Foreign Countries - Labor, Employment & Income Data, Policy & Law

This guide provides an introduction to some of the print and electronic resources for finding labor, employment and income data, policy and law for foreign countries.  Please visit the Government Documents and Microforms Reference Desk on the 2nd floor of Mitchell Memorial Library, or call (662) 325-0008, for further assistance with any of these resources or with any questions. 

LexisNexis Academic
Available electronically.
** In order to remotely access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **
This database has a section for “Legal Research,” which has a subsection for “International Legal Materials.”  Here users can search for European Union (EU) cases, legislation, treaties, and other documents, as well as case law from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Great Britain, and South Africa. 

Statistical Universe
Available electronically.
** In order to remotely access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **
This database provides access to statistical information from Congressional Information Service, Inc. The service allows users to search summaries of statistical publications, then link to the full-text of selected publications on Statistical Universe and U.S. and foreign government Web sites.  Statistical Universe also serves as the index for ASI (American Statistics Index), which is a microfiche collection housed in the Library’s Microforms Area (located in the Government Documents/Microforms/Current Journals Department on the 2nd floor).

United Nations UNSTATS Common Database
Available electronically.
** In order to remotely access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **
This full-text global statistical database provides selected series from 30 specialized international data sources for all available countries and areas. A guide for using UNSTATS is also available.

Country Data: Economic Statistics by Country
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
Online version of the CIA World Factbook. Data is updated periodically and includes international statistical and demographic information as well as online maps.

Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL): International Economic Law
www.eisil.org/
The “International Economic Law” section of EISIL contains links to valuable sources on international trade and labor laws, regulation of foreign investments, transnational corporations, and more.

Foreign Labor Statistics (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
http://www.bls.gov/fls/home.htm
”The Foreign Labor Statistics (FLS) program provides international comparisons of hourly compensation costs; productivity and unit labor costs; labor force, employment and unemployment rates; and consumer prices. The comparisons relate primarily to the major industrial countries, but other countries are included in certain measures.”

Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)
http://www.glin.gov/search.action
“The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) is a public database of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and international organizations. These GLIN members contribute the official full texts of published documents to the database in their original language. Each document is accompanied by a summary in English and subject terms selected from the multilingual index to GLIN. All summaries are available to the public, and public access to full texts is also available in participating jurisdictions.”

Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World (Law Library of Congress)
www.loc.gov/law/guide/nations.html
This site provides an A-Z listing of the world’s countries, and the entry for each country includes links to sources concerning its constitution or equivalent, and its legislative, executive, and judicial branches. These general sources may provide a gateway to more subject-specific sources, such as those related to the country’s labor laws.

Lex Mercatoria: International Trade/Commercial Law Monitor
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/
Lex Mercatoria provides a wealth of resources from a wide range of categories, including: international economic law, international trade law, private international commercial law, and international tax and financial regulation.

NATLEX
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.home
“NATLEX, an International Labour Organization database, is a treasure trove of not just labor laws, but also a larger range of subjects. Penal codes, free trade zone legislation, and economic and social policy legislation, for example, may be included. Some of the entries give only the citation (or identifying information), while others are provided in full-text, in English, French or Spanish.”

United Nations: Economic and Social Council
http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/ (Main Site)
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/ecsess.htm (Guide)
The Economic and Social Council was established by the United Nations Charter as the principal organ, under the authority of the General Assembly, to promote: (a) higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development; (b) solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems, and international cultural and educational cooperation; and (c) universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. The council has 54 members who serve three-year terms. Voting in the Council is by simple majority; each member has one vote. Most of the work of the Council is carried out by its various commissions..

University of Michigan Documents Center
www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/
This comprehensive collection includes sections with links to international agencies and foreign governments. From here, users can navigate to the websites of the foreign equivalents of the U.S. State Department to find publications that indicate general legal practices among world countries.

UN Statistics Division
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm
This site is a compendium of selected UN economic, demographic and social statistics available free or by subscription. It also includes references and direct links to national and international statistical publications.

International Trade and Labour Market Performance: Major Findings and Open Questions New York: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2002.
[TD/]UNCTAD(05)/P766/NO.20: UN Gov Docs, 2nd Floor
http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/itcdtab21_en.pdf
"This paper surveys the findings arising from existing research and suggests some directions for improving our understanding of the links between international trade and the labour market." ~ Abstract

OECD Economic Surveys: Various Countries. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Call Number Varies--all issues are located in the Reference Room, 2nd Floor
The Economics Department of the OECD Secretariat produces annual reviews of member countries' economies, as well as for selected non-members.  Cataloged separately, each issue includes an overview of economic developments, special reports on topics of interest, and extensive statistical information.  

Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. New York : United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division. Monthly.
v.2 (1948) to v.54 (2000): Bound Journals, 1st Floor
ST/ESA/STAT/SER.Q/ v.55(2001) to present: UN Gov Docs, 2nd Floor
This publication presents current monthly economic statistics for most of the countries and territories of the world.  In addition, each month a selection of special tables shows annual and/or quarterly data on subjects illustrating important economic trends and developments.  Most of these special tables are also published annually in the United Nations Statistical Yearbook.

Statistical Yearbook. New York : United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division. Annual.
Ref. HA 12.5.U63  24th Issue (1972) to present: Reference, 2nd Floor
ST/ESA/STAT/SER.S/ 45th Issue (1998) to present: UN Gov Docs, 2nd Floor
This is a comprehensive compendium of vital internationally comparable data for the analysis of socio-economic development at the world, regional and national levels. The Yearbook provides data on the world economy, its structure, major trends and current performance, as well as on issues such as population and social statistics, economic activity and international economic relations. Updated monthly by the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics.

World Statistics Pocketbook. New York: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division. Annual.
ST/ESA/STAT/SER.V/ 2000 to present: UN Gov Docs, 2nd Floor
This handy statistical pocketbook provides an easy-to-use international compilation of basic economic, social and environmental indicators for 209 countries and areas worldwide. It covers 57 key indicators in the areas of population, health, surface area, refugees, national accounts, currency, international trade, communications, education, culture, labor force, industrial production, environment and United Nations membership based on over 20 international statistical sources. The layout provides an easy-to-view comprehensive statistical profile of each country or area, and the notes on sources and definitions on indicators provide a valuable guide for further research.

This page created by Newkirk Barnes and now maintained by LaDonne Delgado, Professor and Coordinator of Government Documents, Microforms, and Current Journals.