Welcome to the International Business Research Guide
This guide provides links to key business resources including both public web sites and USC resources including databases, public websites, books and journals.
Please explore the tabs at the top of this guide and don't hesitate to contact John, Kim or Helga in the Crocker Business Library if you have any questions.
Please comment below if you have any suggestions or feedback on this guide.
Thanks,
- John, Kim and Helga
USC MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS LIBRARY INFORMATION
The Roy P. Crocker Business Library is located in Hoffman Hall (2nd floor) (map)
The Accounting Library is located in the Accounting Building (1st floor) (map)
Current hours for both libraries can be found here. Both libraries provide computers for student use, group study rooms, individual study space and collections of print journals, newspapers, reference works and other books.
In-person reference assistance is usually available from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM M-F, but it's usually best to email John or Kim or Helga to set up an appointment.
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Public Websites for Country Information
- A.M. Best Country Risk ReportsCountry specific factors by country by A.M. Best Credit Ratings.
- Bank for International SettlementsCentral Bank websites and Central Bank Research Hub
- BBC Country ProfilesGeneral country information & media links
- CIA World Factbook
- Doing Business In...Published by World Bank
- Economist Country BriefingsSearch for country for country profiles and special topics or by entering the name of the country in search box
- Euromoney Country RiskRisk analysis from ECR with emphasis on financial and political factors. Paid membership is required for full access.
- Executive Planet WikiBusiness culture and etiquette
- Export.govData collected by U.S. Commercial Service for promoting U.S. good abroad. Search for countries under Opportunities Tab; other resources include industry market reports, guides and statistics and events.
- Federation of International Trade AssociationsFocus on promoting import with country specific data on export trade and business environments
- Global Competitiveness ReportPublished by World Economic Forum
- Global Enabling Trade Report 2010WEF - World Economic Forum report link.
- GlobalEdgeUniversity of Michigan's site for Global information and links
- Grant Thornton International Business ReportInternational Business Reports (IBR) Economy focus series vary by year.
- Heritage Foundation: Index of Economic FreedomSearch 'Find Your Company' for country specific reports
- HLB International - Doing Business in ...Select Publications, then 'Doing Business In' then use 'Choose a brochure to download' to select country
- International Finance Corp. and The World Bank: Doing Business - Measuring Business Regulation
- International Monetary Fund - Country ReportsEconomic and banking news and profiles
- International Trade CentreA partner for small business export success in developing countries.
- Legatum Institute - Legatum Prosperity IndexThe Legatum Institute is an independent, non-partisan pubic policy group based in London. Rankings by country and region and brief country profiles.
- Lex Mundi - Association of Independent Law FirmsIndex to 'Doing Business in' reports prepared by independent law firms.
- OECDCountry ocioeconomic and statistical data as well as special reports that vary by country.
- OECD PISAEducational assessments for countries worldwide
- Office of the U.S. Trade RepresentativeCountry specific data and factsheets on trade, exports, trade agreements and information to develop and coordinate international trade.
- PKF Doing Business inLinks to country reports: Russia, Austria, Taiwan, Chile, China , Ecuador, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, UK, U.S., Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Belgium, Hungary, Australia, Isle of Man, Malta, Uruguay, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Morocco, Singapore, South Korea
- Polity IV ProjectThe Polity IV Project continues the Polity research tradition of coding the authority characteristics of states in the world system for purposes of comparative, quantitative analysis.
- TradeStats Express - U.S. Department of Commerce, ITANational trade statistics, including: merchandise exports, imports, trade balances and State export dta
- U.S. Census Bureau: International Statistical AgenciesNational Statistical Offices/Agencies listed by country
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce AbroadIncludes link to AmCham Directory
- U.S. State Department: Background Notes
- UNDP - Human Development ReportsReports, Indices & Data by Country on Human Development (e.g. Health, Education, Income, Gender, Poverty, Sustainability and Inequality
- World BankSocial and Economic statistics and special reports.
- World Economic Forum - Country and Regional ReportsSearch for country reports under Regions (left side of page). The World Competitiveness, Risk Report and Information Technologies reports are among the popular publications that are also available on this site.
USC International Business Databases
- EIU Country ReportContains Country Reports, Country Commerce Reports and more from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Global Market Information Database Passport/GMID: International company, country, industry and market information.
- Global Road Warrior Business travel guide and country background information.
- IBISWorld Detailed market research and analysis on over 700 U.S. industries as well as Global Industry Reports, China Industry Reports and Business Environment Reports.
- ISI Emerging Markets Coverage of emerging economies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Please note, this does not cover Western Europe, U.S., Canada or Japan.
- OECD iLibrary Online library of Organization for the Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistical databases, books and periodicals
- Passport/Global Market Information Database Passport/GMID: International company, country, industry and market information.
- ProQuest Statistical DataSets Collections of socioeconomic data for local, state and country from 600 sources covering 20- 30- and 100- year spans. Data can be downloaded into excel.
- ProQuest Statistical Insight Offers three major sources (federal, state and international) of statistical data tables, publications and links.
- Thomson ONE Provides detailed company information including financials, ratios, news, filings, and the company research and analyst reports formerly found in the Investext database
- US Commercial Service Market Research LibraryInternational market research and country commercial guides available from the US Government. Registration is required for academic users.
- USA Trade Online Describes the use of Trade Stats Express and USA Trade Online for official US government import and export statistics.
- World Bank Worldwide Development Indicators The World Bank's World Development Indicators provides direct access to more than 700 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to present.
- World Development Report (WDR) Key national and regional development statistics from the World Bank
USC Article Databases
Search for articles written about business in a specific country in ABI/Inform, Factiva and Lexis/Nexis Academic. Some possible topics are "COUNTRY NAME" or INDUSTRY TRENDS and Name of Country" Use database search tools (Search Builder, Advanced Search or Search Options) to limit by location (geography or region). Search for articles written about business in locally published publications listed under media.
- ABI/INFORM Global Good source of background information. Go select the 'Search all Databases' option; go to 'Advanced Search' then select the 'Location' option. You can search by country or specific region or city.
- EBSCO Business Source Complete Business news database. Search COUNTRY NAME by selecting 'SU Subject Terms' from drop down menu
- Factiva Good source of current news. You can limit your search to publications by country by going to the Search Builder then limit your search by "Region"
- LexisNexis Academic Another good source of international business news, go to Power Search, then limit search by "Geography"
- ProQuest - Multiple Databases A general search of all current ProQuest databases included ABI/Inform and more.
- Quick SearchA "meta-search" of multiple library databases at USC. Use the filters to refine your search results and increase relevancy.
Gini-Coefficients
The Gini coefficient measure the inequalty among values of a frequency of distribution e.g. income on a scale of 0-1.
- A Gini coefficient of 0 expresses perfect equality where are values are the same.
- A Gini coefficient of 1 (100 on the percentile scale) expresses maximal inequality among value where one person has all the income.
- Global Market Information Database (Passport GMID): Gini factors are available through the Menu Search feature..
- LIS Cross National Data CenterHome of the Luxembourg Income Study Database and the Luxembourg Wealth Study Database.
See Data Access for databases; registration is required to download microdata sets, but detailed 'Key Figures' in Excel can be downloaded without registration. - University of Texas - Inequality ProjectDatasets on pay inequality at the global level and the national level including: Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, China, India & Russia and at the regional level for Europe
- World Bank - Measureing InequalityExplanation of the Gini -coefficient
- World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) & Global Development Finance (GDF)Select 'INDICATORS' tab. Select Gini Index. Data can e downloaded to a variety of formats.
- World Income Inequality Database-United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research.Provides various measures of income inequality for 152 countries or areas, in some cases, prior to 1960.
- UNU WIDER World INcome Inequality Database (WIID)UNU - WIDER -United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research.
Link to Excel database and User Guide. Download the World Income Inequality Database User Guide and Data Sources for important definitions and list of variables used as well as Glossary.
Contact Us for Assistance
John E. Juricek
Head, Crocker Business Library and Accounting Library
(213) 740-7621
juricek@marshall.usc.edu
Kimberly Esser
Business Information Specialist
(213) 740-6255
kim.esser@marshall.usc.edu
Helga Haraldsson
Business Librarian
(213) 740-0050
helga.haraldsson@marshall.usc.edu
Crocker Business Library
Hoffman Hall 201
(213) 740-8520
library@marshall.usc.edu
Country Risk Reports
- AM Best Country Risk - Public WebsiteAM Best is a full-service credit rating organization serving the insurance industry. Select country to download reports.
- Coface - Public WebsiteCoface is a trade receivables consulting firm and provides risk analysis by country.
- Euromoney Country Risk - Public WebsiteRisk analysis from ECR with emphasis on financial and political factors. Paid membership is required for full access.
- ISI Emerging Markets Dun & Bradstreet's D&B Country RiskLine Report for developing countries can be accessed through ISI . Once you have logged into ISI, select a country to enter the database. Press the HOME tab on the left side of the page and, in the Advanced Search Box, enter the name of the country and the word RISK (e.g. KOREA RISK), and check the box to SEARCH TITLES ONLY. You should see a list of risk-related reports for your country. Note: ISI does not include Japan, U.S. or countries in Western Europe.
- Global Market Information Database To access GMID's RISK & VULNERABILITIES report, select the COUNTRIES & CONSUMERS tab at the top of the page. From the dropdown menu, select ECONOMY, FINANCE AND TRADE. On the left side of the page, find COUNTRY BRIEFINGS, and SELECT COUNTRY, then press GO. Not every country will have a report.
- EBSCO Business Source Complete If you search under the Publications tab for POLITICAL RISK YEARBOOK, you will find links to the PRS Risk Reports for countries around the world. Availalble to Marshall users only via MyMarshall.
- LexisNexis Academic Risk guides from PRS Group International can be accessed via LexisNexis Academic on the Easy Search page. In the lower left corner, you will see a box called RESEARCH COUNTRIES. Select your country from the dropdown box and then select PRS RISK GUIDE & SERVICE and a date range (6 months is recommended) and click GO. Scan through the results for reports specifically on your country. Not every country will have a risk report.
- LexisNexis Academic Reports from Business Monitor International (BMI) can be accessed via LexisNexis Academic on the Easy Search page. In the lower left corner, you will see a box called RESEARCH COUNTRIES. Select your country from the dropdown box and then select BUSINESS MONITOR INTERNATIONAL and a date range (6 months is recommended) and click GO. Scan through the results for reports specifically on your country. Not every country will have a risk report.
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