International Business: General Country Sources

Regional Resources | Country Sources |

Books &News:

BU Library Catalog

ABI/INFORM Global [ About ]
Indexes over 1,500 publications including general business magazines, academic management journals, economic reviews and leading industry-specific trade journals. The database provides full text articles from over 600 of these periodicals and indexing and abstracts for an additional 800 titles.

Business Source Complete [About]
Indexes abstracts and provides full text of business publications, scholarly publications and peer-reviewed journals. It covers over 8,000 journals with full text for over 4,000 of these titles.

Dun & Bradstreet's Guide to Doing Business Around the World
Pardee HF 1416 M78 2001

Factiva [About] Works best with Firefox.

LexisNexis Academic [About]
A database that provides access to a wide range of business information sources, including newspapers, trade journals, wire services and transcripts.

Kidon Media-Link
http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml
Links to international newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and news agencies organized by country.

Newspapers of the World on the Internet
http://www.actualidad.com/
Major and minor newspapers from around the world, from the Aamulehti Tervetuloa (Finland) to the Zambia Daily Mail. Links are arranged by continent and then alphabetically by country. Many papers are in English or have a link to an English version, but a wide variety of languages are represented. Some of the newspapers on the list have brief descriptions.

Country Overviews:

Britannica Online [About]
http://www.search.eb.com/
Browse the "World Atlas" and explore the world. A guide to the world's nations, people and places. Excellent international statistics site.

CIA World Factbook
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Political, economic and social facts and statistics in the following categories: current issues, historical perspective, geography, people (including population with breakdowns by age and sex), government, economy, communications, military, transportation, and transnational issues.

Country Studies
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
A continuing series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army. On-line versions of books about over 100 countries are available at this web site. Search the BU Library Catalog to see if a particular country study is available electronically.

Euromoney
Pardee HG 3881 E665
Check Boston University's Electronic Journals to see if this title is available full text.

"Monthly journal of money and capital markets." Supplements, titled Euromoney Research Guides are published several times per year. Topics include country guides, world economic analysis, emerging markets, the European Monetary Unit, and other timely issues.

The Europa World Yearbook
Pardee Reference - Reference Desk
X D 2 F59
Two volume set includes background and statistical information on every country in the world. Introductory Survey, Statistical Survey and Directory includes much useful information on recent history, government, economic affairs, social welfare, education, population, industry, finance, trade, transport, communications media, and tourism.

Portals of the World
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html
Links to Electronic Resources from the Library of Congress.

Statesman's Yearbook
Mugar Reference X JA51 E64
Pardee Reference X JA51 E64 (Kept at Reference Desk)
A statistical, political and economic account of the states of the world for the year. Arranged by country.

U.S. State Department: Background Notes
http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/
Essay-style information on geographic regions and international organizations. Data is updated as deemed necessary, and thus publication dates range from the early 90s to very recent.

See also, Economic & Business Sources and Books & News in this Guide.

Country Statistics:

Demographic Yearbook
Pardee Reference Collection - Economics Section
Pardee Reference X HA 17 F49

Global Competitiveness Report
Pardee Reference Collection - Economics Section
Pardee Reference X HF 1414 G559
Country information includes rankings according to notable competitive advantages and disadvantages.

Governments on the WWW
http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/world.html
"Comprehensive database of governmental institutions on the World Wide Web: parliaments, ministries, offices, law courts, embassies, city councils, public broadcasting corporations, central banks, multi-governmental institutions etc. Includes also political parties. Online since June 1995. Contains more than 15000 entries from more than 220 countries and territories as of May 2000. Frequently updated."

International Data Base (IDB)
http://ww.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html
U.S. Census Bureau International Programs Center. Provides data, estimates & projections from 1950 to 2050 on demographic and socioeconomic statistics for 227 countries and areas of the world. Amount of information for each country may vary. Major types of data include: population by age and sex, vital rates, infant mortality and life tables, fertility and child survivorship, migration, marital status, family planning, ethnicity, religion, language, literacy, labor health systems. Contains over 1,200 indicators including expenditures, utilization, financing, status, etc.

International Statistical Agencies
http://www.census.gov/main/www/stat_int.html
The U.S. Census Bureau's links to statistical agencies of countries from around the world, with notes as to the language(s) of the sites.

Monthly Bulletin of Statistics
Mugar HA1 .F47
Published by the United Nations and presents current economic and social statistics for more than 200 countries and territories of the world. It contains over 50 tables of monthly and/or annual and quarterly data on a variety of subjects illustrating important economic trends and developments, including population, prices, employment and earnings, energy, manufacturing, transport, construction, international merchandise trade and finance. The annual subscription rate for the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics in print includes access to the MBS Online. Ask for ID and password at Pardee's Reference Desk.

Nationmaster
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
Graphically compare statistical data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD.  Topics cover: Agriculture, Background, Crime, Currency, Democracy, Disasters, Economy, Education, Energy, Environment, Food, Geography, Government, Health, Identification, Immigration, Industry, Internet, Labor, Language, Lifestyle, Media, Military, Mortality, People, Religion, Sports, Taxation, Terrorism, and Transportation.

For more information see, Statistics and Data - International and Trade in the Economics Guide. See also, Economic & Business Environment, Finance & Trade, and Industry & Company in this guide.

Economic & Business Environment:

Business Source Complete [About]
Business Source Complete indexes, abstracts and provides full text of business publications, scholarly publications and peer-reviewed journals. It covers 8,000 journals with full text for over 4,000 of these titles. Among the sources covered in this database are EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) Country Economic Reports, Datamonitor Industry Profiles (international), Datamonitor Company Profiles (international), and monographs.

Competitive Alternatives City Profiles: KPMG's Guide to International Business Costs
Compares business costs in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.  Data covers 128 cities in nine countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom& the United States.

Country Commercial Guides (CCG) - Stat-USA [ About ]
"Country Commercial Guides (CCG) present a comprehensive look at a particular country's commercial environment including economic, political, and market analysis. Commercial specialists at U.S. embassies prepare the guides annually through a cooperative effort with several U.S. government agencies. The guides consolidate in one document many reports routinely prepared for the U.S. business community."Doing Business 2007: How to reform: Comparing regulations in 175 economies
Pardee Reference Collection - Industry Information Section
Pardee Reference X K563 B87 D65 2007 (Table 1)

EIU - Economist Intelligence Unit [About] (works only with Firefox)
Provides Access to the Economist Intelligence Unit Publications; subscription includes Country Profiles and Country Reports for 48 African and Latin American countries and the following publications: Business Asia, Business China, Business Eastern Europe, Business Europe, Business Latin America, Country Commerce, Country Finance, and Country Monitor. Reports can be searched by title of publication, country and by key word.

FAO Yearbook of Trade and Commerce
Pardee Reference Collection - Industry Information Section
Pardee Reference X HD 9000.4 F58 (Table 1)

Global Edge
http://globaledge.msu.edu
Created by the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University, this Website includes information from a variety of government sources organized in a convenient format. See Country Insights and Country Tools, Market Potential Indicators, and link to World Bank:IPAnet.

SourceOECD [About]
The online library of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It comprises 20 book collections by theme, containing all of OECD's monographs and reports: 24 periodicals, a reference title, and the OECD statistical databases.

World Stock Exchange Fact Book
Pardee Reference Collection - Finance Section
Pardee Reference X HG 4551 W657

Year Book of Labour Statistics
Pardee Reference Collection - Economics Section
Pardee Reference X HD 4826 F36

Company Information

Business Source Complete [About]
Datamonitor Company Profiles can be found in right hand column (click on "Company Profiles") under "browse".
Contains overviews of many large international companies.

Investext Plus [ About ]
Contains full-text research reports on companies and industries in the United States and abroad. In depth analysis and company financial's on some private companies.

Mergent Online [About] Works best with Internet Explorer.
Mergent Online consists of financial information on U.S.and international companies. The database consists of the following components: U.S. and International Company Data, Archives, Annual Reports, Factsheets Plus, Factsheets Express, Institutional Holdings, Insider Trades, Expanded Long-Term Debt, Equity Portraits, and Corporate Bond Portraits. The Database also includes Country Profiles with basic data on countries and Industry Reports.

For company directories see, Career Guide: International Company Directories.

Industry & Market

Datamonitor Industry Profiles in Business Source Complete [ About ]
Resource for global market information, identifies market size, competitive landscape and forecasts data for  market performance. Do "keyword" search with name of product and country. Search results by clicking on "Industry Profile" or "Market Research Report" .

Euromonitor
Also available in print :
Consumer Europe - Pardee Reference X HD 7022 C68 2004/05 (Marketing Table 1)
Consumer International - Pardee Reference X HC 79 C6 C636 2003/04 (Marketing Table 1)
European Marketing Data and Statistics 2005 - X HA 1107 E87 (Marketing Table 1)
International Marketing Data and Statistics 2005 - X HA 42 I56 (Marketing Table 1)

Export.gov, Market Research
http://www.export.gov/mrktresearch/exp_mr_index.asp
Click on Market Research to find industry sector analysis and market research organized by country and industry. Offers market information on specific industries that can help determine market potential, market size, and competitors. Some reports include useful links to Industry Associations. Must log-in to retrieve information.
If you do not want to register to log-in, the same information is available in  STAT-USA [About]
To find Market Research click on Globus-NTDB.

International Energy Outlook - current edition
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html

International Energy Outlook - archive
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/ieoarchive.html
International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics
Pardee Reference Collection - Industry Information Section
Pardee Reference X HC 10 I68 (Table 1)

Mintel [About]
Contains detailed Market Research mostly limited to European countries, with a focus on consumer products and retailing.

TableBase [About]
Statistical data on companies, products, industries, markets, demographics and countries. Tabular data is drawn from statistical annuals, trade association reports, government agencies, international organizations, newsletters and journals.

See also Industries , Statistics , Regional and Country Information , and News in this guide.

Market Share and Rankings

TableBase [About]
Statistical data on companies, products, industries, markets, demographics and countries. Tabular data is drawn from statistical annuals, trade association reports, government agencies, international organizations, newsletters and journals.

Forbes International 500 Rankings. Industry Listing
http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/03/internationals.html/
Provides 36 industry medians for profits, sales, and assets.

Fortune's Global 500
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/
Ranking of global companies by revenue, profits and returns.

World Market Share Reporter
Pardee Reference Collection - Industry Information Section
Pardee Reference X  HF 5410 W67  (Table 1)
Extracts from periodicals on world market share data, and rankings on companies, products, industries, and services.  Brief statistical data plus citations to original articles.

International Organizations:

International Monetary Fund (IMF)
http://www.imf.org/
IMF working papers, Staff Country Reports and Papers on Policy Analysis & Assessment are all available here in full text. News, fund rates, and information about the organization are also available. The easiest way to navigate this site is to use the site map.

United Nations
http://www.un.org/
For links to individual UN programs such as UNESCO, see the UN System of Organizations. The UN produces and collects huge amounts of both topical and country-specific data and statistics. Use the site search option, or go to the UN System Pathfinder to locate UN publications by topic.

World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org/
Historical information on the Bank, news coverage, publication lists, and country and regional information.