Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies

Faculty of International Business and Economics

Program: Master in International Project Management
Discipline: International Economic Environment

2012 update

Methodological Guidelines for the Design of a Country Report

A short Country Report (20-25 pages) is an assessment of the economic, social, cultural
and political environment in the respective country. The core text of the Report is usually
accompanied by technical annexes (tables, graphs, relevant excerpts from newspapers) as
well as by a list of references consulted (books, studies, articles, sites, data bases, etc.).
This assessment is graded in the end of the course both as a research paper written by a
team of 2-4 students and as an oral presentation of no more than 15 minutes. Each of the
co-authors has up to 5 minutes to present his/her personal contribution to the Country Report.
It is strongly discurraged the design and presentation of individual research papers, as
interaction, group work and shared responsibilities in the research team are also evaluated.
Data and information presented in the Country Report refer to two years which are usually at
a distance of 3 to 5 years. Larger amount of information is wellcomed. The data of the latest
year available in national and/or international data bases/statistics are usually those of 2011,
or 2010, but in some cases students might have to take into consideration data for 2009. The
comparison between the two levels of the same indicator illustrates the change/movement
registered during the researched time span. The students personal comments refering to the
size and impact of changes (or stagnation) might be complemented by short passages
extracted from recent press releases, studies or articles showing the current state of art. It is
recommended to develop a systemic analysis instead of a simple presentation of figures
and facts for each aspect.
The content of a short Country Report consists of an introduction, four chapters and
concluding remarks (conclusions and recommendations concerning the development of a
possible business with partners from the given country).
Introduction contains a short motivation for choosing the country and the expectations of
the authors concerning the business environment.
Chapter 1 gives a short presentation of the country: official denomination, geographical
position, political and administrative context, capital town; short comments on the
demographic trends will have to refer to the total number of inhabitants, density, urban and
rural population, natural growth rate, distribution by the 3 main age groups, life expectancy at
birth, level of access to education and to the Human Development Index. Where relevant of
the socio-economic progress, information on ethnic groups, distribution by religion or culture
might be added. For many countries, data on the migrant population and/or migrant workers
might be also interesting to be mentioned. Finally, information and data on transport and
telecommunication network have to be presented and commented from the perspective of a
foreign businessman.
Chapter 2 is dedicated to the macroeconomic environment and to the results of economic
development of the country. Comments should be based on GDP (market size), GDP/capita

(level of economic development and sophistication), real growth rate and the recent changes
observed in the aftermath of the global economic/financial crisis. A short presentation of the
GDP by origin (the 3 main economic sectors of a modern economy) and by destination (use
for private and public consumption, gross fixed capital formation, net export, etc.). The Index
of Economic Freedom with its ten components (focus on business freedom, investment
freedom and fiscal freedm), as well as the Perceived Corruption Index should be used in
order to complement the authors comments. For many countries it would be welcommed a
brief presentation of the ranking according to various ranking instruments. The evolution of
inflation should be scrutinised based on annual and/or monthly rates during the last 2-3 years.
Available official forecasts of the inflation rate are wellcommned. Students might extract
short comments from newspapers regarding recent economic and/or financial policy
measures aiming to solve imbalances or to ease a new increase in economic output.
Chapter 3 is dedicated to the human resources and the social harmony.
The use of human resources is observed based on data reveiling the number and share of
active or occupied population and the distribution by the main 3 economic sectors of the
occupied population. The Index of Human Development should also be presented with its
components. The unemployment rate and its recent evolution should be also presented, if
possible by relevant age and/or qualifications groups for the labor market. Money income and
inflation rate have direct impact on the purchaising power of housholds and could be at the
origin of social unrest. For some of the countries, the number and duration of labor conflicts
and strikes are also relevant. This is why social harmony (social peace) in the country might
be appoached by involving in the analysis some of the following indicators: the annual or
monthly average income of an employed person compared with the estimated cost of the
consumption basket, the Gini Index, the ratio between the highest and the lowest income, the
decrease of the purchaising power of the money incomes, the share of population living
below the poverty line, etc.
Chapter 4 offers data and information on the external sector of the economy.
It starts with a short presentation of the current account of the balance of payments in the two
refered years and of the magnitude and dynamics of the main inbalances observed. The
foreign trade in goods and services should be analysed by taking into account the absolute
and relative value of exports and imports, exports/capita, structure of exports and imports by
main merchandise groups and by main partner countries. Terms of trade indicators are
welcommed. The inflows and outflows of invested capital as well the level and dynamics of
the external debt and external debt service should be also presented. Where data are available,
the origin and destination of these financial flows are also wellcommed.
Concluding remarks: The four chapters intend to ease a quick undestanding of the business
risks and opportunities as well specific in the given country. In this final section of the
Country Report conclusions and recommendations have to be produced.
Some of the most frecvently accesed international data bases and web pages when
developing comparative studies on the economic/business environment:
www.countryrsk.com, www.countrywatch.com, www.cofacerating.fr
www.oecd.org, www.economist.com, www.eiu.com, www.europa.eu.int
www.doingbusiness.org, www.sacmeq.org, www.cia.gov : The World Factbook

www.heritage.org, www.transparency.org, www.hdi.org

www.imf.org, www.worldbank.org, www.undp.org
www.insee.fr, www.wifo.ac.at , www.state.gov, etc
The official websites of the national institution/office of statistics, of the respective central
government and of the national monetary authority/national bank represent valuable
sources of data and of comments and are usually available in English.
The grading system is based on the following assessment grid:
Country: ..
Student: ...................................................

Assessment of the oral presentation (4 points)

1. Quality of oral introduction of the report and organization of the oral presentation
2. Quality if the visual support (slides, posters) and linking of the oral presentation to
the corresponding part of the written report
3. Relevance of the selection of data and information for the presentation of the report
4. Communication skills, language skills and time managemnt during the presentation
Assessment of the written report (5 points)
1. Quality of the written report and of the technical annexes; use of appropriate tools
for presentation of tabels, graphs and citations
2. Structure and completeness of the report (Quality of the content of the introductory
rematks/ justification, summary, balanced presentation of the four parts of the report
and of the conclusions, references and technical anexes)
3. Demonstrated understanding of the use and content of involved indicators for the
design of each part of the report
4. Demonstrated ability to develop a short analitical overview of each part of the report
5. Quality and relevance of the arguments presented as concluding remarks and
recommendations
One point ex ufficio
TOTAL
Each criterion is graded from 1 to 0 as follows :
- 1 = excellent,
- 0.8 = good,
- 0.5 = acceptable,
- 0.3 = poor,
- 0.0 = inexistant.
Significance of symbols: G group assessmnet
I individual contribution assessment

Points
G
I
I
I
G
G
I
I
G