Factor analysis of the economy

Economics in addition to their specific methods of use are also some scientific methods - synthesis, analysis, comparison, abstraction, and much more.One type of economic analysis is a factor analysis, which is a powerful tool that allows you to not only spread out one or another economic phenomenon into components, but also to determine which component has a particular impact on the overall process.A more detailed look at this type of analysis in this article.

By definition, a factor analysis - is the kind of mathematical analysis of functions of several variables, which allows you to determine what impact the function has one or another variable.Why is it so important a factor analysis is the economy?That's because no single economic indicator is not dependent on only one factor.So, the price depends on supply and demand, wages - from the ability to work and waste time, profits of the enterprise - from the totality of the performance of the company together.But how to determine which factor has a key influence on this or that figure?It is here that we will need a factor analysis.

Let's start with a simple example.Let's try to make an analysis of the cost factor.On the production costs are influenced by such factors as the cost of raw materials, wages, cost of electricity, depreciation of equipment per unit produktsii.Vyhodit that the cost is a function of all these factors, and, in fact, is the sum of the values ​​of all costs.Thus, an increase in each of these species will lead to increased cost of the unit cost of production.It is logical to assume that the cost of raw materials in most cases takes the largest share in the cost of production.We can conclude that she has the greatest impact on the cost price, and hence, it is on the search for cheaper raw materials necessary to concentrate the search for reserves to reduce costs.

try to make a factor analysis of labor productivity.It's all a bit more complicated, because there are factors that contribute to both growth and lower productivity.Among the factors contributing to the growth - the quality and reliability of the equipment, qualified personnel, the convenience of the staff, the ratio of working hours and work breaks.Among the factors that reduce productivity - the number of cases of equipment failure, the presence of "bottlenecks" - production sites with insufficient production capacity, distractions - noise, vibration and other external stimuli.Of course, all of the above factors will be a function of various factors, and it is with their help will be expressed by the degree of influence of a factor on productivity, but the general principle is clear: the factors that increase the performance, should be strengthened, and the factors that reduce the efficiency of the labor- minimized.

After a factor analysis of a phenomenon in the economy, you can create a plan of action, according to which it will be possible with minimal time and resources to maximize or minimize some of the indicators of the company.This will help as soon as possible to ensure that the firm operates as efficiently and profitably.Widely used factor analysis and macroeconomics - analyzed the GDP, the ratio of exports and imports, calculated the required amount of money in circulation and many other indicators of the functioning of the economy.