This guide is no longer being updated - for the new one, please go to: http://guides.library.cmu.edu/countries

Country analysis @ the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

Preliminaries - Library Services

For trends, risk, market analysis, growth, and many other items - use database:  ProQuest - you'll want to see the EIU Viewswire reports.  So when you're on the database, put the name of the country in the search box at the top, and "eiu" (without the quotation marks) in the box where it says "Publication title."  You should get numerous up to date reports on various topics for your country, such as market opportunities, country risk, 10-year growth outlook, economic structure, etc.

For forecasts from Business Monitor International - use database: LexisNexis Academic - use the "Research Countries" box in the bottom left.

For overall information and demographics - use database:  Europa World - select a country in the upper right search box.  All the categories on the left side open up into many more - the directories, also.

For overviews, news, forecasts, facts, reports and more links – use portal: Global Edge – country briefings.

For technology industry prospects and issues in various countries – use database: Gartner Core Research – use Advanced Search, so you can limit accordingly. (Some of the reports in this database, such as Dataquest, are only available as summaries in our subscription.)

For detailed demographic and economic data, use database: World Development Indicators - you will first choose your country, then your “series” (which is a large set of variables; expand the categories to see them all) , and then your time frame, to get both a chart that you can download, and a map.

For a list of top companies in any country - use database: Hoovers - you can get the top countries in each country here.  When you're on the database, click on "Build a List" on the right side, then expand Company Location and click on your country and then "View Results."  You can then sort the resulting list by sales or number of employees by clicking on the little arrows at the top right of those columns.  When you click on the company names, you'll get more information.

For advice about market opportunities - use website: U.S. Government's Market Research Library - select your country, and then under "Report Type" choose "Country Commercial Guide" (Here's an example of the one on Saudi Arabia.) The other report types - market research reports and best market report - are geared to specific industries, but may also be helpful.

For an overall business-oriented country research report, use database: Marketline - look down to "Browse All Countries" and select one.  Then download the complete profile. 

For searching within business newspapers and journals in specific countries, use database: LexisNexis Academic - click on“Sources” in the "Search the News" section, and then click on "More Options" to select country or language.

For economic data, such as exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, interest rates, production, trade, government accounts, and national accounts, use database: International Financial Statistics – this defaults to a database where you can specify countries and data sets – but you can also use the “Country Info.” tab at the top to find country-specific reports.

For reports and data on development issues, use website: World Bank – and use the “Countries” tab at the top to select the country. After that, all the items at the left, including “Data & Statistics” will be specific to that country.

For financial soundness - IMF database that gives indicators of the health of entire sectors of financial institutions, but also of the counterpart corporate and household sectors, and of relevant markets.

For cultural etiquette, the Culture Crossing site provides specific information on how to comport oneself in 200 countries. Also recommended is Culturegrams: concise reports on customs, lifestyles, courtesies, and social background for each country - located in the Hunt Reference room, GT150 .C85 2009.

For links to the primary statistical agencies of the countries themselves, use this list.

For links to their Central Banks (each issuing data, publications, reports, etc.) use this list.

Traveling there?

Starting a business? Use website: Doing Business In: Series from the World Bank. For each country and region, it covers regulatory environment, ease of doing business, procedural issues, economic indicators, and other issues of interest to businesses looking to locate internationally

Questions?
Contact the librarians: