ECON1020
Country Report Instruction (total number of pages: 10)
CONTEXT
A multinational company is considering investing in the country that you have been allocated. If the macroeconomic environment of the country is deemed favourable compared to alternative destinations, then the company will proceed to look for specific investment projects. However, you are not provided with any information regarding potential investment projects for commercial confidentiality reasons.
YOUR TASKS
As independent an economic consultant, you are hired by this company to:
a) provide an economic profile for the country; and
b) benchmark its performance against Australia, which is the destination recommended by another independent consultant.
In doing so, you will deliver a structured Country Report, which includes the following illustrative features:
巴 Up to three (3) figures (diagrams, graphs or tables) in total. Here, you can use a mixture of diagrams, graphs and tables provided the total number is no more than 3.
巴 You can include more than one variable in a graph or table.
巴 You must produce your figures, rather than cut and paste from some sources. You must keep a copy of the file that you use to create your figures as you could be asked to provide it as proof that those figures are your work.
巴 You can use direct quotes provided the total number of quoted words sums to 20 words or less in the whole of the report. This rule is intended to prevent students from over-relying on direct quotes without critically analysing the content of the source.
COUNTRY ALLOCATION
The country you must use for this report is based on the last digit of your student number: For example, if your student number is 44194356, then you need to work on country number 6 - New Zealand.
|
Last digit
|
Country
|
|
0
|
Canada
|
|
1
|
United Kingdom
|
|
2
|
South Korea
|
|
3
|
Switzerland
|
|
4
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6
|
New Zealand
|
|
7
|
Sweden
|
|
8
|
Italy
|
|
9
|
Singapore
|
REPORT STRUCTURE
1. Macroeconomic Performance (~550 words)
a. Assess the macroeconomic performance of your country based on macroeconomic indicators covered in Topics 1-4 of this course, e.g., GDP per capita, inflation, unemployment etc., for 5-10 years up to 2018.
b. Explain how these indicators are related to each other in the context of your country using theories and concepts covered in the course.
c. Explain what factors, including economic policies, are driving these indicators.
2. Benchmarking (~450 words)
a. Use Australia as a benchmark to evaluate your country’s macroeconomic performance.
b. How does your country’s macroeconomy perform compared to the benchmark country? Explain the reasons for any differences.
c. Which country will be a more preferred investment destination and why?
3. Reflection (~200 words)
a. Which aspect(s) of the Country Report did you find most difficult and why?
b. How did you overcome those difficulties?
c. What advice and suggestion(s) can you give to your future fellow students about completing the Country Report?
4. References
References and citations must be in the APA 7th style.