Legal Factors & Location (Edexcel IGCSE Business)

Revision Note

Lisa Eades

Written by: Lisa Eades

Reviewed by: Steve Vorster

The Impact of Law on Business Location

  • Laws are rules created by the government of a country with the aim of regulating the actions of its citizens and businesses

    • Regulation is the process of enforcing the laws that have been created and ensuring that businesses abide by them

  • Governments and local authorities can incentivise businesses to locate in particular areas

    • In areas of high unemployment or industrial decline grants or reduced tax rates may be offered to businesses that create jobs or improve communities

  • In some cases, businesses are deterred from locating in particular areas

    • E.g. In areas of outstanding natural beauty, strict bylaws or city ordinances may regulate the type of business activity that is permitted

    • E.g. A country with strict environmental laws might not be an attractive location for a manufacturing company that produces a lot of waste

  • The presence or absence of laws can affect a businesses choice of location in two ways

1. Less economically developed countries 

  • Less economically developed countries often have fewer laws and less enforcement of their existing laws, which is likely to be attractive to some businesses 

    • Businesses enjoy lower costs as they have to meet fewer legal requirements, such as safe handling of waste material

    • Labour can be paid very low rates as no minimum wages exists

    • Employees and customers have less opportunity to pursue legal action

2. More economically developed countries

  • Developed economies with extensive laws can be attractive to businesses who desire to locate in region with

    • Good infrastructure

    • Highly-skilled workers

    • High standards of living

Laws and their Impact on Location

Type of Law

Areas of Impact

Examples

Employment law

  • Pay & conditions

  • Equal treatment regardless of characteristics such as gender, race and disability

  • Employment contracts

  • Trade union rights

  • In Norway employees have a legal right to generous overtime pay and benefit from generous periods of parental leave

Environmental law

  • Emissions

  • Storage and disposal of waste

  • Storing and handling hazardous substances

  • Packaging

  • Water usage

  • Since 2019, German businesses have been required to accept the return of all unwanted product packaging from customers 

Consumer law

  • Descriptions of products

  • Right to refund or replacement

  • Product safety

  • Advertising & sales promotion

  • Selling credit products

  • To tackle rising levels of obesity in Brazil, the government introduced a law banning the advertisement and sales promotion of ultra-processed food products

The Influence of Trade Blocs on Business Location

  • A trading bloc is a group of countries that come together and agree to reduce or eliminate any barriers to trade that exist between them

    • There are different levels of economic integration ranging from relatively low integration in a bilateral agreement to high integration in a monetary union, e.g. the Eurozone

    • Globally, there were more than 420 regional trade agreements in effect in 2022

    • Each subsequent type of trading bloc has increased levels of economic integration

  • Examples of trade blocs include the EU (European Union), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

Diagram: Major Trade Blocs in 2023

trade-blocs-2023--edexcel-igcse-business-rn

Major trade blocs include the EU, ASEAN and NAFTA
 

  • A free trade area is a bloc in which countries agree to abolish trade restrictions between themselves but maintain their own restrictions with other countries, e.g Canada – United States – Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)

Diagram: How a Free Trade Area Trading Bloc Works

4-1-5-types-of-trading-blocs---free-trade-area

Mexico, Canada and the USA have a free trade agreement but can deal individually with Cuba as they see fit

  • In the diagram above, Mexico, Canada and the USA have reduced or eliminated many trade restrictions between themselves

    • The USA refuses to trade with Cuba and has placed a complete ban on all exports/imports to Cuba

    • Canada trades with Cuba but imposes tariffs on all imports

    • Mexico trades freely with Cuba

  • Businesses may look to locate their operations in a trade bloc country in order to avoid paying tariffs or other restrictions such as quotas

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Trade blocs and other trading arrangements are often in the news. Using contemporary examples in your longer answers can improve their quality and support your analysis by giving it more depth.

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Lisa Eades

Author: Lisa Eades

Expertise: Business Content Creator

Lisa has taught A Level, GCSE, BTEC and IBDP Business for over 20 years and is a senior Examiner for Edexcel. Lisa has been a successful Head of Department in Kent and has offered private Business tuition to students across the UK. Lisa loves to create imaginative and accessible resources which engage learners and build their passion for the subject.

Steve Vorster

Author: Steve Vorster

Expertise: Economics & Business Subject Lead

Steve has taught A Level, GCSE, IGCSE Business and Economics - as well as IBDP Economics and Business Management. He is an IBDP Examiner and IGCSE textbook author. His students regularly achieve 90-100% in their final exams. Steve has been the Assistant Head of Sixth Form for a school in Devon, and Head of Economics at the world's largest International school in Singapore. He loves to create resources which speed up student learning and are easily accessible by all.