Why Econometrics and Business Statistics?

In this era of big data, econometricians and statisticians are increasingly important as we try to understand the data around us and use these skills to solve complex problems and inform critical business and government decisions.

This could be the area of study for you if you like to base decisions on empirical evidence, or you like to explore data to better understand the world around you. It is an area with very strong employment prospects as people with quantitative and mathematical skills are in great demand across all sectors and organisations.

Extensive career opportunities

Almost every business and industry collects data which needs expert analysis. Some examples are:

  • Reviewing economic data to predict whether the Reserve Bank of Australia should raise interest rates;
  • Forecasting how much electricity Australia needs in 10 or 20 years so power generation can be planned to meet demand;
  • Analysing data for the United Nations to advise them on issues such as gender or income inequality;
  • Forecasting volatility in the stock market to identify times of high risk for investment;
  • Working with Google or Amazon to develop open-source software which companies can use across their products;
  • Developing statistical models to help insurance companies to set their premiums;
  • Working with Tennis Australia to help determine player behaviour and serve speed using statistics and data analysis;
  • Studying patterns in aging to help set superannuation policy;
  • Analysing hospital admission data to optimise staff rosters;
  • Working with retail organisations to forecast demand for thousands of products across hundreds of stores.

Disciplines and programs

The Actuarial, Business Analytics and Econometric programs taught in the Department are similar in the following ways:

  • All programs use data analysis, mathematics and statistics to produce models and forecasts relevant to business and economic problems
  • All programs can be studied as a Bachelor of Commerce major (alternative study of Bachelor of Actuarial Science, with Actuarial Studies or Actuarial-Analytics specialisations)
  • Students can use elective space to study units across the three programs
  • All program graduates are in high demand.

Explore the differences in the programs, from employment and study perspectives.

Summer and winter research scholarship programs

Monash Business School offers you the opportunity to work directly with our leading statisticians and econometricians on their current research projects during the holidays. It is a great opportunity to gain valuable practical research experience and further your studies.

Global data challenges

Test your skills on real-life data issues through global business analytic challenges. These regular events bring together data scientists and business analysts to focus on issues using data on poverty, climate change, gender equality, healthcare, technology, airline records and international standard test scores. Often these challenges are hosted on the Kaggle platform at kaggle.com, or are associated with international conferences.

Google summer of code

You may want to participate in the annual Google Summer of Code project during the winter holidays at Monash Business School. This projects offers the opportunity to work with experienced developers over a three-month period on the latest open source software to develop new business analytics methods. Projects from previous years are listed at summerofcode.withgoogle.com.

Professional membership

For students in our Actuarial program, those who successfully complete the required units are eligible to apply for accreditation with the Actuaries Institute of Australia.

Students completing a major in business analytics are eligible to apply for Graduate Statistician accreditation with the Statistical Society of Australia.