Monostructure

In economics, a monostructure is a production structure in a region or state , where a single product or service predominantly determines the economic process or export / import . The opposite is the polystructure .

General

In the economic geography the spatial concentration is sectorally interconnected companies in a particular sector of the economy horizontal cluster called. Some regions or states are characterized by the fact that they produce only a few or only one product, especially in the primary sector ( agriculture , fishing , forestry , mining ). For example, they have monocultures in which agricultural production is concentrated on a few or only one agricultural product (such as bananas , coffee , tea or sugar ) or certain raw materials (such as diamonds , crude oil , gold or coal ). In the service sector , one should mention mass tourism , which dominates the economic structure of a region or a state. The dependency on imports from only one or a few countries and / or for one or a few products and, conversely, the export bias due to exports to one or a few countries and / or for one or a few products is a monostructure. If a state exports only one product to a single country, emerging competition from abroad can become problematic; the opposite also applies to imports.

Since these monostructures have economic - and often also ecological - disadvantages, they have structural weaknesses. Monostructures mean the orientation of an economic sector or the entire economy to essentially one raw material, which mostly determines exports in developing countries .

Typical examples

A distinction is made between monostructures at the state, regional or municipal level. Agricultural states often tend towards monostructures, specifically called monoculture. Examples are the Ivory Coast with its cocoa production (35% world market share ) or Ecuador with bananas (30%). Although Brazil has a world market share of 40% for sugar, it has no monostructure for this seasoning as a territorial state . In Algeria or Libya , 90% of export revenues come from oil and gas exports, Zambia's top export is copper with 75% of all export revenues. Import dependence is also a monostructure that should not be underestimated. Germany's own energy reserves are low. That is why the country is particularly dependent on imports. A good energy mix must be available not only for the use of different types of primary energy , but also for imports. The import dependency was around 70% in 2017, with fossil fuels even being 98% (crude oil) and 93% ( natural gas ), while renewable energies and lignite each came 100% from within Germany.

Regional monostructures that should be mentioned are the film industry in Hollywood , information technology in Silicon Valley or, in the service sector, mass tourism in Mallorca or the Caribbean . Urban examples are cutlery from Solingen , Opel in Rüsselsheim or the watch industry in Biel . Financial centers in miniature states such as the Cayman Islands , Monaco or Singapore represent monostructures in finance .

The higher the share of tourism income in a state's gross domestic product , the more dependent the economic development of the destination country is on fluctuations in tourism . In 2018, tourism in the Philippines had a share of the gross domestic product of 24.7%, followed by Thailand (21.6%), Hong Kong (17.4%), Mexico (17.2%) and Austria (15.4 %) %), Spain (14.6%), Italy (13.2%), Turkey (12.1%), Great Britain and the People's Republic of China (11.0% each). They are thus above the global average of 10.4%.

economic aspects

Measurement

The ratio of the monostructure to the share of the output value of the monostructural products in the gross domestic product is measured : ${\displaystyle M}$ ${\displaystyle P}$ ${\displaystyle BIP}$

${\displaystyle {\text{M}}={\frac {\text{P}}{\text{BIP}}}\cdot 100\,\%}$

or the ratio of the export earnings of monostructural products to the total export earnings : ${\displaystyle E}$ ${\displaystyle GE}$

${\displaystyle {\text{E}}={\frac {\text{P}}{\text{GE}}}\cdot 100\,\%}$.

The higher the monostructure, the more vulnerable an economy is. If the proportion is below 30%, it is a less susceptible polystructure.

Economic or structural crises

Adaptation-resistant monostructures are susceptible to structural and economic crises. Examples are the decline of the coal and steel industry in the Ruhr area ( Ruhr mining ) or the automotive industry in Detroit . The city itself had to file for bankruptcy in July 2013 when General Motors went bankrupt in June 2009. For example, states with monostructures in an economic boom can generate high foreign exchange revenues through rising raw material prices , which lead to a balance of payments surplus that can finance necessary imports. If there is a global recession , raw material prices fall and export earnings fall accordingly. The consequence is also a recession in the affected state with accompanying unemployment , which because of the monostructure has no compensation option (see Dutch illness , coffee crisis ).

Classic agglomeration disadvantages with monostructural economic growth are a lack of housing , high real estate prices and rents , rising labor costs , rising living costs and strained infrastructure , which hinders the immigration of labor and reduces competitiveness again. In a recession, monostructural cities or regions are particularly affected by the conversion .

Shocks

Peter B. Kenen emphasizes the likelihood that two or more states will be hit by asymmetric shocks . Countries with highly diversified polystructural production structures are generally less hard hit by shifts in demand for individual goods than countries with highly concentrated monostructures. Small and medium- sized states tend to have monostructures, whereas territorial states tend to have diversified production structures. “In my opinion, the diversity in the product range and the number of monostructured areas in a country are likely to be more important than the mobility of the labor factor…” ( labor mobility ). Germany's dependence on imports of natural gas from Russia led to a supply crisis in January 2009 because the dispute between Russia and Ukraine led to enormous gas supply bottlenecks . Higher gas reserves can alleviate the supply emergency.

Structural policy

Structural policy , which aims to improve the production and economic structure by eliminating their weak points , counteracts these economic vulnerabilities . This is done nationally through structural aid , internationally, for example through the regional policy of the European Union . The aim is to bring about structural change . One possible way out of the monostructuring is diversification through a better branch mix . This allows new branches of the economy to settle down and free them from dependency.

Business administration

In business administration , companies have a monostructure if they only or predominantly offer a product or service (one- product company ). They are not or barely diversified and are similarly susceptible to shifts in demand or economic fluctuations like states or regions.

Demarcation

The monostructure differs from the monoculture in that the latter relates exclusively to agricultural production and the timber industry , while the monostructure as a generic term affects all economic sectors.

See also

• Developing Countries and the World Economy

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden (ed.), Compact Lexicon Marketingpraxis , 2013, p. 51
2. ↑ Otto Schmuck, The Development Policy of the EC: From Paternalism to Partnership , 1992, p. 260
3. ↑ World Energy Council, Energy in Germany , 2018, p. 111
4. ↑ Working Group on Energy Balances 03/2018, p. 14
5. ↑ Bruno Abegg, Climate Change and Tourism , 1996, p. 2
6. ↑ Statista The Statistics Portal, Contribution of the Tourism Industry to GDP in Selected Countries in 2018 , 2019
7. ↑ Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden (ed.), Compact Lexicon Marketingpraxis , 2013, p. 52
8. ↑ Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Compact Lexicon Economic Theory , 2013, p. 301
9. ↑ Peter B. Kenen, The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas , in: American Economic Association, 1969, pp. 49 ff.
10. ↑ Peter B. Kenen, The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas , in: American Economic Association, 1969, pp. 49 ff.
11. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE from January 6, 2009, Russia swears Germany in a long gas dispute , accessed on August 14, 2019
12. ↑ Jünemann, Monoststruktur , in: Heinz M. Hiersig (Ed.), VDI-Lexikon Maschinenbau, Volume II, 1995, p. 821