globalEDGE International Business Blog

Collecting, compiling, and organizing international business data is difficult and costly. Many scholars and firms do not have the resources necessary to conduct rigorous international business research. Finding comparable time series data is also a labor intensive task. These complexities often mean that international business studies include a smaller sample of countries and firms, often without the desirable power and quality. Have you ever been assigned a research project and don't know where to start? Are you looking for key statistics about a country when deciding whether or not to expand your business there? Look no further than globalEDGE's Database of International Business Statistics!

The Database of International Business Statistics (DIBS) will allieviate much of the stress you will feel when trying to compile all of this data. All of this data is in an easily accesible database, and the best part is, it's free! All you need to do is register. Here's a little sampling of the data (look at all that you can learn using DIBS!):
 

• The average American consumes 4.2 kilograms of coffee per year - In 1978, the average Aruban consumed 121.4 kg per year.

• The number of passenger cars per 1000 people in America has declined from around 570 to 470 in the past 10 years. 
• America has 8 Transfrontier Protected Area Complexes. 
• There are 695 amphibian species in Brazil, and almost 650 in Columbia.
• There is one extinct reptile species in the U.S. Couldn’t tell you what it is though.
• In 2002, the U.S. imported 769,501 live lizards.
• El Salvador exported 664,260 lizards.
• In 2002, Mexico imported 249,267 crocodilian skins, while Columbia exported 547,650.
• Italy imported 39,304 wild cat skins in 2000.
• Japan imported 7,687 live tortoises in 2002.
• There were 27,625,095 tractors in use in 2003.
• China edges out India for most cropland by 10,000 square kilometers with around 2 million.
• Canada has the biggest coastline, and the largest amount of bodies of water.
• Percent of GDP military expenditures for U.S. around 4%, higher than most but not the highest.
• 41.1% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa are living on 1 dollar a day. 72% on 2 dollars a day.
• Mexico has the most organic farms with 120,000.
• Somalia is the most corrupt country according the the corruptions perceptions index.
• Niger has the fastest growing population with 3.44 average annual % change.
• Aruba is the most trade dependent with trade as 172.5% of gdp in 2006.
• Luxembourg has the highest GDP per person with 87,490 in 2006.

Enjoy!

Many companies launch a new product and enjoy high sales if the product is successful, but somewhere along the line they forget that it will not be as profitable infinitely. The business world today is extremely competitive, especially since there are many products that differentiate very slightly from each other. Therefore, spending some time to think on possible ways to improve a product should constantly be on the daily agenda.

“Ladies and gentlemen welcome aboard flight 283 nonstop service to Tokyo. Our flight time today is 11 hours and 45 minutes. Please make sure that all carry-on items are....”

It’s no secret that large corporations have been under speculation for overspending on top executives. Extravagant trips and parties for these executives seem to be a thing of the past, at least for the time being. Once it was leaked how some executives were being treated, companies began to cut back. In the fall of 2008 there was a major drop in business travel which hurt the hotel and flight industries. Will it ever bounce back to where it was, or are companies looking at other options?

Now is the time to think about ways to expand your international sales!  The United States Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration has just started a new series of webinars to help businesspeople learn about topics ranging from identifying new international markets to understanding export controls.

Are you an American small business owner? Here's an interesting fact for you: 95% of your prospects live outside the U.S. But you're just a small and measly company, how could you possibly access this vast global demand? Why the internet of course! You usually don't think of selling a product online as exporting, but it is. Starting small is a great way to go, but as a small firm if you want to grow, you may need a lot of help. How exactly do you develop and excecute a comprehensive exporting plan without much knowledge?

It is finally here! China recently opened a chocolate theme park in Beijing. It contains five indoor pavilions with controlled temperature so that the chocolate does not melt as well as two outdoor sites. They offer displays of various chocolate made objects such as replicas of the Terracotta Army, the Great Wall, famous paintings, and other items such as shoes or sports equipment, and a full size BMW. Tina Cheng, who will be operating the park, said that visitors will be offered a full chocolate experience - they will be able to see, touch, taste, and purchase the different chocolate items. 

When you own or work at a business that operates internationally, your marketing strategies are going to vary a little bit from that of local business strategies. Yet, a budget still needs to be established. To do that, the right questions need to be asked and answered. What options do you have, and how do you know if the money you are investing for marketing is giving you the return you want?

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. unveiled its new enormous cruise ship last month. It has been named ‘The Oasis of the Seas’, and rightfully so. Onboard passengers will have access to countless restaurants, clubs, spas and bars. They will be able to try surfing, scuba diving, zip lining, or even see a Broadway show. These are just a few of the activities that are available on this colossal ship. Obviously, customers are extremely excited about this new ship.

One of the quirkier tools used to examine the Purchasing Power Parity between two currencies has been the Big Mac hamburger, responsible for being the basis of The Economist’s Big Mac Index, which compares the price of Big Mac hamburgers in each country. It may be difficult, however, to apply the Big Mac index to Iceland’s króna, as the hamburger giant has pulled out of the country. Don’t pity Iceland, however. Fast Company’s Robert Walcott and Michael Lippitz visited Iceland in December, and are quite optimistic regarding its potential.