One of the reasons to explain why CAR is underdeveloped in countries other than the United States is the absence of computerized electronic databases. At meetings with reporters from all over the world, I have been asked this question on several occasions: "I'm green with envy, we don't have those resources in my home country what can we do?"
My answer is twofold. You can reenact the work of medieval monks - or nuns by manually creating your own databases, or you can search for information about your country somewhere else outside the national borders. There are a number of databases and online resources kept by American public agencies, companies and institutions that can be helpful when doing international research.
Business
Securities and Exchange Commission Data, Free Edgar: www.freEedgar.com/ 10K Wizard: http://10kwizard.com/ These web sites offer a free full-text search of SEC filings as well as other useful tools to background every publicly traded company in the United States, no matter whether the company is American or not. Both Free Edgar and 10K Wizard include information - such as the registration statement or the financial annual reports - that is easily turned into Excel spreadsheets for further analysis. One extremely useful feature is the electronic alert service that will send e-mail notifications when any of the companies in the Watchlist submits an electronic filing to the SEC. For an explanation on using Free Edgar and 10K Wizard, request tipsheet #1138 from the IRE Resource Center.
Campaign finance
Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org/2000elect/lookup/AllCands.htm
The Center for Responsive Politics defines itself as "a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy." The donor lookup database retrieves individual and soft money contributions that are above $200.00. To find out how much money employers of foreign companies with offices in the United States are giving to the American presidential candidates, try to enter the name of a company in the Occupation/Employer field.
Demographics
The International Data Base. Census Bureau's International Programs Center, www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html
The International Data Base (IDB) contains statistical tables of demographic and socioeconomic data for 227 countries and areas of the world. For some countries, the data goes back as far as 1950 and as far ahead as 2050. You can download a zip file that contains the files and instructions necessary for installing the actual International Data Base in your computer, or you can import specific tables into most spreadsheet programs.
Law
Private International Law Database. Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law. Department of State, www.state.gov/www/global/legal_affairs/private_intl_law.html
This Web site provides information on current negotiations and projects covering the private international law of such areas as trade and commerce, finance and banking, trusts and estates, family and children matters, and international judicial assistance.
Arms
World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 1997. U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, www.state.gov/www/global/arms/wmeat97/wmeat97.html The ACDA collects data on international arm sales, arm treaties, and military expenditures.
The annual reports include PDF tables by region, organization, country, major supplier and recipient country. For a quick tip on how to import PDF tables, check Tom McGinty's article on the July/August 1999 Uplink issue.
Noemi Ramirez can be reached by e-mail at noemi@ire.org