## 4.3 Country and regional information

Country information refers to the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental structure of a country.

Country or regional reports are important because its content can help you determine if the following may be of influence on your research:

- Government or industry regulations affecting operations
- Current or pending legislation that will be affecting operations
- Economic indicators that can affect operations
- Existing market barriers

To search strategically for country information we suggest the following approach:

Depending on your (research) assignment you need do decide what kind of country or region information you need. If you need to analyse the external environment of your company you might want to start with a general PESTLE from Marketline, and then specify it to your specific circumstances.

If you are considering expanding your business internationally you might want to look into country risk reports and the business culture practices. This information can be found in e.g. Marketline and EMIS but also at the many different external sources listed here.

It might also be interesting to research the (consumer) market of the countries you are considering. Insights in your consumer preferences and demands and your possible competitors can be valuable information in deciding if and where you should export.

Databases

- EMIS Professional
  Emerging Markets Information System. EMIS contains country analysis, company analysis, market analysis and news on emerging markets.
- Legal Intelligence
  European and Dutch legal and public sources.
- MarketLine Advantage
  Marketline provides market, branch and country reports – to be consulted by region or country – and often includes prognoses. In addition, this source includes SWOT, 5-forces and PESTLE analyses.
- One Business
  With One Business you search multiple business databases through one central interface. It contains articles as well as e-books, video's, (market) reports and various news sources.

External sources

- CIA World Factbook
  Information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
- IMF
  International Monetary Fund publications. Access IMF Publications including: World Economic Outlook, Global Financial Stability Report, Fiscal Monitor, Regional Economic Outlooks, Annual Reports, Country Reports, Policy Papers and Working Papers.
- OECD
  Many free publications with country information are available.
- UNCTADstat Country Profiles
  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development database.

A complete overview of relevant sources for researching a country can be found in the categories “Country Information", "Statistics (international)" and "Statistics (regional)" on the tab Weblinks of the Information sources per study programme -> RBS -> IB