterning of economic activities on the earth's surface

Question 2

Place is a unique ensemble of human and physical features on the earth's surface, including:

A) Environmental conditions
B) Physical and human landscapes
C) Cultural practices, social life, and economic activities
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Answer 2

All of the above

Question 3

Space is not just where things happen, it is also why things happen where they do. Thus, space is which type of factor:

A) Determining
B) Explanatory
C) Redundant
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Answer 3

Explanatory

Question 4

The concept of location involves the positioning of people and objects _______________.

A) Adjacent to each other
B) Relative to each other
C) Farther away from each other
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 5

Distance is a key variable to the concept of location, and the cost of distance is sometimes referred to as the:

A) "Distanciation factor"
B) "Tyranny of distance"
C) "Economic quotient"
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 6

The most primary form of territorial power is exercised by which entity:

A) Banks
B) Governments
C) Private businesses
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 7

Economic places do not just create themselves internally--rather, they are ______________________________ that intersect differently in different places.

A) The expected outcome of environmental determinants
B) The product of various flows across space
C) The exclusive product of state policies
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 8

____________ space is frequently more important in economic terms than absolute space.

A) Relative
B) Common
C) Physical
D) Undefined
E) Compound

Question 9

Term that refers to a bounded space under the control of a group of people, usually a state:

A) Firm
B) Nation
C) Territory
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 10

Space that is based on some kind of definable measure of position is often referred to as:

A) Relative
B) Random
C) Undefined
D) Compound
E) Absolute

Question 11

Overcoming distance often requires _______________ and so is nearly always a factor in determining the location of economic activities.

A) Transportation infrastructure
B) Information and communication technologies
C) Time and money
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 12

__________ aims to find principles that underpin the arrangement of economic activities in space.

A) "Locational analysis"
B) "Market theory"
C) "Efficient market theory"
D) None of the above
E) All of the above

Question 13

Governments have the power to __________ the boundaries of their territory.

A) Enforce
B) Regulate
C) Police
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 14

Governments are able to control flows of ______________ across national boundaries.

A) Workers
B) Products
C) Money
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 15

The "friction of distance" is a term used to refer to:

A) The cost of distance
B) The impacts of economic restructuring
C) Monetary distanciation
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 16

As raw materials and finished goods are transported for _________________, the more expensive they become or the more they deteriorate in quality.

A) Local markets
B) Shorter distances
C) er distances
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 17

_______________ may allow private entities such as a shopping mall to exercise control in economically important ways.

A) Ownership of land
B) Consumer preferences
C) Foreign direct investment
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 18

The characteristics of a place are fundamentally shaped by:

A) Forms of government
B) Religious traditions, linguistic groups, and norms relating to gender roles.
C) Architecture
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 19

In an urban center, a labor market can usually only be created out of those people who are:

A) -time residents of the city under discussion
B) Close enough to commute to work at the start and end of the work day
C) Well educated and upwardly mobile
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 20

Attempting to understand the complexities of a specific place is, in many ways, a quintessentially ______________ undertaking:

A) Reductive
B) Straightforward
C) Geographical
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 21

While economists are often seeking "laws" or principles, economic geographers are usually:

A) Going in the same general direction
B) Seeking universal explanations for why things happen the same way across the world
C) Attempting to simplify complex processes
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 22

When used in relation to a map, scale refers to:

A) The way in which national borders are represented
B) The way in which distances on the ground are represented
C) The absolute distance between major urban centers
D) The relationship between local and global processes
E) Our understanding of economic space as fluid

Question 23

Which of the following can be seen as a scale?

A) The body
B) The global
C) The workplace
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 24

The _____________ scale is larger than the national scale, but more defined than the global.

A) Macro-regional
B) Micro-regional
C) Subnational
D) Global-regional
E) Macro-global

Question 25

Nearly 200 years ago, a German landowner, Johann-Heinrich von Thünen (1783-1850), developed one of the earliest examples of an attempt to:

A) Analyze the effect of distance on patterns of land use
B) Determine the transportation costs of various crops
C) Determine the price of farmland
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 26

The scale where many of the micro-processes of everyday life are played out:

A) The workplace
B) The home
C) The neighborhood
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 27

The _____________ is the scale at which we all occupy, navigate, and experience space.

A) Urban
B) National
C) Body
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 28

Almost every scale is __________.

A) Humanly created
B) A social construction
C) Subject to change over time
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 29

The body is a scale that is "coded" in terms of:

A) Gender
B) Citizenship
C) Education
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 30

The process whereby every scale is being actively constructed and reconstructed with ongoing changes in our economies and societies is the __________.

A) "Time-space continuum"
B) "Economic continuum"
C) "Production of scale"
D) "Production of distance"
E) "Spatial expansion"

Question 31

Space is a(n) ________________ agent in shaping economic geography.

A) Active
B) Inactive
C) Determinant
D) Conclusive
E) Inconclusive

Question 32

Economic geography attempts to understand why certain things happen in specific places in the context of all the ______________________of those places.

A) Richness and complexity
B) Economic uncertainty
C) Universal laws
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 33

When thinking geographically, we are less interested in exactly where a territorial border is located than in ________________________________.

A) What its effects might be on economic activities within/across it
B) The associated distances and scales used in mapping it
C) The policing and maintenance of that border
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 34

How does the "friction of distance" affect the spatial pattern of economic activities?

Question 35

In what manner do national governments manage flows of workers, products, and money across the boundaries of their territories? Provide one example for each of these three flows.

Question 36

Discuss three aspects of contemporary economic geography that differentiate it from the discipline of economics.