Primary sector of the economy
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The primary sector of the economy involves changing natural resources into primary products. Most products from this sector are considered raw materials for other industries. Major businesses in this sector include agriculture, agribusiness, fishing, forestry and all mining and quarrying industries.
The manufacturing industries that aggregate, pack, package, purify or process the raw materials close to the primary producers are normally considered part of this sector, especially if the raw material is unsuitable for sale or difficult to transport long distances.[1]
[edit] Agriculture
| Economic sectors |
| Three-sector hypothesis |
|---|
| Colin Clark |
| Jean Fourastié |
| Primary sector (raw materials) |
| Secondary sector (manufacturing) |
| Tertiary sector (services) |
| Others suggested |
| Quaternary sector |
| Quinary sector |
| By ownership |
| Public sector |
| Private sector |
| Business sector |
| Voluntary sector |
In developed countries primary industry becomes more developed and more high-tech, for instance the mechanization of arable farming opposed to hand picking and planting. In the United States corn belt, combine harvesters pick the corn, and spray systems distribute large amounts of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides thus proving that the more developed an economy, the higher the capital that is invested. These technological advances and investment allow the primary sector to require less workforce and, this way, developed countries tend to have a smaller percentage of their workforce involved in primary activities, instead having a higher percentage involved in the secondary and tertiary sectors. [2]
Developed countries are allowed to maintain and develop their primary industries even further due to the excess wealth. For instance, EU subsidies in Europe provide buffers for the fluctuating inflation rates and prices of agricultural produce. This allows developed countries to be able to export their agricultural products at extraordinarily low prices, making them extremely competitive against those of poor or underdeveloped countries that maintain free market policies and low or inexistent tariffs to counter them. [3][4][5]
[edit] See also
theory of relativity
[edit] References
- ^ About.com: Sectors of the Economy
- ^ H Dwight H. Perkins: Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol. 31, No. 1, China's Developmental Experience (Mar., 1973)
- ^ WTO MINISTERIAL OUTCOME IMBALANCED AGAINST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- ^ Third World Farmers Hit by Unfair Rules
- ^ U.S. subsidies help big business, but crush farmers from renovating countries
[edit] Further reading
- Dwight H. Perkins: Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol. 31, No. 1, China's Developmental Experience (Mar., 1973)
- Cameron: General Economic and Social History
- Historia Económica y Social General, by Maria Inés Barbero, Rubén L. Berenblum, Fernando R. García Molina, Jorge Saborido
