Industries

Overview

The term "industries" refers to the production of goods or related services within an economy. The major source of revenue of a group or company is indicative of its relevant industry. The manufacturing industry became a key sector of production and labor in European and North American countries during the Industrial Revolution, upsetting previous mercantile and feudal economies. This came through many successive rapid advances in technology, such as the development of steam power, powered machinery (especially the spinning jenny, water frame, and power loom), and the growth of a factory system.

Classification

Industries can be classified in a variety of ways. At the top level, industry is often classified according to the three-sector theory into sectors: primary (extraction and agriculture), secondary (manufacturing), and tertiary (services). Some authors add quaternary (knowledge) or even quinary (culture and research) sectors. Over time, the fraction of a society's industry within each sector changes. Below the economic sectors there are many other more detailed industry classifications. These classification systems commonly divide industries according to similar functions and markets and identify businesses producing related products.

Primary sector

The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and collection of natural resources; such as farming, forestry, hunting, fishing and mining. In the 20th century, it was noted that, in any industrialized country, this sector's share of both employment and the overall economy would decrease. This trend is common in all Western economies. A recent trend, particularly in developed nations, is the increase in importance of the quaternary sector, which involves the provision of services, particularly those involving information and communication technology.

Secondary sector

The secondary sector of the economy includes industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. This sector generally takes the output of the primary sector and manufactures finished goods or where they are suitable for use by other businesses, for export, or sale to domestic consumers. This sector is often divided into light industry and heavy industry. Many of these industries consume large amounts of energy and require factories and machinery to convert the raw materials into goods and products. They also produce waste materials and waste heat that may cause environmental problems or cause pollution.

Tertiary sector

The tertiary sector of the economy is also known as the service sector or the service industry. It is one of the three economic sectors, the others being the secondary sector (approximately the same as manufacturing) and the primary sector (agriculture, fishing, and extraction such as mining). The service sector consists of the production of services instead of end products. Services (also known as "intangible goods") include attention, advice, access, experience, and affective labor. The production of information has been long regarded as a service, but some economists now attribute it to a fourth sector, the quaternary sector.

Quaternary sector

The quaternary sector of the economy is a way to describe a knowledge-based part of the economy, which typically includes knowledge-oriented economic sectors such as information technology; media; research and development; information-based services such as information-generation and information-sharing; and knowledge-based services such as consultation, education, financial planning, blogging, and designing.

Quinary sector

The quinary sector is the branch of a country's economy where high-level decisions are made by top-level executives in the government, industry, business, education, media and nonprofit organizations. The quinary sector includes the highest levels of decision making in a society or economy.