RAS question
In Alfred Weber's Industrial Location Theory, the Locational Weight (Standortgewicht) of an industry is defined as:
Correct answer: (B) The total weight of all inputs (raw materials + finished product) that must be transported per unit of output..
In Alfred Weber's Industrial Location Theory, locational weight is the total weight of raw materials and finished product that has to be transported per unit of output.
Explanation
Weber treats industrial location mainly as a transport-cost problem. His material index relates the weight of localised material to the weight of the product, and locational weight is the total weight to be moved in a locational figure per unit of product. That is why option B is correct: the measure is not a price, an advantage, or a ratio alone, but the total tonnage that must be carried for one unit of output, including the raw materials used and the finished product. A high locational weight increases the force of transport-cost minimisation and can tie industries such as iron and steel more closely to raw-material or market locations.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) This describes a material-index type ratio, whereas locational weight is the total weight moved per unit of product rather than the ratio of raw materials to finished output.
- (C) Agglomeration may affect location in Weber's framework, but locational weight is not a proximity advantage from agglomeration zones; it is a transport tonnage measure.
- (D) This shifts the idea to least-cost production at an optimal site, while locational weight measures weight transported, not the minimum cost of production.
Concept
This tests Weber's least-cost theory of industrial location, especially the distinction between material index and locational weight. It recurs in RAS because industrial location questions often turn on whether a term is measuring weight, distance, transport cost, labour pull, or agglomeration.