Economic issues

This Question and Answer explores an A2 Economic Issues question for OCR. It relates to the globalisation topic, specifically the advantages and disadvantages TNCs bring when they locate in different countries. Both this topic and the extended writing question style are relevant to other boards, as listed in Inset 1.

The question is printed in bold type and the students’ answers are in tint areas. The examiner’s comments are the responsibility of GEOGRAPHY REVIEW and have been neither been provided nor approved by the examination board. Cameron Dunn writes here in a personal capacity

Figure 1 Unpicking the question

To what extent do transnational corporations (TNCs) bring more advantages than disadvantages to the countries in which they operate? (30 marks)

This is a big question, worth 30 marks (one-third of the Unit 3 marks), so it is worth spending some time unpicking the question before beginning the answer (Figure 1). It is always essential to consider the meaning of key words in the question. It uses the command phrase ‘to what extent’. This means ‘how far’ or ‘to what degree’. As is common in A2 questions for all boards, higher-level skills are being tested.