IB Prepared Geography: Answers to test yourself questions

Unit 4: Power, places and networks (HL only)

4.1 Globalization is the increasing interdependence of countries. This includes economic

systems, physical systems (such as global warming), socio-cultural systems (such as
fashion, music and the film industry) and political systems.

4.2 Some advantages of using the indices of globalization, such as the KOF index, include:
 it allows for comparisons to be made for a single country or groups of countries;
 it (KOF) has been calculated for a large number of countries since 1970;
 it makes use of 24 variables covering three main areas of globalization
(economic, social and political) so it covers a wide range of globalization data.
 it uses data that is likely to be readily available eg number of McDonalds restaurants.

4.3 There are a number of disadvantages of using indices of globalization, such as the KOF
Index:
 smaller countries are over-represented at the top of the rankings, suggesting there may
be some bias in how the final values are calculated eg being part of the EU makes
countries more globalized;
 the relevance of using international mail seems low given the rise of email and the
internet;
 many countries have large numbers of undocumented migrants, which are not taken
into account in the KOF;
 by publishing ranking, the KOF seem to be implying that those at the top are “better”
than those at the bottom. This is not necessarily true as globalization brings problems
as well as benefits to countries.

4.4 Hard power is the ability to change a country or area with the use of force or coercion. In
contrast, soft power refers to the ability to change a country, area or population through
means such as culture, education, aid, investment and support.

4.5 The G7 countries are all very similar (high-income countries) so they are more likely to
reach agreement in discussions. However, they do not represent any low-income countries
or emerging nations, and there is no representation from Africa or South America.
It is unreasonable to expect seven countries to provide all the solutions for all of the
world’s countries.

4.6 The G20 countries cover a large part of the world, and are present in all continents.
However, the representative countries from Africa and the Middle East are very limited.
In contrast, the G7 countries are high-income countries, and are largely drawn from
North America and Western Europe. Japan is the exception. The G7 countries represent
a much smaller proportion of the Earth’s population than the G20 countries.

4.7 The OECD countries are limited to high-income countries (and Turkey/Mexico). The map
of OECD countries is very similar to the G7 map. It does not represent emerging nations or
low-income countries (except for Mexico and Turkey).

4.8 (a) Bilateral surveillance is the appraisal and advice given by the IMF to each member
country.
(b) Multilateral surveillance is the IMF overseeing monetary systems and economic
developments of the world economy.

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4.9 “Capacity development” refers to any development eg school, hospitals, transport

infrastructure, economic policy and legal framework—that can help foster a stable
economic environment and help improve growth and create jobs. “Lending” refers to the
financial assistance that is given to help member countries stabilize their economies and
restore sustainable economic growth.

4.10 The focus of the NDB on emerging economies and low-income countries is positive, as is
the promotion of sustainable energy. However, the number of projects is very small and
unlikely to have a major impact on non-renewable energy sources. In addition, the annual
budget is relatively low given the scale of its ambitions (encouraging sustainable
development schemes).

4.11 In 1990, about 50% of world trade, by volume, was between HICs. A further 15-20% was
from HICs to LICs, and up to 40% was from LICs to HICs. The volume of trade between
LICs was relatively small.
Since then, the proportion of trade between HICs had gone down to about 30%, trade
between LICs had risen to around 20%, and trade between LICs and China had risen to
around 10%. The volume of trade from HICs to China had also increased.

4.12 (a) Most of the top ten borrowers from the World Bank, 1945–2015, were emerging
nations/newly industrializing countries/semi-periphery countries. There were none
from Africa.
(b) The top ten borrowers from the IBRD, in 2015, were mainly emerging nations.
Three were Asian, three European and two from both South America and North Africa.
There were no countries from sub-Saharan Africa.
(c) The countries were a mix of low-income countries and emerging nations. Five were
from sub-Saharan Africa and five from Asia.

4.13 Thirty of the 36 countries are found in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding southern Africa).
There are three in Latin America and the Caribbean and two in South America.
Only one is located in Asia.

4.14 As the percentage of government revenue going towards debt is reduced, the government
can use funds into development projects. No debt means nations can be autonomous from
organizations such as the World Bank or International Monetary Fund in terms of pathways
to economic development; less debt means less need for more loans to pay off interest.

4.15 (a) India and China receive the largest amount of remittances as they are likely to have
the largest number of migrants working abroad. Mexico receives a large amount of
remittances as it is located next to the USA, a major source of employment and income.
Many people from the Philippines migrate to the Middle East and send large amounts of
money home.
(b) Some of the countries where remittances account for a large amount of GDP include
poor countries where employment opportunities may be limited, eg Nepal and Tonga.
Others have been badly affected by natural hazards, eg Haiti and Honduras, and so
employment opportunities have suffered. Others such as Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and
Moldova were part of the former Soviet Union and many of the workers continue to work in
Russia and send remittances to their families.

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4.16 There are many reasons why companies become involved with other countries. These
include greater access to raw materials, to access new and emerging markets, to locate
within a trading bloc and to gain access to lower paid workers.

4.17 MGOs, such as the CPTPP, give increased access to markets, raw materials, cheap
and/or skilled labour.
If the MGO changes from an economic union to a political union there may be a loss of
sovereignty and or decision making. Also, it opens up the economy of each nation to that
of all other nations within the MGO.

4.18 The UK has recently voted to leave one trading bloc, the European Union.
Moreover, it is not in the Pacific rim.

4.19 One advantage is that there is an increase in economic output, infrastructure and
attraction of foreign direct investment.
On the other hand, much government revenue is directed towards outside
companies/infrastructure rather than for social welfare for its own citizens.

4.20 In some countries, such as the USA, some people fear that migrants will take over many
of the low paid, unskilled jobs. In other countries, such as the UK, some people think that
migrants require free housing, schooling and healthcare and that they are an economic
drain on the country. However, evidence from University College London suggests that EU
migrants to the UK are an asset to the country.

4.21 (a) The main winners as a result of changing data flows are rich countries, and countries
with good access to ICT and a skilled workforce eg India. In contrast, very poor countries,
and those without much ICT infrastructure, or heavily-censored countries, have not
benefited as much from ICT.
(b) Transport developments have again benefited rich countries and coastal countries with
access to deepwater ports, eg Singapore. The countries that have benefited least include
poor ones and landlocked countries, such as South Sudan.

4.22 To a large extent, digitization has not made the benefits of globalization available to all
countries/peoples. For example, while over 80% of developed economies have data on
ICT use by businesses (2003–2016), the least developed countries have less than 5%.
This suggests that access to ICT is much lower in the least developed countries,
and that (unlike developed economies that benefit from a shrinking world and greater
communications and integration) the least developed countries do not benefit.
This further reinforces disparities in level of development.

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