1. global marketplaces and business centers
chapter 2
global marketplaces and business centers

2. Chapter Objectives 1
Evaluate the impact of the political and economic characteristics of the world’s various marketplaces on business
Appreciate the uses of national income data in making business decisions
Discuss North America as a major marketplace and business center in the world economy
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3. Chapter Objectives 2
Describe Western Europe as a major marketplace and business center in the world economy
Discuss the problems facing the economies of the former communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe
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4. Chapter Objectives 3
Discuss Asia as a major marketplace and business center in the world economy
Assess the development challenges facing African, Middle Eastern, and South American countries
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5. Vital Information in International Business
Basic geography
Market
characteristics
Culture
Politics
Businesses trying to internationalize their operations may make mistakes because they fail to get information needed to succeed. Ignorance of basic geography, market characteristics, culture and polities can lead to lost profits or even failure.
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6. World Economic Activity
The Triad
Japan
European Union
United States
The Quad
Triad
Canada
Much of the world’s current economic activity is concentrated in a group of countries called the Triad or the Quad. The Triad includes Japan, the European Union, and the United States. The Quad is made up of the Triad plus Canada. The 909 million residents of the Quad countries produce 73% of the world’s GDP.
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7. Figure 2.1a Shares of World’s GDP, 1970
Figure 2.1 reveals the percentage of the world’s GDP associated with the Quad countries. This slide illustrates the percentages in The next slide illustrates the percentages as of 2004.
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8. Figure 2.1b Shares of World’s GDP, 2004
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9. Marketplaces of North America
United States
Canada
Mexico
Greenland
Central America
Caribbean islands
North American includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean. It is home to 507 million people and responsible for 33% of the world’s output.
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10. Map 2.1 North America
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11. United States Third largest population in world
Fourth largest land mass
Largest economy
30 percent of world’s GDP in 2004
Prime market for exports
The U.S. has the world’s third largest population and fourth largest land mass, but possesses the largest economy. It accounted for about 30% of the world’s $40.9 trillion GDP in It accounts for about 1/8 of the world’s trade in goods and services. It is the prime market for lower-income countries trying to raise the standard of living through exports.
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12. The U.S. Dollar Invoicing currency Flight capital 2-12
The U.S. dollar serves as the invoicing current for about half of all international transactions. This means it is the currency in which the sale of goods and services is dominated.
The U.S. also attracts flight capital. Flight capital is money sent out of a politically or economically unstable country to one perceived as a safe haven. Citizens unsure of the value of their home country’s current often choose to keep their wealth in dollars.
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13. Classifying Countries by Income Levels
High Income
Middle Income
Least Developed
Lower Income
The Global Learning insert in the text describes the four income level classifications for countries.
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14. Figure 2.2 Headquarters of World’s Largest Corporations in 2005 by Country
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15. Canada Second largest land mass
80 percent of population concentrated along U.S./Canadian border
Rich natural resources
Trade with U.S. - single largest bilateral trade relationship in world
Although Canada’s population is only 32 million, it has the world’s second largest land mass. 80% of its population is concentrated within a 100-mile band along country’s southern border with the U.S. Exports are important to the Canadian economy and account for 38% of its 2004 GDP of $980 billion.
Its most important exports reflect its rich natural resources including forest products, petroleum, minerals, and grain.
The U.S. is the dominant market for Canada’s goods, receiving 75% of its exports each year. Two-way trade between the U.S. and Canada totaled $514 billion in 2004.
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16. Advantages of Canada Proximity to U.S. market
Stability of legal and political systems
Excellent infrastructure and educational systems
International investors have long been attracted to Canada because of its proximity to the U.S. market and the stability of its legal and political systems. It has excellent infrastructure and educational systems. There is a lingering threat of political instability related to the long-standing conflict between French-speaking Canadians and English-speaking Canadians.
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17. Mexico Largest Spanish-speaking nation Federal government system
Participant in NAFTA along with U.S. and Canada
Mexico uses a federal system like the U.S. but its president is elected every 6 years. For many years, Mexico implemented economic nationalism under which Mexico discouraged foreign investment and erected high tariff walls to protect its domestic industries. Over the past two decades, Mexico has abandoned these policies and opened its markets to foreign goods and investors. It joined NAFTA in To take advantage of NAFTA, thousands of companies have established factories in Mexico. It also has free-trade pacts with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Uruguay, and the EU.
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18. Central America and the Caribbean
Economic development hindered by
Political instability
Chronic U.S. military intervention
Inadequate educational systems
Weak middle class
Poverty
Import limitations
Central America and the island states of the Caribbean have a collective population of 77 million but its total GDP is just $250 billion. Its economic development has suffered due to the reasons presented in the slide.
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19. Marketplaces of Western Europe
European Union Member Countries
Other Countries in Western Europe
The EU is made up of 25 countries who have reduced barriers to trade and investment. Many of the member countries have adopted a single currency, the Euro (these countries are listed on the following slide). It has a population of 455 million and a GDP of $12.7 trillion (2004).
From an economic perspective, Germany is the EU’s most important member. It has the world’s third largest economy and a GDP in 2004 of $2.7 trillion. France also exerts strong leadership in the EU. The United Kingdom is an EU member but has resisted many of the EU initiatives.
Western countries that are not EU members include Iceland, Norway, and Switzlerland, plus several small countries (Andorra, Monaco, and Liechtenstein).
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20. Euro Countries Belgium France Luxembourg Germany Italy Netherlands
Ireland
Greece
Portugal
Spain
Austria
Finland
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21. Map 2.2 Western Europe
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22. Marketplaces of Eastern Europe
Russia
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Armenia
Belarus
Georgia
Moldova
Ukraine
Azerbaijan
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and its 15 Soviet republics declared independence. They are now referred to as the Newly Independent States (NIS). In 1992, 12 of the NIS (all but Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Russia is the most important of these countries. It has the world’s largest land mass and the sixth largest population (143 million people). It is blessed with many natural resources including gold, oil, natural gas, minerals, diamonds, and fertile farmland. Russia has attracted little foreign direct investment (FDI) for its size ($98 billion in 2004). Foreign businesses have been concerned with Russia’s corruption and governmental favoritism towards state-owned firms.
Transforming the economies of these countries has been a challenge.
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23. Map 2.3 Eastern Europe
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24. Marketplaces of Central Europe
Romania
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Croatia
Macedonia
Slovenia
Serbia
Montenegro
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Slovak Republic
Hungary
Poland
The most successful countries of Central Europe are Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. These are all now classified as upper middle-income countries by the World Bank. They are members of OECD, NATO, and the EU.
Economic reforms are less advanced in the other countries of Central Europe.
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25. Map 2.4 Central Europe
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26. Marketplaces of Asia Japan Australia and New Zealand The Four Tigers
China
India
Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics
Southeast Asian Countries
Asia is home to more than half of the world’s population but it produces less than 25% of its GDP. The region is a source of high-quality and low-quality products and skilled and unskilled labor. It is a major destination of FDI and a major supplier of capital to non-Asian countries. A map of the region is provided on the next slide.
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27. Map 2.5 Asia
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28. Japan Second largest economy GDP of $4.6 trillion in 2004
Industries controlled by keiretsu
GDP growth rate of 1.3 percent
Keiretsu are large families of interrelated companies that are typically centered around a major bank. The bank takes care of the keiretsu’s financial needs. Keiretsu members may rely upon a sogo sosha (an export trading company) to market exports worldwide.
Since 1990, Japan’s annual growth rate for GDP is just 1.3%, far below the 2.5% average worldwide.
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29. Map 2.6 Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand share a common cultural heritage but there are many differences between the two countries. Australia’s population is 20 million, 40% of whom live in Sydney or Melbourne. Australia is rich in natural resources but has a relatively small workforce. Its exports are concentrated in natural resources (gold, coal, and iron ore) and in land-intensive agricultural goods (wool, beef, and wheat).
New Zealand’s 4 million people live on two main islands. In 2004, its exports constituted 20% of its $100 billion GDP. Exports include dairy products, meat, and wool. Its primary trading partners are Australia, Japan, and the United States.
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30. The Four Tigers South Korea Taiwan Singapore Hong Kong 2-30
These four countries are known as the “Four Tigers,” a reference to their Chinese heritage.
South Korea (the Republic of Korea) was born after the Korean War divided the Korean peninsula into communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea. Merchandise exports accounted for 37% of its 2004 GDP of $680 billion. Much of Korea’s industry is led by chaebols such as Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo Group, and LG.
Taiwan (the Republic of China) is a small island country off the coast of mainland China. Its population is 23 million people. When nationalist forces led by General Chiag Kai-shek fled to Taiwan after their defeat on mainland China by Mao Tse-tung’s communist army, Chiang declared the island, “the Republic of China.”
Singapore is a former British colony. It is a small island off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Its government began emphasizing labor-intensive industries in 1965 when it became independent. Its population is only 4.3 million and it suffers from a labor shortage now. Its’ 2004 per capita income was $24,220 and its exports were $180 billion or 168% of its GDP of $107 billion. Singapore’s firms benefit from its excellent port facilities.
Hong Kong was ruled by the British from the mid 1800s until It is now a special administrative region (SAR) of China. It has much autonomy including its own legislature, economic freedom, free-port status, and taxation system.
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31. China World’s most populous country
Communist ideology mixed with market-oriented economic policies
Heavy FDI
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32. India World’s second most populous country Per capita GDP of $620
British colony until 1947
India’s population exceeds 1 billion, but it is one of the world’s poorest countries. It was part of the British Empire until 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned along religious lines into India (Hindus), and Pakistan (Muslims). The eastern part of Pakistan later became the independent nation of Bangladesh. India adopted many aspects of British government. Many industries are state-owned including power, transportation, and heavy industry. Until 1991, India discouraged FDI, but more recent reforms are beginning to pay off.
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33. Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Kyrgyzstan
The Muslim faith is dominant throughout this region. The languages in this area share Turkic or Persian roots. All six of the countries suffer from a scarcity of arable land. Their people are poor with per capita incomes ranging from $280 to $2,260. Its primary resource is extensive fossil fuel reserves.
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34. Southeast Asian Countries
Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia
Low labor costs
Significant FDI in recent years
Continued recovery from currency crisis in 1997 and 1998
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35. Marketplaces of Africa and the Middle East
867 million people
54 countries
Major economies:
South Africa
Ivory Coast
Algeria
Nigeria
Middle East
Cradle of civilization
Major economies:
Saudi Arabia
Kuwait
UAE
The African continent is home to 867 million people in 54 countries. It was colonized in the late nineteenth century by the major European powers (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK) for strategic military purposes.
Much of Africa’s economy is tied to its natural resources including crude oil production and agriculture. A map of Africa is on the next slide.
The Middle East includes the region between southwestern Asian and northwestern Africa. This area is called the ‘cradle of civilization’ because the world’s earliest farms, cities, governments, and legal codes and alphabets originated there. The region was the birthplace to several major religions including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It has a history of political unrest and conflict including the Arab-Israeli wars, the Iran-Iraq war, and two Persion Gulf wars.
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36. Map 2.7 Africa and the Middle East
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37. Map 2.8 The Middle East
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38. Marketplaces of South America
Brazil
Bolivia
Uruguay
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
French Guiana
Paraguay
Peru
Ecuador
Venezuala
Many South American countries suffer from huge income disparities and poverty. For much of the post-WWII period, the majority of South American countries followed import substitution policies as a means of promoting economic development. This means that the country attempts to stimulate the development of local industry by discouraging imports via high tariffs and nontariff barriers. The opposite of import substitution is export promotion, whereby a country pursues economic growth by expanding its exports.
For most South American industries, the domestic market is too small to enable domestic producers to gain economies of scale through mass-production techniques or to permit competition among local producers. This results in higher prices for domestic goods.
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39. Map 2.9 South America
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