Subject Guide for Sources of Information for Developing a Country Business Profile

Contents

• Country Overviews
• Country Overviews with a Business Focus
• Country Statistics
• Country Statistics with a Business Focus
• Specialized Resources:
  • Business etiquette
  • Advertising & Market Research
  • Media
• Articles About Countries in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers
• Additional Resources for International Business/Country Information

Country Overviews

CountryWatch. This database is a goldmine of global information.ž Economic, political, social and environmental information can be found here as well as maps, recent wire service stories, and downloadable data sets. A great place to start.

BBC World News World Edition: Country Profiles. This database provides detailed political, economic, and historical background on all countries of the world. You can also access audio and video archives from the BBC.

Europa World Year Book.   JN1 .E85 REF DESK
Far East and Australasia.   DS1 .F3 REF
The Middle East and North Africa.   DS49 .M5 REF
Africa South of the Sahara.   DT351 .A37 REF
Western Europe.   HC240 .A1 W43 REF
This series of handbooks provides country-by-country overviews. Each includes geography, history, somewhat current economic conditions, statistics, and a directory of major people and organizations within the country. The Europa World Year Book is published every year and contains all countries. The regional books are published every 2-3 years and contain more detailed information on the countries covered.

Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook.    G122 .C67 REF DESK
The Statesman's Year-Book.   JA51 .S7 REF DESK
These two titles provide basic information on all countries. Topics covered include history, population, constitution and government, economic conditions, industries, foreign economic relations, telecommunications, education, and social welfare.

Craighead's International Business, Travel and Relocation Guide to 81 Countries. Table 8B REF
Gives detailed description of the legal and business climate for each country, including wages, labor, advertising, etiquette, etc.

World Factbook.  PREX 3.15: REF DESK
Compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency, this resource provides basic information on almost all countries. Starts with a map, then gives overviews of the geography, people, government, economic conditions, transportation data, communication infrastructure, and defense.

Background Notes.   
From the U.S. Department of State, this web site links to basic profiles for most countries. Included are geography, people, politics and government, economic conditions, national security, and some travel and business information.

Country Studies/Area Handbook Series.
This series of handbooks provides detailed information for each of the countries covered. Each study covers history, culture and society, economy, government and politics, and national security, though not all the studies are up-to-date. There is also an extensive bibliography for sources of additional information.

CultureGrams.   GT150 .C85 REF
For countries world-wide, gives succinct 4-page overview. Includes people, customs & courtesies, lifestyle, and society.

LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis Academic is a collection of fulltext database files covering law, business and current news. To find country profiles in L/N, on the main screen choose Reference, and then click on Country Profiles.

Overviews With a Business Focus

Exporters' Encyclopaedia.   Table 8B REF
Organized by country, this directory, produced by Dun & Bradstreet, gives lots of information on exporting, including some regulatory info. Also has a section providing key contacts for the country.

OECD Economic Surveys.  
This is a series of individual country reports providing current and short-term economic outlooks, basic economic policies, labor market background, and other critical economic developments for each country covered. Covers OECD member countries and selected others.

Country Statistics

Statistical Yearbook. ST/ESA/STAT/Ser. S UN REF
Demographic Yearbook.ST/ESA/STAT/Ser. R UN REF
Both published by the United Nations, the first title covers population, economic activity, foreign trade and relations, education and health. Data is given by category rather than country. The second covers population, natality, mortality and other important demographic statistics.

Development Data: Country Data from the World Bank Group.   
Provides for most countries 2 pages of data covering key indicators of social and economic development including population, poverty levels, illiteracy, structure of the economy, and trade. From a related website, Countries & Regions, you can also search for country information in over 6,000 World Bank reports.

World Development Report.  
The main portion of this report gives a detailed analysis of a current topic related to development. The report ends with statistical data arranged first by subject, then by country. Statistics cover quality of life issues, poverty, role of the government in the economy, distribution of income, education, health, communications, and science and technology.

Index of Economic Freedom.  
This Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal-produced index attempts to empirically measure levels of economic freedom around the world. Greater economic freedom is generally associated with a higher level of economic growth and prosperity. This site provides rankings of countries according to 10 economic factors including taxation, governmental intervention in the economy, wage and price controls, and black market activities.

Statistical Yearbook.   AZ 361 .U45 REF
A UNESCO publication, this covers statistics related to education, science, and culture. Includes statistics on educational level, scientific and technical employment, book publishing, newspapers, film, and broadcasting.

Index to International Statistics.   Table 3A REF
This is an index to intergovernmental organization publications containing statistical information. Covered are publications from CEPAL/ECLAC, OECD, the UN, ECAP, the Arab Monetary Fund and many more. This index can lead to useful country-specific economic or statistical reviews. SDSU has almost all of the publications indexed.

Statistics with a Business Focus

• China Marketing Data and Statistics Table 8B REF
• Consumer Asia. Table 8B REF
• Consumer Europe. Table 8B REF
• Consumer Latin America. Table 8B REF
• European Marketing Data and Statistics. Table 8B REF
• International Marketing Data and Statistics. Table 8B REF
• International Marketing Forecasts. Table 8B REF
  These are compendiums of business and marketing statistical data. Information can include demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, external trade, labor, consumer expenditure patterns, retailing and retail distribution, advertising patterns and media access, and consumer market size.

Specialized Resources: Business Etiquette

• Do's and Taboos Around the World. Table 8B REF
• Gestures: the Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World. Table 8B REF
• Global Etiquette Guide to Asia Table 8B REF
• Global Etiquette Guide to Europe. Table 8B REF
• Global Etiquette Guide to Mexico and Latin America. Table 8B REF
• Global Etiquette Guide to Africa and The Middle East. Table 8B REF
• International Business Etiquette: Asia. Table 8B REF
• International Business Etiquette: Europe. Table 8B REF
• International Business Etiquette: Latin America. Table 8B REF
• Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries. Table 8B REF
• Mind Your Manners: Managing Business Cultures in Europe Table 8B REF
  All of these guides provide information on the cultural aspects of doing business in different countries.

Specialized Resources: Advertising & Market Research

Exporters' Encyclopaedia.   Table 8B REF
Organized by country, this directory, produced by Dun & Bradstreet, gives lots of information on exporting, including some regulatory info. Of most interest is the Marketing Data section which has a part called 'Product Marketing and Advertising'. Also has a section providing key contacts for the country.

The Handbook of International Direct Marketing.   TABLE 8B REF
Provides direct marketing industry information country-by-country.

Standard Directory of International Advertisers & Agencies.   Table 8A REF
This lists advertisers first, then agencies. Then it's arranged by company name. It also has sections on international advertising associations and advertising regulations.

Specialized Resources: Media

Advertising worldwide : advertising conditions in selected countries. Table 8B REF

This book describes the social, culural, and religous aspects of advertising across the world as well as the legal and business aspects of advertising country-by-country.

Benn's Media.    Table 8A REF
This is a guide to the principal publications of Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Arrangement is geographical and then by type of publication.

Editor & Publisher International Year Book.   PN4700 .E41 REF DESK
This has a section on foreign newspapers with their addresses and circulation figures. It is organized by region and then by country.

The Penguin atlas of media and information : [key issues and global trends] Table 8B REF
Using colorful maps and graphics this atlas presents worldwide and country level information on all manner of media: newspapers, television, radio, internet, etc.

Articles about Countries in Magazines, Newspapers and Journals

ABI/Inform.
This database provides access to articles in business research journals and important industry trade publications. Includes the fulltext of many articles and lengthy summaries for all the rest. 1970 to the present. Included with ABI/Inform is Proquest Newsstand and ProQuest Research Library.

Business & Industry Database.
This is an index to over 900 trade and business publications from more than 190 countries. Emphasis is on facts, figures, and key events related to companies, industries, markets, and products. Over 60 percent of the articles indexed in B & I are available fulltext - the remaining records include informative abstracts which highlight the key information and facts discussed in the text.

LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis Academic is a collection of fulltext database files covering law, business and current news. To find articles on countries, click on 'General News Topics', select the source materials you want to search and the dates you want to search, then type in the country name and additional terms.

GlobalEDGE.com.
GlobalEDGE is a knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities. By serving as a gateway to specialized knowledge on countries, cross-border business transactions, and international business, globalEDGE responds to a real interest expressed by an increasing number of global business academicians and professionals.

Onlinenewspapers.com
A search engine and list of more than 3000 newspapers available on the net.

Additional Resources for International Business/Country Information

Transparency International: Corruption Surveys and Indices
Transparency International (TI) maintains and publishes on the WWW its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Bribe Payers Perceptions Index (BPI) and much, much more. The CPI reflects perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people, risk analysts and the general public, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt). The BPI ranks leading exporting countries in terms of the degree to which their corporations are perceived to be paying bribes abroad.