Contents:
Country Reports | Encyclopedias & Statistical Sources | Library Subscription Databases
Background Notes
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
Publications produced by the
Electronic Information and Publications Office include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of countries, dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty. The reports also provide links to additional information on each country.
Doing Business
http://www.doingbusiness.org/
The site, published by the World Bank, provides "indicators of the cost of doing business by identifying specific regulations that enhance or constrain business investment, productivity, and growth." The database includes over 175 economies. Topics covered include: starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
Eldis
http://www.eldis.org/country/
An online index to research on world development and the environment. Eldis includes country profiles for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. It also indexes a large amount of material from government agencies and non-profit organizations; much of this materials is full-text.
Export.gov
http://www.export.gov/
Portal to exporting information from the U.S. Department of Commerce. A account, provided for free to for students/researchers, provides access to the Market Research Library which includes Country Commercial Guides, Market Research Reports, and Best Market Reports; trade statistics through TradeStats Express, information on trade regulations, standards, and certification requirements; and a wealth of additional resources. Documents in Export.gov may also be found in Stat-USA/National Trade Data Bank.
GlobalEdge
http://globaledge.msu.edu/
This international business portal publishes and links to detailed information about other countries. Each individual country webpage contains information on the country's history, government, economy, statistics, and corporations. Country webpages also link to key country-specific Internet resources and articles about the country. The GlobalEdge resources is offered as a free service by The Center for International Business Education and Research in The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State University. You can register for a free account to gain access to the discussion boards and all sections of the site.
The Harvard Baker Library Country Guides
http://library.hbs.edu/guides/#country
An online index by country to research available through the Internet. Some of the publications included in this index are freely available via the Internet. This index includes governmental, non-profit, and commercial sources that focus on international business information.
International Monetary Fund Staff Country Reports
http://www.imf.org/external/country/index.htm
IMF Staff Country Reports provide detailed economic and financial information for individual countries. These reports are now available online going back to 1997.
LABORSTA Internet: an International Labour Office database on labour statistics operated by the ILO Bureau of Statistics
http://laborsta.ilo.org/
Freely-available online database of labor statistics from 200 countries and territories. Provides yearly data on topics like total and economically active population, employment, unemployment, hours of work, wages, labor cost, consumer price indices, occupational injuries, and strikes and walkouts. Also includes household income and expenditure data. Some estimates available. Updates the library's print subscription to the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.
The World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
The World Factbook, an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is a reference work that provides a brief overview of the organization and economy of other countries.
Suggested library online catalog search terms:
Business enterprises, foreign; Foreign trade regulation; Investments, foreign; Corporations, foreign; United States -- Foreign economic relations
Doing Business and Investing in___
Circulating book collection
The library owns many books about doing business in foreign countries. PriceWaterhouseCoopers published one well-known series of book entitled Doing Business and Investing in ___ or Doing Business in ___. These books may be located by searching the Library Online Catalog by doing a Advanced Keyword search. The following example shows the correct format: "doing business" and Argentina. Alternatively, you can use a Series Title search using the term: Information Guide Price Waterhouse Firm.
Historical Dictionary of___
Circulating book collection
Scarecrow Press publishes books that examine the history of individual countries. The library owns a number of books in these titles. The Historical Dictionaries of__ books may be located by searching the Library Online Catalog by doing a Advanced Keyword search. The following example shows the correct format: "historical dictionary" and Cuba.
OECD Economic Surveys ___
Circulating book collection
Surveys of individual countries that provide economic analysis and national statistics. These books can be located by searching the Library Online Catalog by following the format in the following Title Search: OECD Economic Surveys Turkey.
Statistics in Latin America
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/statistics/
A detailed list of statistical source that cover the region and countries in Central America and South America. Statistical sources compiled by the Latin American Network Information Center, affiliated with the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies at UT Austin.
Statistical Resources on the Web
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
Statistical Resources on the Web is a product of the University of Michigan that indexes statistical resources available through the Internet. The web site indexes statistics on a wide range of topics but a section of particular interest to country economic studies are Foreign Governments or Foreign Trade.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations
Presents easy-to-understand information on 200 countries and dependencies from around the world. Entries discuss a variety of topics in detail, from banking and securities to climate, from government data to demographic statistics. Also includes biographical essays on national leaders.
Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions
Reference K 4440 .A13 I57
This annual publication provides detailed information on the exchange arrangements and exchange/trade restrictions of individual International Monetary Fund (IMF) countries. The data is presented in a tabular format. Some of the topics address include: type of currency, exchange rate structure, resident and nonresident accounts structures, import and export regulations, etc.
The Europa World Yearbook
Reference JN 1 .E85
The Europa World Yearbook is an annual publication that describes the countries of the world. Each country profile provides an analysis of the country's history, social structure, and economy. Each profile also includes a statistical survey of the country and a directory of its political and social organizations.
Exporters' Encyclopedia
Reserve HF 3011 .E9
The Exporters' Encyclopedia provides detailed information on international trade opportunities by country. Country reports include information on communications, transportation, trade regulations, marketing data, and business travel. The encyclopedia also governmental and association contacts of interest to exporters.
International Financial Statistics
Reference HG 61 .I57
International Financial Statistics is a one-stop source for statistics on international and domestic finance. Subjects include exchange rates, interest rates, prices, production, government finance, and national accounts. The Blume Library purchases the annual yearbook and monthly updates. The monthly updates are retained for two years.
Russia and Eurasia: Facts and Figures Annual
Reference HA 1446. U17
This annual publication gives detailed statistics and some analysis of the countries that made up the USSR. Each state has its own chapter that details information on basic economic indicators, history, the state and its politics, military, security and crime, health and welfare, economy, industry, agriculture, energy and the environment, and foreign trade and aid.
The Statesman's Yearbook
Reference JA 51 .S7
The Statesman's Yearbook provides a general overview on the countries of the world. While the information given covers a variety of topics, the economies of profiled countries are discussed. The yearbook is published annually.
Statistical Abstract of Latin America
Reference HA 935 .S8
The Statistical Abstract of Latin America is a compendium of statistics on many topics including those of interest to economic studies. The reference work is broken down by topic and within topics by country. Sections of particular interest to economics students include foreign trade, financial flows, national accounts, government policy and finance, and prices.
Statistical Yearbook
Reference HA 12.5 .U62
A annual publication of the United Nations, the Statistical Yearbook is a compilation of international statistics for most countries. It presents information on a variety of topics including finance, labor statistics, national accounts, etc.
Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific
Reference HA 1665 .S73
The Statistical Yearbook is an annual publication that provides a wide range of statistics on countries in Asia and the Pacific. Countries are profiled individually.
World Bank Atlas
Reference G1046 .G1 .W6
The World Bank Atlas is a companion volume to the World Development Indicators. It summarizes some of the data presented in the Indicator's volume and provides graphical representations and maps of the data it reprints.
World Development Indicators
Reference HC 59.15 W656
Published by the World Bank, World Development Indicators provides country statistics on a variety of issues including international economics indicators, exports and imports, and national markets.
Yearbook of Labour Statistics
Reference 4826 .I63
The Yearbook of Labour Statistics is an annual publication that provides detailed labor statistics for over 190 countries. The contents include data on employment, unemployment, wages, hours of work, labor costs, consumer prices, strikes and lockouts, and occupational injuries. Updated by LABORSTA Internet (description above).
All library databases are linked from the library website at http://library.stmarytx.edu/acadlib/indexes/dblist.htm .
Business Source Complete
Business Source Complete (BSC) indexes business and economics magazines and journals. Full-text is available for many articles. BSC is the best database to search for scholarly articles regarding world economic issues. BSC also includes various country reports including the Country Profile series produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
CIAOnet-Columbia International Affairs Online
The CIAOnet database provides a wealth of information on international issues, including economics. Places to start for country research include "Policy Briefs" and "Atlas". The Atlas section provides access to country data collected by the Economist Intelligence Unit. For additional information on countries, students can search the CIAOnet database for journal articles, working papers, etc.
Lexis-Nexis Academic
Economic and other information about countries can be found on the Lexis-Nexis database. Under the "News"search, the sources that will be of use for country research are "Major World Newspapers", "Major World Publications ", "Non-U.S. Newspapers and Wires", and "Non English Language News" as well as non-English language news categories for specific languages including Spanish. You will find additional information about countries from in the "Business" search category listed under "Country Profiles."
Stat-USA/Globus-National Trade Data Bank
Stat-USA is an online service provided by the US Department of Commerce that provides business, economic, and trade data published by the United States government. The Stat-USA site is split into two sections entitled State of the Nation and Globus/National Trade Data Bank (NTDB). State of the Nation is a wonderful source of economic data on the United States. While the US is certainly the primary focus of State of the Nation, there is some data on foreign countries especially in regards to foreign exchange rates. National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) gives additional information about international economics with a focus on foreign trade. The type of international statistics and analysis on NTDB include U.S. imports and exports by country, country commercial guides, and the CIA International Trade Statistics publications.
Access to Stat-USA is restricted to those with a valid password. The Blume Library only has one license to the database. Ask at the Reference Desk for the userid and password or call Reference at (210) 436-3508. Use of the library password is limited to faculty and students at St. Mary's University.