1. What is meant by the principle of comparative advantage? How does it relate to a regions' production possibility curve?

2. What is principal motive for a business firm location?

3. Sketch a firm's total revenue curve based upon a net price that adjusts for the delivery costs.

4. How is a firm's total cost curve influenced by assembly costs?

5. How do economies of scale and agglomeration economies affect a firm's total cost curve (production plus transportation costs)?

6. What are the characteristics of a transport oriented firm?

7. What is meant by ideal weight?

8. In a simple one resource - one market location model, where is the ideal weight the highest for a weight losing firm? a weight gaining firm?

9. Where will a lumber mill tend to locate? Why?

10. Where will a cement company tend to locate? Why?

11. In the simple model, why will a firm choose an end point location? (two reasons)

12. Under what condition could an intermediate point location be chosen in the simple model?

13. What is meant by a dominant ideal weight for a two resource - one market location firm?

14. What are the characteristics of a production cost oriented firm?

15. In labor oriented firms compensation costs determine location. Could the same argument be used to explain the location of an amenity-oriented (footloose) firm?

16. What are some of the other production cost orientations that may explain firm location. Could any of these be described as pecuniary rather than real cost savings?

17. What location factors led to the development of cities from colonial times until the railroad era?

18. How has the railroad affected city location and regional growth?

19. Why did the South lag the Northeast and West in terms of city development?

20. Why did the regional convergence of income between the coastal areas and midland areas of the US move toward divergence during the 1980s? Do you think that this divergence will continue or will converge once again take place during the rest of the century? Discuss.