ECON1193 – BUSINESS STATISTICS ASSIGNMENT 1: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Lecturer Class group number Student ID Student name Word count Submission date Trinh Thu Nga SGS – Group S3836080 Tran Thanh Ha 1508 Monday 08/11/2021 Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Table of Contents Overview of Economic Growth Analysis a Line chart b Measures of Central Tendency c Measures of Variation .5 d Histograms e Box-and-whisker plot .6 Conclusion Discussion Other factors impacting on economic growth Reference List .9 Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Overview of Economic Growth Australia, a country from Oceania, has long been regarded as the world’s leading economy among developed nations (MarketLine 2021) and is currently ranked 13th (Silver 2020) This country holds a strong position in international trade by being the world’s top exporter of beef, grain and live cattle More crucially, the remainder of its economic activities steadily rely on mining industry, particularly coal, iron and natural gas (Passport 2020) Over the last decades, Australia has attracted substantial foreign direct investment (FDI), primarily related to energy and quarrying sectors, making it the 14th most favorable investment destination in the world in 2019 (MarketLine 2021) Unfortunately, the bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic have put the economy into a recession for the first time since the global financial crisis in 1991, ending an era of being the only country experienced uninterrupted growth in nearly 30 years (MarketLine 2020) Nevertheless, due to low number of COVID-19 cases and prosperous vaccination program, Australia is projected to recover quickly in 2022 (Passport 2021) Germany - a European nation - is recognized as the world’s fourth largest economies (Silver 2020) Before standing at this point, Germany used to suffer several tumultuous economic events After World War II, German economy fell into ruins as millions of people did not have jobs and basic commodities (Gethard 2021) Until 1989, when the fall of Berlin Wall occurred, Germany was eventually reunited, paving the way for the robust Germany of today (Gethard 2021) During the 1990s and 2000s, although the economy still fluctuated and reached a recession in 2008 due to global financial crisis, Germany was then raised with dramatic rise in GDP and fall in unemployment rate (Amadeo 2021) Nowadays, Germany is a powerful world’s exporter of automobiles, industrial equipment and chemicals (Passport 2021) Moreover, Germany was ranked 11th as an attractive country for FDI in technology and innovation out of the world (MarketLine 2021) However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, Germany is struggling again with significant decline in GDP and increase in unemployment (MarketLine 2021) Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Analysis a Line chart GDP per capita growth rate (annual %) GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany from 1971 to 2020 8.000 6.000 4.000 2.000 0.000 -2.000 -4.000 -6.000 2019 2017 2015 2013 2011 2009 2007 2005 2003 2001 1999 1997 1995 1993 1991 1989 1987 1985 1983 1981 1979 1977 1975 1973 1971 -8.000 Year Australia AUS Germany DEU Figure Line chat of GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany The line graph compares the GDP per capita growth rate changes between Australia and Germany from 1971 to 2020 Overall, there was a similar trend in terms of a general fluctuation in GDP per capita growth rate of both nations throughout 50 years Australia and Germany’s GDP per capita growth rate reached their peak at around 4% (1988) and 6% (2011), respectively On the other hand, Australia’s and Germany’s lowest rate were approximately -3.5% (1983) and -5.5% (2009), respectively Moreover, negative figures for Germany’s GDP per capita growth rate occurred more frequently than Australia’s, indicating that the German economy suffered more GDP contraction than Australian economy Nevertheless, there were more times the growth rate of Germany above 4% compared to Australia’s The GDP per capita growth rate of both countries fell rapidly between 2019 and 2020, where the figure for Germany was hig han times compared to Australia’s in 2020 b Measures of Central Tendency Mean Median Mode Australia 1.559 1.665 None Germany 1.694 1.714 None Table 1: Measures of central tendency for GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Q1 0.758 0.660 Australia Germany Q3 2.674 3.110 Q1 – 1.5*IQR Q3 + 1.5*IQR Outlier < Q1 – 1.5*IQR Australia -2.116 5.547 -3.436 Outlier > Q3 + 1.5*IQR None IQR 1.916 2.450 Germany -3.015 6.785 -5.455 -5.065 None Table 2: Finding outliers As shown in table 1, no mode occurs, which means no value appears more than once, thereby mode cannot be used to carry out the analysis Secondly, while mean is generally used most often since it includes all values as part of the calculation, it is not an efficient measure due to the presence of outliers (table 2) As a result, median is the most appropriate measure of tendenc ccording to table 1, the median of Australia and Germany is 1.66 d 1.714 respectively, which means 50% of all values of GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany is higher than 1.665 and 1.714 respectively, and the remainder of data set is below these figures c Measures of Variation Range Interquartile Range Variance Standard Deviation Coefficient of Variation Australia 7.463 1.916 2.226 1.492 95.713% Germany 11.324 2.450 4.793 2.189 129.227% Table 3: Measures of variation for GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany Firstly, although range is the simplest measure of variation, it should not be used since it is sensitive to outliers Secondly, despite the advantage that variance measures the average scatter around the mean which gives a more accurate variation, its units are squared, hence it is not an intuitive method Thirdly, although standard deviation and coefficient of variation allow easier interpretation than variance, they are impacted by outliers; therefore these measures are not suitable options Consequently, interquartile range is the most efficient measure of variation in this circum ce As seen in table 3, the interquartile range of Germany is moderately greater than Australia’s (2.450 > 1.916), showing that Germany’s GDP per capita growth rate varied more significantly than Australia’s over the period Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis d Histograms 25 20 15 10 Frequency -6 -4 -2 More GDP per capita growth rate (annual %) Histogram of GDP per capita growth rate of Germany from year 1971 to 2020 Number of years (year) Number of years (year) Histogram of GDP per capita growth rate of Australia from year 1971 to 2020 25 20 15 10 Frequency -6 -4 -2 More GDP per capita growth rate (annual %) Figure 2: Histograms of GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany In figure 2, it is apparent that the range of both graphs has the highest frequency from to 4% The largest range ( %) occupies more times in Germany than Australia Additionally, the histogram charts of countries have asymmetric distribution along the axis According to table 1, the median of both nations is higher than the mean, indicating that the shape of these histograms is left-skewed Therefore, the concentration of data values is on the high end of the scale, which means mos Australia’s and Germany’s GDP per capita growth rates are greater than their mean e Box-and-whisker plot Figure 3: Box-and-whisker plot of GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Australia Box Whisker Minimum to median vs median to maximum Left 0.907 4.194 5.101 Right 1.009 1.353 2.362 Skewness Right-skewed Left-skewed Left-skewed Germany Box Whisker Minimum to median vs median to maximum Left 1.054 6.115 7.169 Right 1.396 2.760 4.156 Skewness Right-skewed Left-skewed Left-skewed Table 3: Finding the skewness of box-and-whisker plot As illustrated by figure and table 3, the distribution of data set of Australia and Germany is leftskewed Additionally, since Germany’s box and whisker are longer than Australia’s, it represents a broader dispersion in Germany’s data set in comparison with Australia’s Conclusion To conclude which country outweighs another, all calculations discussed above should be taken into account Firstly, it is found that the middle value of all Germany’s GDP per capita growth rates is higher than Australia’s Secondly, the line chart and histograms also illustrate that the frequency Germany achieved a growth rate of more than 4% is greater than Australia’s Lastly, the data set of Germany is proved to have a wider range than Australia’s since the top 25% of Germany’s values occupies from approximately 3% to 6% In comparison, the figure for Australia is only from around 2.6% to 4% As a result, Germany tends to experience higher economic growth compared to Australia Discussion According to Amadeo (2021), GDP is the most straightforward measurement to compare the economic growth between nations As mentioned in part 1, Germany was ranked higher than Australia in terms of GDP in 2020 Additionally, based on the annual statistics from World Economic Forum, Germany has outperformed Australia for an era Furthermore, GDP per capita should also be considered (Green 2020) and the conclusion drawn in part already affirmed that Germany has surpassed Australia throughout 50 years Hence, it is clear that the overview from part already reveals the insights collected from the data set in part Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Other factors impacting on economic growth Since the early 2000s, Australia's economic development has relied heavily on its wide availability of natural resources (Australian Government n.d) Australia is a prominent producer and exporter of minerals such as coal and iron ore (MarketLine 2021) This resources sector, in addition to being favorable to the trade balance, provides plenty of jobs for Australians and tax revenues for the government (Parliament of Australia 2010) Moreover, a well-functioning tax system also plays a vital role in Australian economy According to MarketLine (2021), Australia has lower business tax rates compared to other OECD countries, thereby delivering a more favorable business environment and encouraging more entrepreneurs and FDI inflows While human resource is a key determinant of every nation’s economy, Germany is currently facing with a huge shortage of qualified labor in several fields including engineering and healthcare (Germany Federal Government n.d) As a result, Skilled Immigration Act is implemented to attract more talented workers from other countries (MarketLine 2021) Additionally, technology is a crucial part of Germany’s economic development since Germany has long been claimed as one of the countries having excellent R&D infrastructure That’s why this nation is the place of many leading automotive manufacturers and drug producers (MarketLine 2021) Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Reference List Amadeo, K 2021, Germany’s Economy, Its Successes and Challenges, The Balance, viewed November 2021, Amadeo, K 2021, What Is Economic Growth?, The Balance, viewed November 2021, Australian Government n.d, The Australian resources sector – significance and opportunities, Australian Government, viewed November 2021, Germany Federal Government n.d, Qualified Professionals, Germany Federal Government, viewed November 2021, Gethard, G 2021, The German Economic Miracle, Investopedia, viewed November 2021, Green, J 2020, GDP vs GDP per capita: Is Australia really ‘the lucky country’?, Crowell Property Group, viewed November 2021, MarketLine 2020, Macroeconomic Outlook Report: Australia, country report, MarketLine Limited, viewed November 2021, MarketLine database MarketLine 2021, Australia In-depth PESTLE Insights, country report, MarketLine Limited, viewed November 2021, MarketLine database MarketLine 2021, Germany In-depth PESTLE Insights, country report, MarketLine Limited, viewed November 2021, MarketLine database MarketLine 2021, Macroeconomic Outlook Report: Germany, country report, MarketLine Limited, viewed November 2021, MarketLine database Parliament of Australia 2010, The Australian Resources Sector its contribution to the nation, and a brief review of issues and impacts, Parliament of Australia, viewed November 2021, Passport 2020, Australia: Country Profile, country report, Passport, viewed November 2021, Passport database Passport 2020, Economy, Finance and Trade: Australia, country report, Passport, viewed November 2021, Passport database Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Passport 2021, PEST Analysis: Australia, country report, Passport, viewed November 2021, Passport database Passport 2021, PEST Analysis: Germany, country report, Passport, viewed November 2021, Passport database Silver, C 2020, The Top 25 Economies in the World, Investopedia, viewed November 2021, 10 ... from 19 71 to 2020 8.000 6.000 4.000 2.000 0.000 -2.000 -4.000 -6.000 2 019 2 017 2 015 2 013 2 011 2009 2007 2005 2003 20 01 1999 19 97 19 95 19 93 19 91 1989 19 87 19 85 19 83 19 81 1979 19 77 19 75 19 73 19 71. .. Table 1: Measures of central tendency for GDP per capita growth rate of Australia and Germany Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis Q1 0.758 0.660 Australia Germany Q3 2.674 3 .11 0 Q1 – 1. 5*IQR Q3 + 1. 5*IQR... Outlier < Q1 – 1. 5*IQR Australia -2 .11 6 5.547 -3.436 Outlier > Q3 + 1. 5*IQR None IQR 1. 916 2.450 Germany -3. 015 6.785 -5.455 -5.065 None Table 2: Finding outliers As shown in table 1, no mode