Chapter 15
Geography, Climate, and Natural Resources
◼ Solutions to Problems
1. The effects of climate–based differences in agricultural productivity will be expressed in the Malthusian
model by different positions of the curve expressing the relationship between income per capita and
3. a. Globalization removes a resource constraint that otherwise would reduce income per capita
b. One way in which globalization affects the relationship between a country’s geographic
characteristics and its level of income per capita is through the access to trade. Countries
c. One way in which globalization may affect the relationship between a country’s climate and its
level of income per capita may be through the transfer of technology that alleviates the detrimental
4. a. Improvements in resource extraction are technological advances that are responsible for the change
b. Technological revolutions that reduce transportation costs change the relationship between a
58 Weil • Economic Growth, Second Edition
c. Air conditioning and DDT are instances of technological revolutions that have changed the
5. Possible future innovations that alter the relationship between a country’s income per capita and natural
resources may be alternative fuel sources. Naturally, oil-rich countries would suffer a lower level of