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International Business

Prepared by
Adele Barsh
University of California, San Diego
abarsh at ucsd.edu

For a resource guide about answering basic reference questions related to this topic, see the BRASS Core Competencies for Business Reference web page on International Business.

Published by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, this online equivalent contains economic, social, and political country profiles of countries. Included are maps and cultural information for international business. A high-profile link from many meta-sites.

A multilingual directory site of 500,000 companies in 30 European countries searchable by product, company name or business sector. Includes some company catalogs. There are links to business services such as phone directories, package tracking, currency converters, measure converters, world bank holidays calendar, newspapers, and online translators.

One-stop site for information and trade leads from the U.S. National Trade Data Bank (NTDB). Sections include trade news, current exchange rates, market and country research, international trade statistics, and current press releases. Of particular note are International Marketing Insight (IMI) Reports, Country Commercial Guides, and Country Background Notes.
$ Requires a subscription.

Home of Michigan State University's Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). Comprehensive starting point for global research. A meta-site with access to international business and trade information, economic trends and an index to information resources. Brief annotations are included for entries and site links.

A meta-site from @brint.com that provides access to global business, communication, import-export, linguistic, legal, marketing, media, monetary, public affairs, research, technology, trade, and travel information resources. Sites are concentrated in trade, technology, maps, and international phone and business directories, but this page also provides links to commonly-sought information about countries such as national flags, weather, and news feeds.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the world business organization. It links global chamber organizations and committees by country. There are also position papers on current topics in business, such as ethics, marketing, economic policy, etc.

Developed and maintained by International Trade Administration (ITA), U.S. Department of Commerce, this site includes a wealth of information on trade and industry statistics, market data, exporting, importing, and Big Emerging Markets (BEMs). ITA helps U.S. businesses participate in the global marketplace by working with industry to support American Jobs through Exports. Links to ITA programs and services.

Home page of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes 29 member countries that share principles of the market economy and produce 2/3 of the world's goods and services. Member governments collect data, monitor trends, analyze and forecast economic developments and also research social changes and trade patterns. Much of the site's content requires a subscription or purchase of individual publications; however, substantial introductory text is available free-of-charge, including frequently-requested statistics, news, and links to official websites of member countries.

This site, maintained by the University of Auckland Library, provides links to official organizations around the world that provide "freely and easily accessible" current statistical data (and some time series). Arrangement is by country, region and topic. Statistical sources cover vital statistics, industries, trade, economics, labor, energy, tourism, health, crime, education, social indicators, and more.

A wealth of information from Canada's Minister of Industry. Site is in English and French and includes a bilingual search feature. Organized in categories (company, trade and investment, business sector, economic analysis, research, financing, legislation, employment and consumer information), it also includes a news link.

An award-winning meta-site from University of North Carolina Charlotte maintained by Jeanie Welch. It provides over 2000 links to free sources of information that are in English. Table of contents organizes sites under comprehensive, regional and national (one country) categories. Provides links to full-text research, statistical tables and graphs, and other meta-sites.

The World Bank Group site contains development reports, resources on global economics and trade, and country and regional information. Current research projects and information on international development loans and activities are also included.