NEW Resource
- Country Comparisons is a new library resource, written by the Business & Economics Information Services staff. It outlines in step-by-step format, the research process required when searching the OECD website and Business Source Premier database to undertake economic comparisons of countries, such as Australia and New Zealand
Country profiles 
Voyager searches
Use these Voyager searches to find selected titles providing country overviews:
Databases and selected websites
- Background notes [website] from the US Department of State
- Business Monitor Online [database]
This database has country updates and country forecasts. There are country political, business and economic outlooks.
- CIAO : Columbia International Affairs Online [database]
Use the Maps/Country data link on the left side of the screen.
- Center for Intercultural Learning [website]
from Foreign Affairs Canada is particularly useful for international business and management in that it gives perspectives on first contact, workplace, national heroes, stereotypes as well as brief country information.
- Chatham House has resources on China and India [website]
- Coface [website]
Coface ratings includes strengths and weaknesses for countries. See also the Handbook of country risk
- Country commercial guides and Market research library from Export.gov [website]
- Country information [website]
from Austrade. Select a country and look at the Country profile for information on doing business with, country overview, plus selected industry profiles.
- Country Insights [website]
links from GlobalEDGE. 'Current information on the business climate, news, history, political structure, economic landscape, and relevant statistical data are provided in a region and country-specific format'. Includes links to the US country commercial guides and the BBC country profiles. Country relations [website]
This site from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade includes information for a region as well as the countries constituting that region. As well as country overviews there is also information on relations with New Zealand.
- CountryWatch
Country review. Search the Business Source Premier database. Each year a separate review is published for each country. The country reviews have separate chapters on country overview, political overview, investment overview (including foreign investment with some brief information about procedure and regulations), economic overview, social overview and environmental overview.
Type the country name and the words country review and change the 'in' box to SO Publication name.
eg slovenia country review
- Economist Intelligence Unit
- Country briefings. [website] Recent articles, country economic data plus summaries of information found in more detail in the Country profiles.
- Country profile. Search the Business Source Premier database. Published once a year and supplemented by the Country reports. As well as profiles for individual countries, there is also a report for the European Union. Usually covers basic data, politics, the economy, resources and infrastructure, economic sectors, and the external sector. Type the country name and the words country profile and change the 'in' box to SO Publication name.
eg european country profile . NOTE : these reports are no longer being published by the EIU. Latest available are for 2008
- Country report. Search the Business Source Premier database. Usually published each month although there are some gaps. Note there is also a 6 month embargo on the electronic full text. As well as reports for individual countries there is also a report for the European Union. Generally there is an outlook for the next 2 years, coverage of the domestic economy, economic policy, and the political structure and scene. Type the country name and the words country report and change the 'in' box to SO Publication name.
eg germany country report
- EIU Viewswire. Search the ABI/Inform database. EIU Viewswire has brief overviews for countries and the European Union. General topics covered include business, economy, politics, finance, regulations and risk wire. There are several search methods eg type: pmid(65888) and france OR drill down via the publication search tab in ABi/Inform
- ELDIS Regional and country profiles [website]
Excellent resource for development studies. Includes links to documents from official agencies. Areas profiled include Africa south of the Sahara, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Europa World Plus
Brief geo-political, social and economic data and overviews of countries and regions.. Comprehensive bibliographies provided, eg. for looking further into a country's economic history
- FAO Geographical & Regional Information [website]
For each country there is information on sustainable development, the economic situation including trade data, agriculture/forestry/fishery sectors, FAO's field of expertise and general information.
- FDI.net [website] World Bank country research with a focus on foreign direct investment. Go to the Information Locator, in the top left column, and click on the industry sector and country you're interested in.
- FITA Country profiles [website]
includes mini portals for selected countries and regions. Useful overview information.
- Global insight
Country monitor. Search the Business Source Premier database. Usually published each month. Can cover: analyses, statistics, and forecasts on the economy...policy issues under consideration...state of business confidence within the country...developments affecting consumer markets for the country concerned. Type the country name and the words country monitor and change the 'in' box to SO Publication name.
eg denmark country monitor
- Global Market Information Database
from Euromonitor. There are a collection of consumer lifestyle reports. These are not available for every country. The reports usually include sections on the population, consumer segments, regional development, income, health, education, eating/drinking habits, leisure, savings, home ownership rather than economic, historical and political comment. To show a list of available reports, type consumer lifestyles into the search box. Leave a tick next to Market Reports and a dot next to Title.
- IMF country information [website]
has reports and publications arranged by country. The country reports are particularly informative. Emphasis is on economic conditions.
- Library of Congress BE Online
Useful metasite of country information including links to background notes, country guides, commercial briefings.
- MarketNewZealand.com [website]
Country briefs (pdf files, usually around 10 pages), from NZTE, include sector opportunities, market entry advice, and regulatory issues.
- OECD country web sites [website]
Statistical profiles, publications and documents, information by topic.
- OECD economic surveys [database + print]
These are 'in-depth reviews of Member countries' economies and selected non-Member countries'. The surveys are fairly substantial (usually around 200 pages), and compliment the country reviews/reports on the Business Source Premier database. Chapters usually cover the economic situation, fiscal policy issues, product market competition, and growth. There is also an appendix of basic statistics for the latest year for each OECD country and the Euro area. The surveys are accessible fulltext online (pdf files) via the SourceOECD database and in print form in the Statistics Collection, Level M. Note that the print copies cannot be borrowed.
- OECD Regions at a Glance
Presents regional economic indicators, in graphs and maps "in order to identify those regions that outperform their country as a whole or the OECD area and those that lag behind". Indicators include the dispersion of population, output (GDP), industrial concentration, employment growth and innovation (patents).
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation: OPIC [website]
Country information is under the Investors' Info Gateway link. For each country there are links to the CIA World Factbook, the Library of Congress Country Portal, US State Department Background Notes plus a wide variety of other links by topic.
- Portals to the world [website]
From the Library of Congress this site has 'description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world'
- PRS Group
Political risk yearbook:...country forecast. Search the Business Source Premier database. Published once a year. Consists of country conditions and country forecasts and includes highlights, background, country data, comment and analysis, forecast scenarios, political framework, investment climate, and climate for trade. Type the country name and the words political risk and change the 'in' box to SO Publication name.
eg political risk italy
- UC atlas of global inequality
maps foreign investment, trade, economic crises, digital divide, plus has data for individual countries.
- World Factbook [website]
has very brief country overviews plus basic latest statistics.
Doing business in...
- Deloitte International Tax and Business Guides
Designed to help potential investors understand the investment climate, operating conditions, and tax system of most major trading jurisdictions.
- Doing business: benchmarking business regulations
From the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation, 'The Doing Business Database provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement. The Doing Business indicators are comparable across 145 economies. They indicate the regulatory costs of business and can be used to analyze specific regulations that enhance or constrain investment, productivity and growth'. Data, from 2002 onwards, are also on the World Development Indicators database.
- World Bank Enterprise Surveys
Use the Generate Economy Snapshot option to view investment climate by country - covers bureaucracy, corruption, the legal system, finance, infrastructure, taxes, trade and more.
- Doing business in... from HLB International.
For each country there is usually a general overview and sections on investment factors, types of business organisations, taxation and business visitor hints.
- Doing business in... from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
This site includes links to the HLB guides, to the Business snapshots in the World Bank Doing Business database, and to selected other Doing business guides including some Ernst & Young guides
See also Industry guide - NZ Industry and Product Information
Ratings and rankings
The World Bank has a quick reference tables which explain the different ways of measuring an economy and how this can be reflected in rankings (GNI, Atlas method, GDP, PPP).
Foreign Investment Advisory Service has a good list of resources. Most of these are also listed separately below. Note that some of the resources listed on the FIAS site are available as subscription only but may be available via other resources held by the Library.
- Anholt Nation Brands Index
'consumers are surveyed on their perceptions of the cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of each nation'. Registration (free) required.
- Big Mac Index
An annual feature in the Economist from 1997 onwards. 'The index was set up ... as a light-hearted guide to gauge whether currencies are at their correct level.'
- Business Monitor Online [database]
BMIs own ratings for country risk. Use the Risk ratings link under the Data and forecasts tab. Ratings are also included in the various outlook reports on the Country forecasts link under the BMI reports tab. Ratings can also be ranked. 'BMI's Risk Rating System each month ranks major global markets in terms of five risk ratings, covering political stability (short- and long-term), economic performance and outlook (short- and long-term), financial vulnerability, the business operating and investment climate, and a composite rating. Short-term ratings are more liable to revision due to everyday political and economic life, and reflect the concerns of portfolio investors. Long-term ratings are less liable to change and reflect structural changes impacting on FDI levels.' There is no time series data.
- Coface [website]
Coface ratings and Country risk ratings
- Country risk ratings
Subtitled 'Guide to country analysis resources on the web' .
- Corporate corruption / ethics indices
2004 from the World Bank
- Corruption Perceptions Index
via the Internet Centre for Corruption Research. Scores and rankings from 1995 onwards with some historical data (aggregated) from 1980 to 1992. Also available on the Transparency International website.
- Corruption surveys and indices
Transparency International also does a Global Corruption Barometer and a Bribe Payers Survey.
- Country finance. (EIU) [database]
Search the Factiva database. Type rst=CFIN and "sovereign debt ratings" and country name in the search box. Ratings are from Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch. Also given are the EIU country risk ratings for political risk, economic policy risk, economic structure risk, liquidity risk plus overall score and rating. There is no time series data.
- CPIA Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (World Bank)
'Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) annually assesses the quality of IBRD and IDA borrowers’ policy and institutional performance in areas relevant to economic growth and poverty reduction. Country assessments began in the World Bank in the late 1970s to help guide the allocation of lending resources' . Click here for brief methodological information. Note that generally the World Bank does not make the information publicly available. See information about this and information on the methodologies. There have been some brief data releases:
2003 data in quintiles from the World Bank
2003 data in ratings from the Citizens Network on Essential Services.
2002 data in quintiles from the World Bank
- Cultural distance
See Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions
See also Cultural Distance and Valuation of Multinational Corporations by Murad Antia, J. Barry Lin and Christos Pantzalis [pdf]
- Doing ebusiness in...
The EIU's e-business readiness rankings for countries.
- EIU risk rating
EIU overall risk rating in monthly & quarterly data, mostly from 2000 onwards, is available on Datastream.
- Economic Freedom of the World (Fraser Institute).
Complete data sets and reports. Data from 1970 onwards but not for every consecutive year. Includes ratings on taxes on international trade, mean tariff rate, judicial independence, integrity of the legal system, government consumption, top marginal tax rates, regulation on credit and business and labour market regulations. Data sources are mainly the World Development Indicators, the IMF International Financial Statistics and Government Finance Statistics, and the Global Competitiveness Report. Also accessible via the Cato Institute.
- Euromoney
This magazine has a semi annual Euromoney country risk survey, usually in the March and September issues. It is a 'rating of the political and economic performances of 185 sovereign countries.' There are also regional rankings. 'To obtain the overall country risk score, Euromoney assigns a weighting to nine categories. These are political risk (25% weighting), economic performance (25%), debt indicators (10%), Debt in default or rescheduled (10%), credit ratings (10%), access to bank finance (5%), access to short-term finance (5%), access to capital markets (5%), forfaiting (5%).' Use the Business Source Premier database for the more recent rankings.
- FDI indices from UNCTAD
has rankings from 1988 onwards for inward and outward performance benchmarking 'inward FDI performance and potential, ranking countries by how they do in attracting inward direct investment'
- Global competitiveness report (World Economic Forum)
Print version shelved at S3/WEF COMg. Wide range of topics covered including infrastructure, technology, finance, government including institutional stability and public sector confidence, openness, and institutions including judiciary independence and legal corruption.
- Global Socio-Economic Security Database
from the Socio-Economic Security Programme of the ILO. A related publication is Economic security for a better world which has rankings for the Labour market security index, the employment protection security index, the Job security index, the Skill security index, the Work security index, the Representation security index, the Income security index, and the Economic security index (no time series data).
- Globalization index
The annual A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Globalization Index is published in the Foreign policy journal (in the Jan/Feb issue for 2001-2003, in the March/April issue for 2004). Countries are ranked on the following: economic, personal, technological, political, trade, FDI, portfolio, investment income, telephones, travel, remittances, internet users and servers, secure servers, international organisations, UN peace keeping, treaties and government transfers.
- Governance data
from the World Bank includes the Governance indicators dataset which has 'indicators for almost 200 countries for 1996 onwards, for six dimensions of governance: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, and Control of Corruption.
- Human development indicators from the Human development report
from the UN gives countries an overall HDI rank. No time series data. Print reports are at S1/UN-DP DEVh.
- ICRG International Country Risk Guide data [database]
is on the World Development Indicators database. Most data starts from 1984 onwards but is not available for every country. The 'Composite ICRG risk rating is an overall index, ranging from 0 to 100 (highest risk to lowest), based on 22 components of risk'.
- Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation).
Began in 1995. The Index of Economic Freedom 'measures 161 countries against a list of 50 independent variables divided into 10 broad factors of economic freedom: trade policy, fiscal burden of government, government intervention in the economy, monetary policy, foreign investment, banking, wages and prices, property rights, regulation, and informal market activity. Use the Downloads tab to download an .xls table of all scores for all countries from 1995 onwards. Use the Countries tab to view the latest scores and comment for a specific country.
- Investment climate surveys
from the World Bank. 'Investment climate surveys (ICS) measure entrepreneurs' perceptions of the investment climate in their country, and provide indicators of firm productivity and performance'. Covers 51 countries.
- Institutional investor [database + print]
This magazine has a semi annual list of country credit ratings - online via the Business Source Premier database (or use the Voyager serial title record and search within the journal on Business Source Premier using country credit as the search term). Ratings have tended to be in the March and September issues.
- KOF Index of globalization
'The index measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic, social, and political. In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, we calculate an overall index of globalization and sub-indices referring to actual economic flows, economic restrictions, data on personal contact, data on information flows, and data on cultural proximity. Data are available on a yearly basis for 123 countries over the period 1970-2003.' From the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and the Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research.
- Market potential indicators
from GlobalEDGE 'ranking the market potential of 24 countries identified as "Emerging Markets" by The Economist.'
- Product market regulation
from the OECD 'are a comprehensive and internationally-comparable set of indicators that measure the degree to which policies promote or inhibit competition in areas of the product market where competition is viable. They measure the economy-wide regulatory and market environments in OECD countries in (or around) 1998 and 2003 and are consistent across time'. state control of business enterprises; legal and administrative barriers to entrepreneurship; barriers to international trade and investment.
- Overall trade restrictiveness indices
from the World Bank. Includes measures of both tariff and non-tariff barriers.
- S&P/IFC investable index (annual % change) [database]
is on the World Development Indicators database. The 'S&P/IFC investable index price change is the U.S. dollar price change in the stock markets covered by the S&P/IFCI country index, supplemented by the S&P/IFCG country index.' Data is very patchy in countries covered and in start years (earliest year is 1996).
- Standard & Poors sovereign ratings.
Latest country credit ratings. No time series data
- Trade and Development Index
from UNCTAD. Country rankings.
- World Audit
Ratings and rankings for democracy, political rights, civil liberties, press freedom, and corruption. For each country there are also links through to many other well know rankings.
- World Competitiveness Yearbook.
A study of the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analyzing how a nation’s environment sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. Includes economic performance, government and business efficiency, and infrastructure and within these looks at a country's 10 strongest and ten weakest criteria. Some data is also online on the IMD website.
- World governance research indicators dataset 1996 -2004
from the World Bank
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