Industrialization & Economic Development - AP Human Geography

The fourth stage of Rostow’s stages of Development primarily involves the development of a large commercial economy, something akin to consumer-capitalism. It also generally involves favorable integration into the global economy.

The fifth stage of Rostow’s Stages of Development is characterized by widespread consumerism and mass consumption. According to Rostow this is the final stage in the development of a country’s economy.

Rostow’s model of Stages of Development has been widely criticized by environmentalists and economic geographers for a variety of reasons. Rostow postulated his theory at a time before the impact of climate change and the importance of renewable resources was well understood. He is still, however, widely criticized by environmentalists because he equates the highest level of development with the mass consumption of resources.

There are five stages in Rostow’s Stages of Development: traditional society, preconditions to takeoff, takeoff, drive to maturity, and age of high mas consumption. In the 1960s, American economist called W.W. Rostow developed this theory. It is based off of the models of economic activities.

Rostow’s model of Stages of Development does not account for deindustrialization at all. This is particularly interesting because deindustrialization in the developed world occurred almost immediately after Rostow published his model, meaning he was unable to foresee a development that was only a few years around the corner.

The second stage of Rostow’s Stages of Development is generally described as “prerequisites for rapid economic growth.” It is the intermediary step between a traditional, agrarian society and industrial explosion. It primarily involves external investment and a much greater exploitation of natural resources.

Rostow’s Stages of Development model is only concerned with economic geography; therefore, it would be unreasonable to criticize it for focusing on economic differences. The primary criticism leveled at Rostow’s model by contemporary geographers is that it presumes that the experience of western economies—and their path of development—can be universally applied. Modern evidence suggests that there are multiple paths to development; furthermore, evidence suggests that development can take on numerous forms.

When you think of it, Rostow's stages are pretty intuitive. It all starts with traditional society, wherein there is little social mobility or technology, and a lot of agriculture. After meeting the pre-conditions, a society can then move into the take-off stage, wherein urbanization, industrialization, and technological advances occurs in response to external demand for raw materials and investment in production is secured. As take-off picks up speed, it becomes a drive to maturity, wherein diversification of industries, development methods, and a growing social infrastructure rise to meet the demands of the competition and expansion. Finally, an industrial economy takes hold, and social infrastructure gives way to accessibility and consumer culture: the Age of Mass Consumption

The World Systems Theory, created by Immanuel Wallerstein, divides countries of the world into three groups based on political power, social standing, and economic and technological development. The theory does not categorize countries based on population.

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory postulates that the world is one interconnected collection of nations and states that, due to the initial wave of European colonialism in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is dominated by economic centers in Europe and North America. The World Systems Theory also suggests that interconnectedness is constantly growing.

“Ecotourism” is a facet of sustainable development that is particularly popular in Costa Rica. The goal of ecotourism is to direct tourists towards threatened and endangered natural regions so as to raise awareness of environmental concerns at the same time as making a profit.

The gross domestic product is one of the chief ways a nation's economy is judged. As its name implies, the GDP is a total accounting of a nation's output, including all expenditures, revenues, and profits. Any average, like the average wage, plays no part in GDP, because GDP measures a complete output by a nation.

The evolution of western economies can be mapped to the growth from primary economic activities to quaternary and quinary economic activities. It is often assumed that this process can be transferred to the developing world, but there have been some notable exceptions that suggest that not all countries will experience the same manner of progression. Primary economic activities are concerned with the harvesting of raw materials - industries like agriculture and mining.

The generation of knowledge and the sharing of research are associated with quaternary economic activities. Examples of this include teaching, tourism, and customer service. As the economies of Europe and North America have transitioned away from primary and secondary economic activities the majority of the population has become employed in quaternary or tertiary economic activities.

Quaternary economic activities include anything that has to do with research, teaching, and development. Other examples include computer and information work, consultancy, and scientific inquiry.

Of the following choices, manufacturing locations is affected by environmental laws (it may not be eco-friendly to manufacture products in certain areas), labor availability (a product should be manufactured in an area where labor is plentiful), and access to markets (a product should be manufactured in an area where it can be marketed and compete with other similar products). GDP and property tax rates are not necessarily impacted by all three factors.

Believe it or not the target year for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals was 2015. Seeing as you are reading this in either 2015, or after, you can be fairly confident that the United Nations did not meet its goals of eradicating starvation and poverty, providing universal public education, and combating malaria (as well as several others). But, these dates are often arbitrary and are more meant to serve as motivation than concrete deadlines. Progress has certainly been made in almost all areas of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals since 2000.

While India is the second most populous nation in the world, the rate of economic development is much lower compared to nations like the United States (third most populous nation), Japan (tenth most populous nation), and Australia. Nations with high population density tend to be poverty-stricken as well, due to too many people in a given area competing for resources (agricultural, financial, etc).

The least-cost theory is attributed to Alfred Weber. The least-cost theory suggests that all major corporations make their decisions about where to house their production and manufacturing facilities based on the least possible combination of costs, so as to derive the greatest possible profit. It is instrumental for understanding the nature and decision making process of multinational corporations.

The Industrial Revolution arrived in Germany during the 1850s and quickly exploded. By the 1860s Germany’s economy was fully industrial and quickly catching up to Great Britain. In 1871 the German states were finally unified and industrialization progressed more rapidly, by the turn of the century the German industrial capacity was the strongest in the world.