MBA Country Project

Welcome to Laurier Library's MBA Country Project course guide. This guide provides information sources to help you identify and evaluate international business opportunities. You might also want to visit the Company Research Guide for resources that will help you research your chosen publicly traded Canadian company. You can find links to video tutorials to the right under Key links.

Use the links below to navigate to the different sections of this guide.

• Company Listings
• Country Profiles
• Country Risk
• Competitiveness Factors
• Regulatory Environment
• International Trade
• Foreign Investment
• Industry Reports and Forecasts
• Cultural Intelligence
• E-books
• Citing Sources

Company Listings

The resources provided here will help you generate company lists based on a NAICS code. Use our video tutorial: Build a Company List for help with this process.

Scott's Canadian Directories

Creates lists of companies based on a number of criteria of your choosing. To create a list follow these steps:

Click on ‘Connect to Resource’ > Click on ‘Login’ and then ‘Account login’ >Under ‘Products’ click on ‘NAICS’ and the ‘All NAICS’ > Click on down arrow and then click on your assigned NAICS code > Click on a NAICS sub-category in ‘Available Search Value’ and then click ‘Select’ to move the item into the ‘Selected Search Value’ box. Repeat for other sub-categories, if desired. > Click ‘Search’. A list of companies appear.

Lexis-Nexis Academic

You can also generate a company list in LexisNexis, using either an industry's NAICS or SIC code.

Country profiles

The resources listed under Quick country facts provide easily accessible quantitative country information, often graphically displayed in tables and charts. The resources listed under Detailed country analyses provide contextual information and interpretation.

Quick country facts

BBC News Country Profiles

Provides a quick guide to the economics, politics and history of countries and territories, including quick facts, profiles of political leaders, an overview of the media market and a chronology of key events.

CIA's World Factbook

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency provides country-specific information, including country profiles and select data.

Mergent Online

Provides country statistical data. Select a country from the drop down menu under "Country Profile" (found on the right side, under the calendar). Mergent Online is available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

UNdata Country Data Services

Provides statistical data on a variety of topics, as well as global, country and regional profiles.

Can be browsed either by database or by country/global region, or can be searched by keyword.

U.S. Department of State - Country Fact Sheets

Provides information on U.S. relations, assistance, economic relations and other facts relative to other countries.

World Bank: World Development Indicators

The World Bank's principal data source on the global economy, including demographic, social, economic, financial, natural resources and environmental indicators for more than 200 countries and 18 country groups.

First select your country by searching or browsing the country list. Then expand the Series to select individual variables. Finally, click Time at the bottom to select the year(s) for which you want statistics. View data as a table, chart or map by selecting an output icon at the top right.

Detailed country analyses

ABI/INFORM Complete

Find country forecasts in ABI/INFORM Complete, which contains the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Country Finance and Forecast Reports. Once in the database, click the "Browse" link at the top, then select the link to the EIU Finance and Forecast Reports under Country Reports.* Scroll down and click on the link next to "forecasts." You can filter the results by country on the right under "Narrow results by."

*Additional country reports are available, including the Oxford Analytica Country Profiles.

Europa World Online

Covers political and economic information and selected data on countries and organizations worldwide. Select a country from the drop-down menu and hit "Go." Europa World Online is available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

globalEDGE - Global Insights

Global Insights provides international business and trade information on over 200 countries, 50 U.S. states, as well as nearly two dozen industry sectors, and many of the world’s trade blocs. Under "Get globalEDGE Insights", select from one of the four options: "By Trade Bloc", "By country", "By State", or "By Industry".

Marketline Advantage

Includes country analysis - PESTLE. Type in country name then select "Countries" from drop-down menu beside the magnifying glass. Click the search icon. Available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

Passport GMID

Passport Country Profiles provide an overview of government, economy and society, including a statistical summary of the business environment sourced from the World Bank's Doing Business publication. See Passport's Business Environment reports for a detailed discussion of the business environment and/or the World Bank's Doing Business. Links to both are provided in the Regulatory Environment section of this guide.

To access Country Profiles, click on the Menu Search >> select Countries and Consumers, ensuring your selection is added to the Category Summary box >> Click "Now Choose Geographies" >> use the + sign to expand options and make your country selection(s) >> click Run Search >> under by Analysis on the left column, select country reports. Available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

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Country risk

Coface

Find country risk assessments for 160 countries, along with information on payment methods, debt collection and insolvency trends. Select a country from the drop-down menu and click "Go."

Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR)

Published semi-annually by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Lexis Nexis Academic

Offers country analysis, country briefings, country risk guides. From main page, click "Search by Content Type", then under "People, Places and Things", select the "Country Information". Type in country name in search box. Click on "Advanced Options" and select same country from the drop-down menu, specify date and select the sources you want to search then click "Apply". Click "Search". Available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

Watch the video tutorial Country risk: Lexis Nexis Academic

Passport GMID

Euromonitor provides Risks and Vulnerabilities reports to assess the current economic situation across 85 core countries. In addition to an socioeconomic overview, each report provides information on socio-political risks, the importance of the external sector, the country's financial stability and geopolitical risks.

To access the Country Briefings on Risks and Vulnerabilities, select Economy, Finance and Trade under the Countries and Consumers tab at the top. Under Analysis Finder on the left, select Country Briefing from the drop-down menu. Then select a country from the drop-down menu (use the + sign to expand the options next to regions). Click "Go." See also the Business Environment reports. Passport GMID is available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

Political Risk Yearbook

Country reports with political and economic information. Developed by PRS (Political Risk Services), the Political Risk Yearbook provides reports for more than 100 countries, including political and economic risk analysis. Information includes developing markets, currency movements, capital investments, and corporate security.

World Investment and Political Risk

"World Investment and Political Risk examines general trends in the global economy and FDI, corporate perceptions of political risk and risk-mitigation strategies, as well as the latest developments in the Political Risk Insurance industry."

Worldwide Governance Indicators

"The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project reports aggregate and individual governance indicators for 215 economies over the period 1996–2012, for six dimensions of governance: voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption."

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Competitiveness factors

Competitive Alternatives: KPMG's Guide to International Business Location Costs

"Competitive Alternatives 2014 compares business costs and other competitiveness factors in more than 100 cities, in 10 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States."

Global Competitiveness Report

The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 assesses the competitive landscape of 148 countries. Find country rankings, country highlights and information on sustainable competitiveness. See also the the Benchmarking and Competitiveness Library for additional resources, including reports on regions, information technology and trade & supply chains.

Global Services Location Index

A.T. Kearney's Global Services Location Index "analyzes and ranks the top 50 countries worldwide as the best destinations for providing outsourcing activities, including IT services and support, contact centers and back-office support."

Index of Economic Freedom

The Index of Economic Freedom is published annually by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation and "covers 10 freedoms – from property rights to entrepreneurship – in 186 countries."

Logistics Performance Index

"The Logistics Performance Index is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance. The LPI 2014 allows for comparisons across 160 countries. The LPI is based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground (global freight forwarders and express carriers), providing feedback on the logistics “friendliness” of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade."

Labour relations and regulations

International Labor Comparisons (ILC)

Provided by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the International Labor Comparisons (ILC) data offers comparative cross-national statistics for common labour market indicators, wages and benefits, productivity, GDP and consumer prices. The International Labor Comparisons program is being continued by The Conference Board.

Key Indicators of the Labour Market (ILO)

The ILO's Key Indicators of the Labour Market provides country-level data on 18 labour market indicators from 1980 to the most recent year available.

See also the International Labor Organization's Global Wage Report 2012-13.

LABORSTA (ILO)

"View and download data and metadata for over 200 countries or territories from LABORSTA, an International Labour Office database on labour statistics operated by the ILO Department of Statistics."

UBS Prices and Earnings

A comparison of prices and earnings around the globe. The 2012 edition includes purchasing power for 72 cities in 58 countries.

Consumer spending

Global Consumption Database

The World Bank's Global Consumption Database "is a one-stop source of data on household consumption patterns in developing countries. It is designed to serve a wide range of users—from researchers seeking data for analytical studies to businesses seeking a better understanding of the markets into which they are expanding or those they are already serving."

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Regulatory environment

HLB International: Doing Business In Booklets

Most country reports include a general overview of the economy and information on foreign investment, labour relations, incorporation and taxation.

Passport: Business Environment

To access the Business Environment reports, select Business Environment under the Countries & Consumers tab at the top. Under Analysis Finder, use the drop-down menu to select Country Briefing. Then select a country from the other drop-down menu (use the + sign to expand the options next to regions). Click "Go." Passport GMID is available on the network but restricted to the Laurier community.

PKF: Doing Business in

PKF International Worldwide Tax Guide 2023-2024

Contains information on personal and business taxes for multiple countries. See also the tax guides for select individual countries.

Social Security Programs throughout the World

Published by the U.S. Social Security Administration in collaboration with the International Social Security Association, this publication, issued in four regional volumes (Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Africa and the Americas), presents the main features of the social security programs in more than 170 countries. Includes information on the regulatory framework governing old age security, disability, maternity, work injury and unemployment for each country, including the financial responsibility of employers in these areas.

World Bank's Doing Business

Provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement in 189 economies that allow for comparisons across countries and over time. The indicators include starting a business, getting construction permits, getting credit, getting electricity, registering property, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. These 10 indicators are included in the ease of doing business ranking. Measures of regulations on employing workers are included in the study but are not included in the rankings.

Additional Subnational Doing Business reports capture variations in business regulations and their enforcement within an economy, covering 355 cities in 55 economies. Doing Business Regional profiles are also available as are thematic reports that take a close cross-national comparative examination of a particular topic such as paying taxes or getting electricity.

World Bank's Doing Business: Economy Rankings

Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business overall, as well as on the ten individual indicators. Subnational ranking data is available for select countries.

Government transparency

Transparency International

Find information on corruption in government and other institutions globally. Transparency International ranks and examines corruption by topic including issues such as whistleblowing, access to information and public procurement and in industries such as forestry, oil and gas, education and the private sector. Also find information on corruption by country.

See also surveys such as the Global Corruption Barometer and indices such as the Corruption Perceptions Index and the Bribe Payers Index.

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International trade

Use the following resources to find international trade statistics, guides/policies for Canadian businesses exporting abroad and information on treaties and trading blocs.

Statistics

IMF eLibrary

Includes Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS), Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS), International Financial Statistics (IFS), and Government Finance Statistics (GFS)

OECD iLibrary

Find statistics, books, journals, working papers and reports on economic topics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). To search across all content types, use the drop-down menus to select a theme (i.e. Trade) and a country. Click the blue and white search icon. Look for the statistical periodical Monthly Statistics of International Trade, which is an excellent source for up-to-date trade statistics, including international comparisons. See also the OECD Statistics on International Trade in Services.

UN Comtrade

The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade) is a comprehensive trade database with import and export statistics from approximately 200 countries or areas with annual trade data from 1962 to the most recent year. The search query allows you to specify the commodity, the trade flow (imports or exports), the year(s) and the country partners. The typical output provides the trade value (in US dollars), the weight and quantity.

World Trade Organization Statistics Database

"This site provides a searchable database on international trade in merchandise and commercial services." Start by clicking "Go" next to Time Series on international trade, then click "Selection" in the left hand column. Follow the instructions on each page to specify your search criteria, each time advancing to the next step by clicking "continue" at the bottom right of the page. Read the Technical Notes for product definitions and to find out the members of reporter groups.

See the Trade Profiles for predefined information about the trade situation of WTO member countries. General macroeconomic indicators are also included. See the Tariff Profiles for information about the market access situation of WTO member countries and to make cross-country comparisons. See the Services Profiles for statistics on key infrastructure services (transportation, telecommunications, finance and insurance) for selected countries.

You can also download a PDF of the World Trade Organization's International Trade Statistics 2013 here.

Trade guides and policies

Canada Business Network: Exporting

Learn how Canadian companies can grow their business through an export venture. Find out about export financing, conducting export market research to find countries with customers for your product or service, logistics and exporting regulations.

Industry Canada. Import, Export and Investment: Business Beyond Borders

Information for Canadian exporters.

Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP)

"The Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP) provides a single entry point for information compiled by the WTO on trade policy measures. Containing information on over 25,000 measures, I-TIP covers both tariff and non-tariff measures affecting trade in goods as well as information on trade in services, regional trade agreements and the accession commitments of WTO members. Its aim is to serve the needs of those seeking detailed information on trade policy measures as well as those looking for summary information."

World Economic Forum. Global Enabling Trade Report 2014

". . .the Global Enabling Trade Report assesses the quality of institutions, policies and services facilitating the free flow of goods over borders and to their destinations. At the core of the report, the Enabling Trade Index benchmarks the performance of 138 economies in four critical areas: market access; border administration; transport and communications infrastructure; and regulatory and business environment. As a widely used reference, the report helps economies integrate global value chains and companies into their investment decisions. It informs policy dialogue and provides a tool to monitor progress on certain aspects of global trade."

Treaties and trading blocs

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

European Union (EU)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

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Foreign investment

UNCTADstat: Foreign Direct Investment Database

UNCTADstat includes all of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) statistical databases. The link above provides annual inward and outward FDI statistics for various economies from 1970-2012, including individual countries. You might also want to view FDI Country Fact Sheets and Country Profiles. Another resource is UNCTAD's World Investment Directory which "provides detail information about foreign direct investment in a country, comprising detail statistics on flows, stocks and TNC operations, disaggregated by components, industry and investor/recipient country."

OECD iLibrary

Find statistics, books, journals, working papers and reports on economic topics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). To search across all content types, use the drop-down menus to select a theme (i.e. Finance and Investment) and a country. Click the blue and white search icon.

FDI regulations

Investing Across Borders

"Investing Across Borders is a World Bank Group initiative comparing regulation of foreign direct investment around the world. It presents quantitative indicators on economies' laws, regulations, and practices affecting how foreign companies invest across sectors, start businesses, access industrial land, and arbitrate commercial disputes."

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Industry reports and forecasts

Use the resources listed below to find geographically-specific industry reports and forecasts, for example, the pharmaceuticals industry in the Asia-Pacific market or construction & engineering in Brazil.

ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry

ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry contains Business Monitor International (BMI) Industry Reports and First Research Industry Reports. To access the BMI Industry Reports, click the "Browse" link at the top, then select the link for BMI Industry Reports under Industry and Market Research. You can start browsing either by industry or by location. To find country-specific industry forecasts, click the "+" sign next to business forecasts to expand options. These BMI quarterly reports contain either 5 or 10-year forecasts.

Marketline

Marketline provides industry, company and country information.The unique industry analysis framework is based on Porter’s Five Forces and also includes expert future forecast analysis.

Watch the video tutorial International industry research: Marketline

Proquest Asian Business & Reference

Find popular and scholarly articles on your industry in a particular country, region or city by searching by NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes and geographic location. Tip: use the "Look up NAICS codes" and "Look up Locations" links to help target your search.

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Cultural intelligence

Centre for Intercultural Learning

The Centre for Intercultural Learning is part of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and is the country's "largest provider of intercultural and international training services for internationally-assigned government and private sector personnel." Select a country from the drop-down menu to find information on topics ranging from conversation styles to cultural stereotypes.

Kwintessential: Global Guide to Culture, Customs and Etiquette

The country profiles provide information on languages, cultures, etiquette and taboos. Each profile includes sections on dining etiquette, gift giving, conducting business meetings, business negotiations, business dress and the appropriate use of business cards. See also the lexicon of useful phrases for several of the major world languages.

World Values Survey

"The World Values Survey is a worldwide investigation of sociocultural and political change." The results of the most recent wave of surveys (2010-2014) will be released on the website on April 28-29 2014 and includes over 75 countries.

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E-Books

Watch the video tutorial: Finding eBooks

Citing sources

Avoid plagiarism by referring to these online quick guides and video tutorials to help you cite your sources correctly.

Manage citations with citation management software