How and why is economic activity changing over time and space?
Economic sectors and structural change, the location of economic activity, globalisation and transnational corporations, and the impacts of economic change.
A focused CCEA A-Level Geography answer on the dynamics of the economy, covering economic sectors and structural change, the factors affecting the location of economic activity, globalisation and transnational corporations, and the impacts of change, with located Northern Ireland examples such as Harland and Wolff and Belfast's cyber-tech cluster.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to describe the economic sectors and structural change over time, explain the factors affecting the location of economic activity, account for globalisation and the role of transnational corporations, and evaluate the impacts of economic change, using located examples such as Northern Ireland's shift from shipbuilding to high-tech services.
Economic sectors and structural change
Northern Ireland's economy has shifted from shipbuilding (Harland and Wolff) and textiles (linen) towards services, tourism, agri-food and high-tech industries such as cyber-security and aerospace.
Location of economic activity
The location of economic activity is influenced by physical factors (land, raw materials, climate, port access), economic factors (labour, capital, markets, transport, agglomeration), social factors (skills, quality of life) and political factors (government policy, incentives such as Invest NI grants, regulation, the post-Brexit Windsor Framework giving Northern Ireland access to both the UK and EU markets).
Globalisation and transnational corporations
Impacts of economic change
Economic change brings benefits such as new jobs, investment and rising incomes, and costs such as deindustrialisation, unemployment in declining sectors, regional inequality and environmental pressure. Managing the transition through reskilling, inward investment and regeneration is central to regional policy.
Examples in context
Example 1. Harland and Wolff and deindustrialisation in Belfast. At its peak around the early twentieth century, the Harland and Wolff shipyard employed roughly people and built RMS Titanic. Global competition, falling demand and changing technology cut the workforce drastically through the late twentieth century, and shipbuilding all but ended, contributing to high inner-city unemployment. The site is now the regenerated Titanic Quarter. It illustrates secondary-sector decline and the social costs of structural economic change.
Example 2. Belfast's cyber-security and fintech cluster (quaternary growth). Supported by Invest NI, Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast, the city has built a cluster of cyber-security, fintech and software firms, attracting foreign direct investment from global TNCs and becoming one of the leading locations for new cyber-security jobs in the UK and Europe. It draws on a skilled, lower-cost, English-speaking workforce and the dual market access of the Windsor Framework. This shows quaternary-sector growth replacing lost heavy industry, with the risk that footloose TNC investment could relocate.
Try this
Q1. Name the four economic sectors. [2 marks]
- Cue. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary.
Q2. Explain two factors that influence the location of a manufacturing industry. [4 marks]
- Cue. Access to raw materials, labour, transport links, markets and government incentives.
Q3. With reference to a located example, discuss the impacts of economic change on a region. [6 marks]
- Cue. Belfast's shift from shipbuilding to high-tech services; weigh job losses against new investment and reach a judgement.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA 20195 marksExplain how the structure of employment changes as a country develops.Show worked answer →
Worth 5 marks. Markers reward the shift between sectors with the reasons, linked to the Clark-Fisher idea.
Pre-industrial: most employment is in the primary sector (farming, fishing, mining) as economies rely on extracting raw materials.
Industrialising: mechanisation cuts primary jobs while the secondary (manufacturing) sector grows, drawing workers to towns.
Post-industrial: rising incomes, automation and global competition shrink secondary employment while the tertiary (services) and quaternary (knowledge, research) sectors expand to dominate.
The overall pattern, shown by the Clark-Fisher model, is a shift from primary through secondary to tertiary and quaternary as development proceeds.
CCEA 20229 marksWith reference to located examples, discuss the impacts of transnational corporations on host economies.Show worked answer →
Worth 9 marks. Discuss needs balanced positive and negative impacts plus a judgement, with located detail.
Positive: TNCs bring foreign direct investment, jobs, technology transfer and links to global markets. In Northern Ireland, inward investment in cyber-security, fintech and aerospace (for example around Belfast and the cyber cluster supported by Invest NI) has created skilled jobs.
Negative: TNCs can pay low wages, exploit weak regulation, repatriate profits, and relocate quickly (footloose), leaving areas vulnerable, as deindustrialisation showed when manufacturing moved offshore.
Judgement: TNCs bring real investment and skilled employment to host economies, but the benefits depend on the quality of jobs and the risk of footloose relocation, so outcomes are mixed and need active policy.
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Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Geography specification — CCEA (2016)