Changes in the economy required business professionals and researchers to learn about new sources of information, as well as to expand their understanding of international business subjects. The sources, language, document coding, and definitions are different -- truly foreign. International Business Information was written to help business ......

This newly updated and expanded edition of a reference bestseller is the only work available that guides business researchers and librarians to the most valuable sources for information on international business--and shows how to interpret and use that data. The authors discuss the best available resources and how to use them to find answers to a wide range of questions about international business. They also describe business practices in various regions and countries, the basics of international trade and finance, international business organizations, and relevant political departments and agencies. Many exhibits and tables are included, and the book's appendices include glossaries, checklists for evaluating sources, and sample disclosure documents.

3 While all of these explanations seem to have merit, there is one dominant reason why the percentage of GDP and employment dedicated to services has continued to increase: low productivity. According to Baumol's cost disease hypothesis (Baumol, Blackman, and Wolff 1991), the growth in services is actually an illusion. The fact is that service-sector productivity is improving slower than that of manufacturing and thus, it seems as if we are consuming more services in nominal terms. However, in real terms, we are consuming slightly less services. That is, the increase in the service sector is caused by low productivity relative to manufacturing. The implication of Baumol's cost disease is the following. Assuming historical productivity increases for manufacturing, agriCUlture, education and health care, Baumol (1992) shows that the U. S. can triple its output in all sectors within 50 years. However, due to the higher productivity level for manufacturing and agriculture, it will take substantially more employment in services to achieve this increase in output. To put this argument in perspective, simply roll back the clock 100 years or so and replace the words manufacturing with agriculture, and services with manufacturing. The phenomenal growth in agricultural productivity versus manufacturing caused the employment levels in agriculture in the U. S. to decrease rapidly while producing a truly unbelievable amount of food. It is the low productivity of services that is the real culprit in its growth of GDP and employment share.

A research guide locating reliable sources on industry, markets, countries, products, and regulations for doing business internationally. The reference volume includes primary, secondary, and reference sources, periodicals, indexes, government documents and computerized sources available through February 1996. The 800 sources are annotated and provide, when appropriate, locator numbers for government documents and order numbers for book purchases. The guide does not list journal articles or dissertations. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

On globalization and world economy.