Typical questions

• • Is hosting the World Cup beneficial to a national economy?

• • Where can I get data on US exports?

Starting points

• • This section focuses on academic resources for the study of economic theory and policy. It includes a sub-section on international trade. The separate chapters for Banking, Business Studies, Company Information and Economic History may also be relevant.

• • Scholarly publishing in economics often takes the form of working papers. Therefore, when conducting a literature search students are advised to use the resources listed in both the Journal articles and Working papers sub- sections.

• • Economic data is a frequent request. This section lists resources useful for tracing basic economic indicators. It is first necessary to find out whether the data required is macro or micro. Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that studies how the aggregate economy behaves. Main measures are for national and international economies and include GDP, inflation and employment rates. Microeconomics is the study at individual, group or company level.

• • Students may also need advice in interpreting the data. Some guidance is provided by the sources in the Study skills chapter and general statistics skills are covered in the Mathematics chapter. However, always remember to check for local expertise.

Recommended resources

Key organisations – scholarly

Royal Economic Society

www.res.org.uk

Founded in 1890. One of the world's most prestigious societies. Its website has sections for undergraduates and postgraduates, job listings, conference diaries and contents pages from its main publications, Economic Journal and the Econometrics Journal.

American Economic Association

www.aeaweb.org

US equivalent whose website provides free access to a wealth of resources including abstracts of AEA journal articles, resources for teachers, a careers network and links to recommended news and economics data resources online.

European Economic Association

www.eeassoc.org

Supports economics research in Europe. Website has information on its journal and conferences.

International Economic Association. (IEA)

www.iea-world.org

Federated member of the International Social Science Council of UNESCO. Its website has a good listing of national economics societies worldwide.

Study guides, dictionaries and encyclopedias

New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (Subscription) [Specialist]

www.palgrave.com

Widely regarded as the definitive dictionary for economists with over 3,000 articles covering all aspects of economics and economic theory, many written by Nobel prize winners. The online version is continuously updated. Each article has a bibliography to guide further reading.