Global networks and flows practice questions.

Remittances sent home by migrant workers are often described as a more reliable source of external finance for low-income countries than foreign direct investment. Why?

• They are sent by individuals to households and tend to rise when the home economy weakens
• They are paid directly to governments, which can plan around them
• They are legally guaranteed by the countries in which migrants work
• They are always larger in absolute terms than any other financial flow

Answer: They are sent by individuals to households and tend to rise when the home economy weakens

Investment is procyclical and withdraws in a downturn, while remittances are countercyclical: migrants send more when family at home is struggling or the currency falls. They also arrive as household income rather than corporate profit, so a large share is spent locally.

Almost all intercontinental internet traffic travels through submarine fibre-optic cables rather than by satellite. What geographical consequence follows?

• Connectivity concentrates at a few landing points and chokepoints
• Data flows are distributed evenly across all ocean basins
• Distance no longer affects the cost or latency of data transmission
• Landlocked countries are unaffected by the location of cables

Answer: Connectivity concentrates at a few landing points and chokepoints

Cables come ashore at a limited number of landing stations and cluster through narrow seas, so a small number of places carry a large share of global traffic and a cable break can disconnect a region. Landlocked countries depend on transit agreements with neighbours, which is a political vulnerability rather than a technical one.

In January 2022 a volcanic eruption and tsunami severed the single submarine cable connecting Tonga to the global internet, and international connectivity was not restored for several weeks. Which property of the global data network does this illustrate?

• Time-space convergence: the cost of communicating falls as technology improves.
• Network topology: a place served by one link alone has no alternative route.
• The digital divide: households on low incomes cannot afford connected devices.
• Glocalisation: global platforms adapt their services to local markets.

Answer: Network topology: a place served by one link alone has no alternative route.

The global network is a set of lines and nodes rather than an even surface, so resilience depends on redundancy — a second cable or a satellite path. Small island states are frequently served by one link, which turns a local physical event into a total loss of connection.

In 2023 the three largest ship registries by tonnage were those of Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, although few of the vessels on those registers are owned by companies based in those countries. Which practice explains this pattern?

• Registration under a flag of convenience
• Trans-shipment of containers at hub ports
• Offshoring of shipbuilding to lower-cost yards
• Containerisation of general cargo

Answer: Registration under a flag of convenience

An owner may register a ship in any state that runs an open register and can therefore choose the tax, crewing and inspection rules it prefers; the flag state, not the owner's home state, then regulates the vessel. The other options describe how cargo is handled, not how a ship acquires its nationality.

A migrant worker earns US$ 1 400 a month and sends 35 % of it home; the transfer operator deducts a fee of 6 % from the amount sent. Calculate the sum the family actually receives each month (to the nearest US$). Answer: ___

Answer: 461

Amount sent = 0.35 x 1 400 = US$ 490; the fee is 0.06 x 490 = US$ 29.40, so US$ 460.60 arrives and rounds to US$ 461. Charges of this size are why Sustainable Development Goal target 10.c aims to push remittance fees below 3 %.

The illegal movement of people across a border in which the migrant pays a facilitator and the relationship ends on arrival, unlike trafficking, is called people ___ (one word).

Answer: smuggling

This flow is a transaction in border crossing to which the migrant consents, whereas trafficking involves coercion or deception and continues as exploitation after arrival. The distinction decides whether the person is treated in law as an offender or as a victim.