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International Business Research Guide

Country Profiles:

  • Business Source Premier
  • CIA World Factbook - Provides information on geography, people (demographics), economy, communications, transportation, government, military and transnational issues.
  • Factiva - Key titles(under “Source” look up by bolded title):
    • Factiva Country Profiles
    • Economist Intelligence Unit: Country Commerce – Outlines unique business regulations and laws.
    • Economist Intelligence Unit: Country Finance – Covers financial conditions, tax laws, investment opportunities, banking and other financial services,
    • Economist Intelligence Unit: Risk Briefing – Covers risk analysis of global investing and operations.
  • Mergent Online (off-campus access) –  see Country Profiles
  • NationMaster - a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD.
  • Portals to the World (Library of Congress) - Arranged by country or area and links to sites providing a wide-range of information, such as culture, economy, technology, etc.
  • The Europa world year book, Ref Area, 2nd fl.  D2 .E8Covers over 250 countries with information about the government, legislature, political organizations, religion, the media, finance, trade, industry, transport and tourism and more. Provides economic and demographic statistics and surveys of recent history that are particularly useful. Also profiles over 1,650 international organizations providing full communication details, activities, statistics, principal officials and publications.

Economic Environment:

  • International Financial Statistics - International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Provides information on geography, people (demographics), economy, communications, transportation, government, military and transnational issues.
  • CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online )
  • EIU Viewswire –provides economic, political and market developments around the world and provides concise analytical briefings on their implications for business
  • Doing Business www.doingbusiness.org (from the World Bank www.worldbank.org)– This database provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement and are comparable across 155 economies.
  • Factiva –  Key titles (under “Source” look up by bolded title):
    • Economist Intelligence Unit: Country Monitor – Issues in key global market sectors, such innovative multinational strategies, business outlooks, risk assessments of emerging markets, and market trends.
    • Economist Intelligence Unit: Specific newsletters on defined regions, such as Business Latin America..
  • FAO (Food & Agriculture) statistical yearbook, Ref Area, 2nd fl. HD1421 .F363. Also at faostat.fao.org over 3 million time-series records covering international statistics.
  • IMF Publications, incl. World Economic Outlook (online or print Ref Area, 2nd fl. HC10 .W7979)
  • OxResearch– provides succinct analytical articles covering world and regional economic and political developments of major significance.
  • World Development Indicators,Ref Area, 2nd fl. HC59.15 .W656 or CD-ROM 693 or Online (WDI Online) the World Bank's annual compilation of data about development. The 2005 WDI includes more than 800 indicators in 83 tables organized in 6 sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links.
  • The Shell global scenarios to 2025 : the future business environment : trends, trade-offs and choices, 3rd fl. HD9560.5 .S54 2005.

Journal & Newspaper Articles :

U.S. Government Information:

  • Business.gov Official Business link to U.S. Gov.
  • Export.gov U.S. Governments’ Export Portal: provides online trade resources and one-on-one assistance for your international business.

Market Research: 

Depending on how developed a country is, numerous statistical data may be found on a country’s website.

Web Guides/Directories:   

  • The Federation of International Trade Associations (FITA), www.fita.org
  • Earthtrends http://earthtrends.wri.org/a collection of information regarding the environmental, social, and economic trends that shape our world.
  • Infomine (Scholarly Information Search Engine)

Trade Information:

Industry Information:

  • Mergent Online (off-campus access) – provides regional data (Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Global) to select industries.
  • Financial Times (London) – produces approximately 200 Reports a year on countries, industrial sectors and financial/business topics. An index of reports may be seen at http://news.ft.com/ftreports. Access reports via Proquest Newstand , select Publications tab, enter Financial Times. Look up survey by publication date (from index) or search within publication by “surveys edition” AND keyword (example: Defense Industry).
  • Encyclopedia of global industries. Ref Area, 2nd fl. HD2324 .E53  1999

International Company Information

  • Mergent Online (off-campus access) – Enter company name or under Classification section select a country from pull-down menu.  This will list every company available in that country.
  • Factiva – Go to Company/Markets tab, select link “Company,” enter company’s name.
  • International Directory of Company Histories, Ref Area, 2nd fl. HD2721.I63, vol. 1-57 (2003).
  • Kompass http://www.kompass.com/ - More than 23 million references to the products and services of over 1.8 million companies worldwide. Basic information is free.

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