Economics Balancing Compliance and Business Efficiency Questions
Part I. (45points) Multiple choice questions. Please choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
1.Which of the following factors shape a firm's location?
A) labor
B) land
C) capital
D) all of the above
E) only land a capital
2.Which of the following is NOT TRUE about the process of capital intensification?
A) is essentially the substitution of capital for labor
B) is a long term trend under capitalism
C) when firms seek to reduce costs and raise productivity by using machines instead of workers
D) is most likely to be used when labor costs are low
E) is most likely to be used when labor costs are high
3.Weber's location theory emphasized the role of which of the following in the locational decisions of firms?
A) capital
B) labor costs
C) transportation costs
D) human capital
E) managerial and technical skills
4.Several developments limit the applicability of Weber's model. They include all of the following EXCEPT
A) not all firms need to minimize transportation costs.
B) the production process is much more complex now.
C) transportation cost is best expressed as a linear function of distance.
D) transportation costs having been declining in the long-run.
E) brainpower has steadily been replacing muscle and machine power.
5.The purchasing of raw material sources or distribution facilities is known as
A) horizontal integration.
B) diversification.
C) economies of scale.
D) diseconomies of scale.
E) vertical integration.
6.When a firm controls the production and marketing of diverse products, this is known as
A) horizontal integration.
B) diversification.
C) economies of scale.
D) diseconomies of scale.
E) vertical integration.
7.Agglomeration economies take several forms including EXCEPT
A) production linkages.
B) service linkages.
C) marketing linkages.
D) urbanization economies.
E) diseconomies of scale.
8.Which is FALSE about agglomerations?
A) They help firms that cluster reduce costs in ways they otherwise could not.
B) They arise from the numerous interconnections of people, goods, services and information provided by cities.
C) They arise because the creation of new knowledge and products takes place within a relatively small geographic area.
D) They generate synergies.
E) They never include government agencies or offices.
9.Which of the following is NOT a major criticism of structural theorists concerning industrial location theory?
A) Location theory focuses on individual firms as abstract entities.
B) Location theory all but ignores the context of the capitalist system.
C) Location theory is focused on the role of the capitalist system in the decision making process.
D) It is unrealistic.
E) It does not consider a model of the firm as a complex organizational structure.
10.What happens in backward integration?
A) The firm begins to control the outlets for its products.
B) The firm buys other non-related firms.
C) A firm takes over operations that were previously the responsibility of its suppliers.
D) The firm merges with similar firms from other countries.
E) The firm expands its geographical reach.
11.What happens in forward integration?
A) The firm begins to control the outlets for its products.
B) The firm buys other non-related firms.
C) A firm takes over operations that were previously the responsibility of its suppliers.
D) The firm merges with similar firms from other countries.
E) The firm expands its geographical reach.
12.What does the Kondratiev Cycle illustrate?
A) the importance of geography in the location firms since 1900
B) alternative strategies for the organization of firms since the Great Depression
C) the rise and fall of labor unions in U.S. industry
D) the shift from reliance on animate energy, through fossil fuels, leading to the coming shift to renewable energy
E) the successive waves of growth and decline in industrial activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution
13.Where is the North American Manufacturing Belt located?
A) Northeastern U.S., and southeastern Canada
B) Southeastern U.S.
C) Northwestern U.S. and southwestern Canada
D) Great Plains
E) Sunbelt states
14.Which area accounts for 80% of the world's manufacturing?
A) North America
B) Europe
C) W Russia and Ukraine
D) parts of SE Asia: Japan, South Korea and China
E) all of the above
15.The North American Manufacturing Belt accounts for
A) 1/3 of the North American population.
B) 2/3 of North American manufacturing employment.
C) 1/2 of North American output.
D) all of the above.
E) only 1/3 of N American population and 2/3 of N American manufacturing employment.
16.All of the following have helped to make Japan one of the world's most successful economies, EXCEPT
A) a well-educated population.
B) a strong work ethic and collective commitment.
C) government support.
D) plentiful human resources.
E) plentiful natural resources.
17.Several factors underlie the decline in manufacturing in the developed world. These include all of the following EXCEPT
A) the cost of wages in Europe and North America relative to those in in the developing world.
B) high pension costs for workers in developed countries.
C) advances in technology made manufacturing more capital intensive.
D) industrial firms reinvested their net revenues on research and development to remain competitive.
E) shortages of human capital and high transportation costs.
18.Why is the automobile industry an oligopoly?
A) because of the role of international cartels
B) because of rules made by the World Trade Organization
C) because it is capital intensive and has high start-up costs
D) because it is highly regulated and subsidized by the U.S. federal government
E) because of the role of international labor unions
19.What was the hallmark of Fordism?
A) downsizing
B) the establishment of the automobile industry
C) standardized work and interchangeable parts
D) shift to service sector employment
E) higher levels of education in the U.S.
20.What has been the most important aspect of the Post-Fordism production system?
A) product price
B) flexibility
C) unskilled labor
D) routinized work
E) national linkages
21.The movement, contact, and linkage between points in space, e.g., the movement of good, people and information among and within countries and cities is called
A) spatial interaction.
B) producer services.
C) competitive advantage.
D) comparative advantage.
E) none of the above
22.What are the effects of improvements in transportation?
A) promote spatial interaction
B) stimulates specialization
C) increases land and labor productivity
D) promotes more efficient use of capital
E) all of the above
23.What is the underlying principle of distance decay?
A) Spatial integration
B) Accessibility index
C) Exchange controls
D) Isotropic surface
E) Friction of distance
24.Which of the following is an example of time-space convergence?
A) Declining cost of telephone calls increased interactions between New York and San Francisco.
B) Travel from Edinburgh to London dropped from 2,000 minutes by stagecoach to 800 minutes by steam locomotive.
C) The number of people traveling by air increased dramatically after deregulation resulted in lower airfares.
D) More people take cruises since this type of tourism has become more affordable.
E) all of the above
25.Which of the following is an example of cost-space convergence?
A) Jules Verne wrote a book entitled "Around the World in 80 Days," in the late 1800s; today Landsat satellites can orbit the earth once in only 99 minutes.
B) Travel from Edinburgh to London dropped from 2,000 minutes by stagecoach to 800 minutes by steam locomotive.
C) The number of people traveling by air increased dramatically after deregulation resulted in lower airfares.
D) A proposed bullet train in California, which will average over 200 miles per hour, will travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just over two hours, beating the 5 hours it currently takes to drive.
E) all of the above
26.Based on the differences in terminal and line-haul costs, which form of transportation is preferred over long distances?
A) trucks
B) air
C) water
D) rail
E) There is not difference
27.The international regime for aviation is dominated by
A) large corporations.
B) small, short-hop providers.
C) multi-national corporations.
D) international partners.
E) nation-states.
28.All of the following are results of transport innovations EXCEPT
A) decentralization of manufacturing processes in industrialized countries.
B) decentralization of manufacturing processes in industrialized countries from suburbs toward major cities.
C) decentralization of manufacturing processes in industrialized countries from central regions to more peripheral ones.
D) relocation of MNCs based in industrialized countries to to free trade zones in the 3rd world.
E) reduction in circulation costs.
29.The proposition "telecommunications means the end of geography" is false because
A) telecommunications are a poor substitute for face-to-face interaction.
B) administrative functions of businesses still continue to cluster in cities.
C) it has allowed the decentralization of routine functions.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
30.The work performed via electronic lines of communication, including internet, either at home or via telework centers is called
A) e-commerce.
B) e-business.
C) EDI (electronic data exchange).
D) teleworking.
E) all of the above
31.About what percentage of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) consists of consumer or household purchases (consumption)?
A) 25%
B) 35%
C) 55%
D) 70%
E) 80%
32.Which types of purchases have decline as a share of spending in the U.S.?
A) home purchases
B) food and clothing
C) medical care
D) holiday shopping
E) none of the above
33.All of the following are true of U.S. consumption EXCEPT
A) it comprises the majority of GDP.
B) it is a major interface between individual and society.
C) U.S. consumption patterns have global multiplier effects.
D) it is very complex because it is the intersection of so many spheres of life.
E) U.S. consumption patterns only affect the U.S. economy.
34.With which of the following is consumption most closely intertwined?
A) international terrorism
B) democratization
C) urbanization
D) environment
E) production
35.Why is consumption so important internationally?
A) It constitutes the bulk of economic activity of most countries.
B) It plays an important political role.
C) It is driven by international marketing efforts.
D) It is on the decline.
E) It is closely associated with the United Nations.
36.What is the objective of conspicuous consumption?
A) To purchase and enjoy products that are needed
B) To identify oneself as a potential philanthropist for the needy
C) To display wealth and status as a social statement to others
D) To accumulate wealth that one's children will someday inherent
E) To acquire goods that will increase in value as a long-term investment
37.What does the law of diminishing marginal utility posit?
A) As a person consumes decreasing quantities of a given good, the pleasure she derives from it increases.
B) As a person consumes increasing quantities of a given good, he must produce more to afford it.
C) As a person consumes increasing quantities of a given good until he is satisfied.
D) As a person consumes increasing quantities of a given good, the pleasure she derives from it increases, but at a decreasing rate.
E) Over time, and through experience, people learn what quantities of a given good give them the greatest pleasure.
38.Under the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, what factor limits our ability to rise from Utility line 1 to Utility line 2?
A) the economy
B) our credit
C) our income
D) our conscience
E) our access to information
39.Under the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, what do utility curves represent?
A) what consumers can do
B) what consumers would like to do
C) what consumers actually do
D) what governments constrain consumers to do
E) what employers limit consumers to do
40.Criticisms of neoclassical economic theory include all of the following EXCEPT
A) it has a lack of historical or social context.
B) this theory does not represent consumption as a social act as well as an economic one.
C) it assumes that people's choices don't affect each other.
D) humans generally act rationally in economic matters.
E) it is difficult to reduce social problems to individual causes and solutions.
41.Services employment has replaced manufacturing employment in more developed countries primarily because
A) manufacturing is contained by location, production and consumption.
B) services are constrained by location, production and consumption.
C) manufacturing activities have largely shifted to low-cost developing countries.
D) the services sector is so complex.
E) of off-shore banking.
42.Why do consumers require more service products today than in the past?
A) Physical commodities are becoming more complicated.
B) As work requires more hours on the job, people have less time to do things themselves.
C) Marketers persuade us to consume new types of services.
D) As income rises, people can afford more services.
E) all of the above
43.Which of the following services has a particularly low income elasticity?
A) health care
B) travel
C) entertainment
D) transportation
E) a day at the spa
44.All of the following are reasons why a firm chooses to externalize a needed task, EXCEPT
A) limit flexibility.
B) decrease transaction costs.
C) reduce risk.
D) concentrate on core skills.
E) gain flexibility.
45.Income in services is more bifurcated than that in manufacturing. What does this sentence mean?
A) Incomes in services tend to be more seasonal.
B) Firms that produce services are more productive and therefore more wealthy than manufacturers.
C) Professional service providers generate high incomes while non-skilled and low-skilled service providers make low wages.
D) The income that firms produce from services is taxed at a higher rate than that produced from manufacturing.
E) The income that firms make from delivering services is distributed more evenly among employees than occurs in manufacturing firms.
Part II. (55 points) Essay questions.
Note: it would be more efficient that you prepare your answers in a word file and then copy and paste it on Ulearn to submit it.
1.(30 points) The research report by Brookings Institute: Global manufacturing scorecardcomparesthe manufacturing environment among selected countries. Please refer to the report (click the link above) to answer the following questions.
1)What are five dimensions of manufacturing environment that the report focuses on?
2)Based on the report, what is the policy suggestion to the U.S. government?
3)The report emphasizes that “economic and political stability alongside open trade policies are necessary for investors and industry leaders.” Based on the report, what does this mean for manufacturing business?
2.(25 points) There is no doubt that consumption is one major driving force of world economy. The research report from McKinsey and Company “URBAN WORLD:THE GLOBAL CONSUMERS TO WATCH” indicates that certain groups should be given special attention to. Please refer to the research report (click the link above) to answer the following questions.
1)What are the nine groups of consumers we need to pay special attention to? Why do they matter to the world consumption and economic growth?
2)What are the “special three”, which are especially important and why?
3)What are some possible business strategies to cooperate with these world consumption projections?
