My name is Maryna Ramcharan and I joined City REDI in May 2022. I am from Ukraine where I completed my PhD in Economic Sciences and the degree in Enterprise Management. My PhD thesis explored the opportunities for economic growth and vertical integration of agricultural farms and meat processing companies. The study aimed to develop recommendations to policymakers and others that would facilitate economic growth in production levels of vertically integrated companies, particularly meat producers, processors, retailers and food service companies. Upon completion of my PhD, I worked as a university lecturer in Ukraine teaching Economics, Economic Analysis, and Statistics to undergraduate students and working as a researcher for private and public sector companies.
I transitioned away from academia to gain further experience as a data analyst and economist. I have worked as a consultant in the private sector for both profitable and non-profitable organisations in Ukraine, conducting research to identify opportunities and advising on how best to utilize research findings.
I thoroughly enjoyed analysing companies’ performance and advising on cost-cutting, troubleshooting and future strategies. I greatly developed my skills in analysing revenue and key performance metrics and evaluating the effectiveness of regional teams using profit and wage analysis. I also had experience in conducting customer surveys on customer satisfaction with after-sales service and analysing prices and products of competitors. In addition, I have extensively developed my data visualization skills-building Tableau dashboards and intertwining calculations and statistical techniques in my data visualisations.
After I moved to the UK I worked as a Data Analyst for the WMCA on a range of projects including Income Inequality, Homelessness, and Children in Trouble.
Income inequality lies at the heart of many current problems that society is focused on e.g. gender disparities, inclusive growth, social mobility, and inequality in opportunities. Income inequality has complex relationships and strong associations with many other issues like health inequalities, poverty, and unemployment. While boosting the living standards is one of the 12 missions listed in the White Paper and is part of the contemporary focus of the levelling up agenda, my work on income inequality will recure across my recent role in the WMCA and my newly obtained position in City-REDI.
My main areas of interest are statistical analysis, data visualisations, and applying quantitative research techniques to analyse economics and complex systems with a focus on income inequality, gender disparities, inclusive growth and labour market participation. With my varied skillset, I look forward to contributing to research and analysis across various projects on regional development and the levelling up agenda.
This blog was written by Maryna Ramcharan, Senior Policy and Data Analyst, City-REDI / WMREDI, University of Birmingham.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the authors and not necessarily those of City-REDI / WMREDI or the University of Birmingham.