Country & International

A great starting place for country and international research; this guide points to the best resources available to the HBS community.

Overviews

EIU.com: Country Report
Quarterly analysis and forecasts of the political, economic, and business environment in more than 180 countries.

Europa World
Political, economic, and commercial information for over 250 countries and territories and over 1650 international organizations. Includes basic statistics and directory listings. Permits comparison of statistical data from different countries.

World Factbook
Produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, provides brief surveys of the economic, geographic, and political conditions of most countries, dependent areas, and other entities.

See also the Fast Answers on International Business

Rankings

Global Cities Index
A.T. Kearney ranks 60 cities in 40 countries on city-level responses to globalization.

IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook Online
Analyzes and ranks the ability of nations to create and maintain a competitive environment. Contains cross-country and regional comparisons.

Pocket World in Figures
Check Harvard availability
Ref. HA 155 .P63 in the Stamps Reading Room
Ranks countries in areas such as geography, population, business, the economy, trade, transport, finance, industry, demographics, the environment, society, culture, and crime.

The Global Competitiveness Report
Check Harvard availability
Ref. HF 1414 .G56 in the Stamps Reading Room.
Also available online from the World Economic Forum, analyzes and ranks countries by openness, quality of government, finances, infrastructure technology, management, labor, and institutions. Two-page country profiles include strengths and weaknesses. Major portion of publication is devoted to global and regional analyses.

The Global Information Technology Report
Check Harvard availability
Ref. HD 9696.8.A2 G56 in the Stamps Reading Room
Documents how information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being used around the world. Ranks countries according to their capacity to take advantage of ICT networks; includes country profiles and topical chapters.

Emerging Markets

Global Financial Stability Report
Assessment of global financial markets, including emerging market financing from the IMF. Focuses on current conditions and highlights financial imbalances and other issues that could jeopardize financial market stability and sustained market access by emerging market borrowers.

ISI Emerging Markets
Comprehensive information from thousands of sources including trade councils, market research firms, and consulting firms on emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Includes country profiles; macroeconomic statistics, forecasts, and analysis; reports on financial markets, companies, and industries; and business news. Includes content in local languages.

World Development Report
These World Bank reports focus on topics pertinent to developing countries, such as poverty and infrastructures. Each annual volume has unique title.

Business and Economic Environment

CountryData.com
Risk ratings for characteristics such as exchange rate stability, corruption, external and internal conflict, government stability, investment, and observance of law and order.

Doing Business
Database provides measures of business regulations and their enforcement. Select canned comparisons on number of procedures required and number of days to complete various tasks such as starting a business or getting credit. Custom reports available.

EIU Suite of Databases
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) suite of databases provides access to EIU City Data, EIU Country Commerce, and EIU Country Finance

Source OECD
Country studies, forecasting publications, journals, and socio-economic statistical databases. Select statistics can be downloaded. Includes information and data on non-OECD countries.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Direct
Analysis of debt issues including sovereign debt.

The Handbook of Country Risk: A Guide to International Business and Trade
Check Harvard availability
Provides analysis on risks involved in trading in countries worldwide and assigns a rating to each country. Provides key economic indicators and performance by industry sector. There is a companion site, @Rating.

Social and Cultural Environment

Craighead's International Business, Travel, and Relocation Guide to 90 Countries
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Information on travel and relocation to 90 countries around the globe. Includes sections on business practices, medical care and insurance, school systems, banking and currency.

Global Corruption Report
Provides regional assessments of corruption. Goal is to raise awareness of the impact of corruption and advocate policy reforms.

Human Development Reports
Focused analysis from the United Nations Development Programme. Includes rankings of countries on measures such as the life expectancy, access to health care and technology, income distribution, and literacy.

Statistics

EIU Data Services: Country Data
Tool for extracting economic data by country, item and year. Includes forecasts.

GDF Online: Global Development Finance
Provides external debt and financial flow data for the 136 countries that report public and publicly-guaranteed debt to the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System.

Global Financial Data
Economic and financial time-series database covering 150 countries and 6,500 different data series.

Global Market Information Database
Market research reports about various consumer products and industries worldwide.

IMF Suite of Databases
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suite of databases includes International Financial Statistics, Balance of Payment Statistics, and Direction of Trade Statistics.

International Statistical Agencies
A list of links to national statistical agencies. This website is good source for country-specific social and economic indicators, including national census data.

NationMaster
Search for statistics by subject, including agriculture, economics, energy, immigration and transportation.

World Development Indicators
Statistics for almost 600 development indicators (including public health, environment, education, and labor force) dating as far back as 1960.

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