Library Guides: International Business: Business Environments

Business and Commercial Conditions

globalEDGE This link opens in a new window
A web portal for international business professionals with a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities. Includes Ease of Doing Business index.
A knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities. Features include trade statistics, rankings of corporations by country/region, and indices for a range of factors such as Ease of Doing Business and Global Competitiveness. This platform was created by the International Business Center and the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University (IBC), and is partially funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI B grant (CIBE program).

Country Commercial Guides
Reports and insights on market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business customs prepared by U.S. Embassies worldwide.
World Bank Business Ready (B-READY)
Very detailed information for conducting business in economies around the world. Includes reports and data covering regulatory frameworks, public services, and operational efficiency.
Deloitte International Tax Source
DITS is an online database featuring tax rates information and country tax highlights for over 130 jurisdictions worldwide.
World Bank Enterprise Surveys
(WBES) are nationally representative firm-level surveys with top managers and owners of businesses in over 150 economies that provide insight into many business environment topics such as access to finance, corruption, infrastructure, and performance.

Economic, Political, and Legal Conditions

CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online This link opens in a new window
The world’s largest online resource of documents and articles devoted to research, analysis, and scholarship on international politics and related fields.
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is the world’s largest online resource of full-text documents and articles devoted to research, analysis, and scholarship on international politics and related fields, including security studies, global finance, diplomatic practice, humanitarian law, global governance, development studies, and environmental studies. The material in CIAO encompasses working papers, reports, policy briefs, and current analysis and commentary, as well as scholarly journal articles, e-books, and videos. Contribution to this cross-searchable library comes from government research organizations, independent think tanks, university analysis centers, and scholarly journals.
Public Affairs Index This link opens in a new window
Covers all aspects of national and global public policy issues, including public health, the environment, housing, civil rights and international commerce.
This bibliographic database covers all aspects of national and global public policy issues, including public health, the environment, housing, civil rights and international commerce. It includes thousands of indexed journals, conference papers, trade publications, and government documents. Subjects covered include banking & public finance, criminal justice, economic policy & taxation, education & education policy, emigration & immigration, energy & energy policy, ethics, government, humanitarian issues, industry & labor, law & legislation, natural disasters & poverty, politics & elections, social policy, and transportation.

Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international research and advocacy organization that investigates and reports on human rights issues.
Pew Research Center: International Affairs
Articles reporting on research on many areas of international affairs, including current events, global economy and trade, and related topics
Political Risk Yearbook
Annual publications providing political, economic, and financial risk ratings and analysis for 100 countries important to international business.
Transparency International
A global coalition focused on corruption; offers the Corruption Perception Index and Global Corruption Barometer reports.
US Department of State: Countries and Areas
Fact sheets, travel information, and details of US relations with different countries and regions of the world.
World Economic Forum Centre for Regions, Trade and Geopolitics
Research and reports on political and economic environments impacting trade. Includes annual publication of The Global Cooperation Barometer.
WTO Trade Concerns Database
The Trade Concerns Database allows users to view profiles of WTO member countries where trade concerns raised in WTO committee meetings are documented.