Economics Research Guide

You'll find suggestions for locating books, articles, topical overviews, research tools, and factual information. Fo further assistance, please contact the subject librarian for Economics.

Laurie Bridges
E-mail: Laurie.Bridges@oregonstate.edu

Table of Contents

Locating Books Dictionaries
Locating Articles Encyclopedias
Electronic Journals Country Research
Locating Data Internet Directories for Economics
Statistics Sources Working papers

Locating Books
  • OSU Libraries Online Catalog
    The OSU Catalog contains only resources owned by OSU. If the book you are looking for isn't available in the OSU Catalog, use the Search in Summit (Orbis) Catalog button to expand your search. (Searching Tip)
  • Summit: Orbis Cascade Catalog
    The Summit Catalog lists materials at OSU and 26 other academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. You can only borrow books through Orbis. It is easy to request books that we don't own; they will arrive at the library in 3-4 workdays. (Searching Tip)

Locating Articles

OSU Libraries subscribes to the following databases that can be used to search for articles, conference proceedings and other information on economics topics. Some of the databases provide access to full-text of articles, some provide citatiations only.

  • EconLit -- Index only: 1969-present
    Index to research materials in economics from over 400 journals, over 500 collective volumes per year, plus books, dissertations, and working papers.
  • Business Source Premier
    I    ndexes 3,048 full-text scholarly journals, including nearly 1,000 peer-reviewed journals. Contains some regional business materials.
  • Social Sciences Citation Index -- Index only: 1999-present
    Index of cited articles from over 5000 journals in all areas of social science. Search by cited author, original author, title keywords or journal name.
  • Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
    A collection of business, industry and investment databases published by Standard & Poors, including such publications as Industry Surveys, Corporation Record, S&P Register, the Bond Guide, Stock Guide, Dividend Record and the Outlook.
  • Wall Street Journal
    Full text coverage is from 1984-present; however, this electronic access is only for articles and does not include stock quote pages or classified ads.

To find more article databases, go to the OSU Libraries Databases page.

Working Papers

  • AgEconSearch -- full-text
    AgEcon Search collects, indexes, and electronically distributes full text copies of scholarly research in the broadly defined field of agricultural economics including sub disciplines such as agribusiness, food supply, natural resource economics, environmental economics, policy issues, agricultural trade, and economic development.
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
    Nation's leading nonprofit economic research organization provides datasets as well as working papers.
  • Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) < http://www.repec.org/>
    Database of working papers, journal articles and software components.

 

Electronic Journals

Search for electronic versions of journals through the OSU Libraries online catalog, or check the OSU Libraries's Electronic Journal list for Economics.

Electronic Journal Collections

Country Research

  • RESOURCES IN THE LIBRARY
  • The Europa World Year Book ONLINE
    Also available in the library: Valley Reference Desk D2 .E79
    Comprehensive listing of international organizations and countries of the world. Includes summary information about the history,economic and government affairs of each country and statistics on economy, demographics, and industry.
  • World Development Indicators
    Valley Circulation CDROM HC59 .W68
    A source for international and economic data for developing countries and emerging markets. Consists of six sections covering: worldview,states and markets, people, global links, economy and environment.
  • ONLINE RESOURCES
  • Countries and Their Cultures
    More than 200 countries are documented in a myriad of ways in which culture defines and separates the nations of the world. Each country's shared values, behaviors and cultural variations are surveyed -- from foods and rituals to pastimes and arts. It contains more than 1,000 photographs and more than 200 maps.
  • Countries and Regions
    These profiles from the World Bank Group focus on developing countries, with snapshots of their development progress and more detailed reports of key indicators tracing the trends in social and economic development.
  • Library of Congress Country Studies
    A series of country studies that describe and analyze thepolitical, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions of a country and examine the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by culturalfactors.
  • U.S. Commercial Service: Market Research Library
    This site provides three different types of reports. Under report type select Country Commerical Guides which present a comprehensive look at countries' commercial environments. These guides are divided into areas of Economic Trends and Outlook; Political Environment; Marketing U.S. Products and Services; Leading Sectors for U.S. Exports and Investment; Trade Regulations and Standards; Investment Climate;Trade and Project Financing; and Business Travel.

Internet Directories for Economics

  • Library of Economics and Liberty
    Dedicated to advancing the study of economics, markets, and liberty. It offers a unique combination of resources including The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics; authoritative editions of classics in economics, and related works in history, political theory and philosophy; links to the most commonly-used economics data bases; reading lists and annotated bibliographies organized by topic, for those looking for ideas for further readings; links to other sites of interest.
  • WWW Virtual Library: Economics
    Consists of two resources; Resources for Economists on the Internet (RFE) and WWW Resources in Economics (WebEc). RFE lists over 1,200 resources in 96 sections and sub-sections available on the internet of interest to academic and practicing economists and WebEc lists and describes material of interest to academic economists.
  • Ag Econ Search
    Searchable, full-text library of the latest research in agricultural and applied economics.
  • Economic Growth Resources
    A large collection of economic growth links, including data sets, the Journal of Economic Growth, working papers, literature surveys, mailing lists and home pages of researchers.
  • Economic History Services (EHNet)
    The Economic History Services site provides three membership directories, book reviews, a calendar, syllabi and links to related economic history sites. The "How Much Is That" service allows users to easily look up historical prices, interest rates, wage rates, GDP statistics, exchange rates and inflation rates.

Locating Data

  • EconData
    Provides over 1,000 links to socioeconomic data sources, arranged by subject and provider, pointers to the Web's premiere data collections, and their own list of the ten best sites for finding regional economic data.
  • Economagic
    More than 200,000 economic time series data files, with charts and Excel files for each. The majority of the data is USA data. The core data sets involve US macroeconomic data (that is, for the whole US), but the bulk of the data is employment data by local area -- state, county, MSA, and many cities and towns.
  • Economic Data-Fred II
    Database of over 3000 U.S. economic time series. Download data in Microsoft Excel and text formats and view charts of data.
  • Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
    EPI's Datazone provides access to about 50 time series dealing with labor market, earnings and income data organized in four areas: Wage and compensation trends, Family Earnings and Income Trends, Prices, and Low Wage Labor Market Indicators.
  • Economic Report of the President
    Statistical tables in spreadsheet format available for the years 1997 to the present.
  • FDIC Regional Economic Conditions
    Provides economic information at the state, MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), and county levels. Updated 8 times a year.
  • Free Lunch
    Access to over 100,000 economic and financial data series.
  • ICPSR
    The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) located at the University of Michigan is the world's largest data archive. ICPSR acquires, processes and distributes social science data collected by government agencies and other researchers. The data holdings cover a broad range of disciplines, including political science, sociology, demography, economics, history, education, gerontology, criminal justice, public health, foreign policy, and law. As OSU is a member of ICPSR, Oregon State University students, faculty and staff have access to these data at no charge.
  • Population Reference Bureau Datafinder
    This database contains data on 95 demographic variables for more than 220 countries, 28 world regions and sub-regions, the world as a whole, the United States as a whole, and the U.S. states. (Not all countries have data on all variables.)
  • The Geospatial and Statistical Data Center
    The Geostat Center houses the University of Virginia's collection of electronic statistical and social science data. All the resources are classified, and those items available only to the UVA community are noted as such.
  • State of the Cities Data Systems
    Access to the original electronic data sets generated by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research sponsored data collection efforts, including the American Housing Survey, HUD median family income limits, as well as microdata from research initiatives on topics such as housing discrimination, the HUD-insured multifamily housing stock, and the public housing population.
  • USDA Economics and Statistics System
    Contains nearly 300 reports and datasets from the economics agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These materials cover U.S. and international agriculture and related topics. Most reports are text files that contain time-sensitive information. Most data sets are in spreadsheet format and include time-series data that are updated yearly.

Sources for Statistics

OSU Libraries subscribe to the following finding aids for statistics:

  • Statistical Abstract of the United States
    A collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data are also included. The Abstract is also a guide to sources of other data from the Census Bureau, other Federal agencies, and private organizations. Also available in print: Valley Reference HA 202
  • LexisNexis Statistical: 1970s-present
    Contains more than 30,000 tables from statistical compendia and compilations issued by the U.S. government, major international intergovernmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, state government agencies, and universities. The tables are linked to abstracts, which in turn link to the full-text source document.
  • FactSearch
    Online version of the print A Matter of fact. FactSearch draws widely from over 1000 newspapers, journals and government documents.
  • Stat-USA
    This U.S. Department of Commerce site is the site for current and historic economic data. Also provides access to Globus and the NTDB databases for international market research and analysis.
  • TableBase
    Database comprised of tabular information of a strategic nature. The tables provide information such as: market share, market size, capacity, production, imports, exports, sales, products and brand rankings, forecasts, health care statistics and demographics. When prompted for user name and password, click on the login button.

Also see the OSU Libraries Research Guide for Finding Statistical Resources for additional Internet sites that provide statistical information.

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