Elective Unit 4: Patterns and Processes in Economic Activities
Elective Unit 4 examines where economic activity locates and why that pattern shifts: the shift between primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, industrial location factors, the role of multinational corporations, and the decline and regeneration of industrial regions. Answers are judged on how well you apply location theory to a named example.
Rules that decide marks
- Know the four sectors and be able to explain a country's changing employment structure using the Clark–Fisher model.
- Location factors: raw materials, energy, transport, labour supply and cost, markets, capital, government policy and quality of life.
- Weber's least-cost theory explains weight-losing industries (cement near limestone) and weight-gaining industries (soft drinks near markets).
- Footloose industries are not tied to raw materials and are pulled by labour, incentives and amenities - hence the importance of IDA grants and Ireland's 12.5% corporation tax rate.
- Regional decline follows lost competitiveness, outdated plant and job losses; regeneration uses grants, infrastructure and diversification, as in the Ruhr.
Worked example
Why did a US multinational locate a data centre in Ireland? Reasoning: a cool climate reduces cooling costs; grid connection and renewable electricity supply; EU market access with an English-speaking workforce; IDA grants and low corporation tax; proximity to transatlantic fibre-optic cables. Compare with cement, which stays near its limestone because it is weight-losing - location factors are industry-specific.
Traps that cost marks
- Listing location factors without applying them to the named industry.
- Confusing "footloose" with "declining".
- Describing decline but never explaining the regeneration strategy.
- No named case study, so general points stay unexplained.