WAEC 2023 Economics · Question 48
Industries are sometimes located in areas which are not profitable so as to
Options
- A.encourage rural-urban migration
- B.be able to even-out development
- C.bring about external economies of scale
- D.be able to reap internal economies of scale
Answer: B. be able to even-out development
Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key
Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks why a firm or government would place an industry in an area that is not profitable. Normal profit-driven location decisions favor places with good infrastructure, markets, and raw materials. So choosing an unprofitable site must be for a non-commercial, usually government-driven, reason.
Step 2: Explain the concept This is the idea of industrial location and balanced regional development. Governments often site industries (such as a steel complex, a refinery, or an agro-processing plant) in less-developed areas even when profits are low. The goal is to:
- create jobs in that area,
- build infrastructure like roads, electricity, and water,
- reduce overcrowding in big cities,
- spread development evenly across regions.
Step 3: Evaluate the options
- A. Encourage rural-urban migration: Wrong. Placing industries in rural areas reduces migration to cities, not encourages it.
- B. Be able to even-out development: Correct. This is the main reason for locating industries in less-developed areas, so that all regions benefit.
- C. Bring about external economies of scale: Wrong. External economies come from industries clustering together in an already developed area, which is usually the profitable place.
- D. Reap internal economies of scale: Wrong. Internal economies depend on the firm's own size and output, not on where it is located.
Step 4: Answer
Tip: When a question says an industry is located in an unprofitable area, think of government policy: balanced regional development, job creation, and reducing rural-urban drift. Profit-driven reasons like economies of scale point to clustering in developed areas instead.
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