IGCSE Geography / Globalisation and migration

What drives globalisation

Edexcel International GCSE Geography (4GE1), chapter 8: Globalisation and migration, specification point 8.1a. Free lesson.

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Globalisation has grown because more goods, money, workers and information can move between countries. Six factors help explain this growth, and the strongest answers explain how each factor causes change and judge which matters most.

How trade, investment, aid and labour connect countries

Four factors involve things moving between countries. For each one, link the change to what it allows: this gives you a clear cause and effect. Trade: countries cut tariffs, which are taxes on imports, and join trade blocs such as the EU. A trade bloc is a group of countries that trade freely with each other. With lower costs at borders, more goods are traded. Foreign investment: firms build factories or buy companies abroad. This brings jobs, money and new technology into the country they choose. In 2025, firms invested about US$1.6 trillion abroad. Aid: richer countries give…

How transport and information technology reduce distance

Modern transport and information technology are the other two factors. They have lowered the cost of moving goods and people, and of communicating across the world. The figures compare costs in 2000 with those in 1930, when each 1930 cost is set at 100. Sea freight fell to 21, about a fifth of its 1930 cost. Firms could make goods far from where they are sold. Air travel fell to 10, a tenth of its old cost. People and urgent goods can cross the world in a day. The cost of a phone call abroad fell to 0.1. Communication became almost free, allowing a firm to run a factory on another…

How to assess which factors matter most

An assess question needs a judgement, not just a list. Choose the most important factor, support it with evidence, then compare it with other factors and explain why it matters more or less. Cheaper transport and communication can be judged most important because the other factors depend on them. In 2000, sea freight cost about a fifth of its 1930 price, so firms could make goods where labour was cheap and still sell them worldwide. Freer trade also matters. Trade blocs such as the EU remove tariffs, lowering the cost of moving goods across borders. However, low tariffs help little if…

How to explain a factor in an exam answer

Name what changed, then explain what it lets firms or people do. A statement such as “transport has improved” does not explain the effect. For example, container ships cut the cost of moving goods, so firms can make them where costs are lowest and sell them worldwide. For a four-mark question, explain two factors with a cause and effect for each. Trade blocs remove tariffs, so goods cost less to export and more are traded. The internet lets firms manage factories in other countries instantly, so production can be spread across the world.

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