USA and Russia: Statistical comparison and its implication for making economic decisions

Comparison between USA and Russia Statistical Table

The comparison table for the geographical, demographic, and economic specifics of the United States of America and Russia were from Wikipedia 2008.

Selective Data Analysis

Geography

Russia is a country of about 1.8 times of the size of the USA, occupying the vast area between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean. It takes over 8 hours by plane to reach from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast, and the time difference is 8 hours as well. However, population geographical distribution is far from being homogenous. The highest density of population is occurred in the European part of the country, west from the Ural Mountains, and there are huge almost empty territories in Far East and Siberia. Therefore, while establishing business presence in Russia, it is essential to evaluate all geographic and societal factors to determine the optimal location. For the high tech industries, the most attractive would be placing offices in or near the big urban centers with sufficient amount of the highly educated employees.

Russia has huge supplies of the mineral resources whose total potential value in current world prices is estimated at an about $30 trillion. Russia produces 17 per cent of the worlds crude oil, as well as 25-30 per cent of its natural gas, 6 per cent of all bituminous coal, 17 per cent of commercial iron ore and 10-20 per cent of all non-ferrous, rare and noble metals mined across the globe. For the businesses, targeting oil and gas exploration, the natural presence should be established at as Western and Eastern Siberia and on Sakhalin Island Russian Embassy.

Another point, related to the countrys huge territories, is arranging business transportation needs. While in the European part of the country the network of the roads is overall properly developed, land transportation through the Asian territories might take significant amount of time, which should be taken in an account. In some areas, there are no ground roads at all, and the inbound and outbound transportation should be performed exclusively by air.

Demographics

Demographics comparison shows that the general population amount in Russia is shrinking, with significantly lower birth rate, and higher death rate. Infants mortality is almost double in Russia, comparing to the adequate data in the USA. This can represent a noble business niche, where medical businesses might find its proper application. Developing infants mortality prevention applications, devices, medicines, and approaches will meet government support and understanding, since the decreasing population with rapid growth of the amount of retired people is considered as one of the biggest Russian demographic concerns.

One more distinctive feature is difference in the human sex ratios. In Russia, female to male ratio is much lower, than in the USA, and sharply declining with the age of the group. For the group of the 65 yours old and over, this ratio is lower than 50 per cent. It is mostly caused by deaths of working-age males due to cardiovascular disease. Among others major reasons researches mention cancer, traffic injuries, suicide, alcohol poisoning, and violence EUbusiness, 2008. So, while preparing product distribution channels, female prevailing specific trends should be considered for market evaluation for male-only or female-only products and services.

Economy

While Gross Domestic Product GDP is still relatively low, its growth rates produce very favorable trends. Note, that GDP growth for 2006 was 6.7 per cent, relative to 6.4 per cent in 2005. However, the growth rate strongly depends on the economic sector. Construction was the fastest growing sector of the economy, expanding by 14 per cent in 2006. The main private sector services - wholesale & retail trade, banking & insurance, and transportation & communications - showed strong growth of about 10 per cent. In contrast, public sector services - education, health care, and public administration - lagged behind with only 2 to 4 per cent growth in 2006. EUbusiness, 2008.

Another point of review is Russian labor force. While it is just half of what is available in the USA, the number is mostly correlates to the total amounts of population in these countries. However, the quality of the workforce is different. While Russias educational system has produced nearly 100% literacy, the Russian labor force is undergoing tremendous changes. Although well educated and skilled, it is largely mismatched in many cases to the rapidly changing needs of the Russian and International economies EUbusiness, 2008. In Russia, employees are not so mobile as in the USA, so while establishing business presence with qualified human resources essential needs, the office or factory should be located in the area, where skilled employees are already available.

References

Embassy of the Russian Federation n.d.. Russian geography - Regions of Russia. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www.russianembassy.org/RUSSIA/GEOGRAF.HTM

EUbisuness 2008, January 4. Russia country guide. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www.eubusiness.com/Russia/russia-country-guide/

Wikipedia 2008. Demographics of Russia. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia

Wikipedia 2008. Demographics of the United States. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States

Wikipedia 2008. Economy of Russia. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia

Wikipedia 2008. Economy of the United States. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States

Wikipedia 2008. Geography of Russia. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Russia

Wikipedia 2008. Geography of the United States. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_United_States