Research Guides: BUSMHR 7022: Global Applied Projects: Open Sources

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Google Think Tank Search

Directories

World Chambers Network
Directory of local Chambers of Commerce around the world.
Kompass
Basic information in a B2B directory covering 60+ countries.
Open Think Tank Directory
To help you find think tanks around the world that might have done research specifically on your problem/topic.

National Statistical Agency Websites

One of the best places to search for country-specific data is via national government websites. Many countries have a national statistical agency, and this is a great place to start searching for statistics. A lot of other government agencies also tend to collect and report data. There may be a ministry of finance, for instance, or a housing authority, etc. Often these websites may also have relevant information, though how much is translated into English varies widely.

Country Information

U.S. Commercial Service - Country Commercial Guides
These guides include important considerations for doing business in a country: government stability, economic outlook, regulations, investment climate, etc.
globalEDGE
Free resource for global business knowledge; web portal combining information from many sources.
CIA World Factbook
Overview information on history, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, etc.
The World Bank - Doing Business...
Annual publication. A series of reports measuring regulations that impact business activity in 190 economies. Regulation areas include: starting a business, construction permits, registering property, paying taxes, trading across borders and more...
OECD
Search publications by nation or topic; most useful potentially Economic Outlook (annual publication).
Northwestern Libraries - List of Foreign Governments
A guide that includes links to a large number of government agency websites around the world. A good place to look for data regarding particular issues in your nation.
LexMundi - Guides to Doing Business
Guides provide information regarding country overviews, economic information, government information, environmental considerations and more.

International Statistics/Data

GapMinder
Data from many different sources. Topic areas include economy, education, environment, health, infrastructure, labor data...
UN Comtrade
Commodity trade statistics, by HS code up to 6 digits.
World Trade organization - Trade and Tariff Data
UNCTADSTAT
Foreign direct investment statistics.
World Bank Open Data
Freely available economic data by country, including Trade indicators.
World Development Indicators
Topic areas covered include agriculture and food security, health, poverty, urban development and much more.