The primary focus of this analysis is to unravel the complexity of the Swiss economy, aiming to craft a narrative that provides citizens with meaningful insights essential for informed decision-making within the voting system. It seeks to address the question: How can we effectively articulate the intricacies of the Swiss economy to foster a deeper scientific comprehension among citizens?
This project delves into the robustness of the Swiss export economy, leveraging the Product Complexity Index, a statistical-economic tool pioneered by Harvard Growth Lab. Our objective is to construct a compelling narrative that delves into the intricacies of the Swiss economy, segmented by industries. Initially, we provide a historical overview of the industries comprising the Swiss export economy. Subsequently, we incorporate two pivotal statistical tools—the Product Complexity Index and the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA)—to structure the preceding data. Filter options are available to facilitate specific insights. Finally, a focal study comparing the Chemicals and Minerals sectors explores potential applications of the platform.
The data utilized in this project were sourced from the open repository of the Harvard Growth Lab, specifically from the Project Atlas of Economic Complexity. This comprehensive dataset encompasses trade information from 250 countries and territories, categorized across 20 goods and 5 services sectors, resulting in coverage of over 6000 products on a global scale.
The raw trade data pertaining to goods originate from countries' reports to the United Nations Statistical Division (COMTRADE). Concurrently, the trade data regarding services are sourced from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Direction of Trade Statistics database, accessed through the World Development Indicators.
The project involved the acquisition and manipulation of two primary datasets. Initially, we obtained the dataset concerning Switzerland's Product Space, structured by year and already inclusive of the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA). Subsequently, we acquired the Product Complexity Index dataset spanning from 1995 to 2021, focusing on exports categorized (HS92). Following acquisition, the datasets underwent a comprehensive cleaning and subsequent merging process.