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Taiwan The land of Taiwan has hindered development as there is little flat land & so trade is difficult. Also there are few natural resources to encourage the development of heavy industry. Taiwan is a small island, which is isolated from trade & can make infrastructure difficult.

Contents 1 Employment structure 2 Negative effects of industrialisation 2.1 Environmental problems 2.2 Economic problems 3 Also See 4 Comments

Employment structure

Taiwan’s employment structure has changed dramatically. Primary industry has fallen & a lot of farmland is being developed for industry. TNCs from Japan & USA have moved to Taiwan to set up factories, as there is cheap labour & skilled workers. Tertiary employment has also increased as people have more disposable income & have more free time.

Taiwan contains mainly global companies & medium sized firms located there. TNCs have the resources to locate in Taiwan to access foreign markets. However, the work is likely to be low skilled. Therefore it is more likely to be branch plants & heavy industry rather than hi-tech industries. There may be problems in the future as Taiwan may be too dependent on medium sized firms. They are vulnerable in times of economic crisis, as they do not have the resources to survive & so may close down. Medium sized firms are able to pull out at any time.

Negative effects of industrialisation

Environmental problems

Taiwan is 1 of the most polluted countries on Earth with slack environmental controls. Many factories use toxic substances which have leaked into the soil & entered the food chain e.g. metals in oysters. There is little sewage treatment & air pollution in Taipei is a big problem.

Economic problems

This is due to a lack of investment in infrastructure. There are inadequate roads, ports & airports & a huge density of cars. Investment is now going into coastal industrial zones & technological parks, new & improved roads, harbours & airports and better telecommunications.

Taiwan is 1 of the Asian tigers & is a small island with a population of 20 mlln & an extremely high population density. There is very little flat land & so industry locates in the W near the capital Taipei. This is also near to the main highway for transport. The island is very mountainous with very few natural resources.

Also See

Other ‘Economics Systems’ revision notes at A Level:

• Motor Vehicle Industry
• The Global Economyand and Multinational Corporations
• The Rise of Manufacturing in NICs
• Location Models
• Stages of Economic Development
• Taiwan
• The Iron and Steel Industry
• Nike – A TNC
• Product Life Cycle Theory
• World Trade

Comments

These notes were originally written by F1_fanatic and posted here on TSR Forums. They are suitable for people studying for geography at A Level.