THE APPLICATION OF THE CLUSTER ANALYSIS OF ASSESSMENTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE AMONG THE COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

This article describes the main task of the cluster analysis for assessing the international trade of the European Union in the terms of exports. On the basis of the surface values of export volumes in ml of USD during 2002-2015, 28 EU countries were divided into 5 clusters according to the intensity of exports. The cluster analysis is made by means of k-means software package STATISTICA 10. The variable group was selected by the volume of exports during 2002-2015 (14 grouping variables) and the measure distance of objects in clusters was the Euclidean distance. Based on the clustering methods in exports of the EU during the period, there were allocated the EU countries, which were the most powerful exporters with an average level of exports and the countries with the lowest level of exports. The analysis within each cluster revealed the variation of the researched data.

The cluster analysis was conducted in the European Union by the K-means methods of the software package of the programs of STATISTICA 10 by the intensity of exports commodity structure during 2015. The variables were selected in the grouping: food, beverages and tobacco products (x1); raw materials (x2); mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (x3); chemicals and related products (x4); other manufactured goods (x5); machinery and transport equipment (x6), commodities and transactions not classified in the SITC (x7); and measure of the distance of objects in clusters were the Euclidean distance. Based on the analysis it is revealed that the country's leaders are the biggest exporter of three product groups: chemicals and related products and other industrial goods, and machinery and transport equipment.

Based on the research in the first approximation it was suggested the feasibility of the cluster analysis to measure the international trade.