This guide to locating industry information covers various aspects of industry research and tools available in the University of Delaware Library. It lists selected basic sources of information found in the Library as well as free resources on the Internet that can be helpful in collecting industry level data and analysis. The guide will allow you to gain an in-depth understanding of the industry including industry production, competition, data and analysis.
A significant number of industry reports (based on NAICS or SIC) are available from the Encyclopedia of American Industries. (Print edition : Morris Library - Reference HC102 .E53 2008).
Selected reports are included in The Business and Company Resource Center database.
The Net Advantage database includes the Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys. These surveys are useful for basic statistical data on production, shipment, sales, and revenue for large industry groups, but not all products are covered.
The Mergent Online database has lengthy reports on 39 major industry sectors grouped by primary regions of the world.
The Value Line Research Center database (previously the Value Line Investment Surveys, includes current and historical industry sectors reports.
Other Sources for Industry Information
Industry Information Resources is a free resource guide to industry resources and data for over 400 industries. Provides a list of resources and data for each industry, including trade associations, publications, and research firms and covers industry overviews, issues, trends, and outlooks, financial information and financial ratios, compensation and salary surveys, and business valuation resources.
Additional U.S. industry overviews are covering by many titles. There are a number of industry almanacs published by The Plunkett Research Ltd. Search DELCAT, the library online catalog, for specific industry reports on, for examples: apparel & textiles industry, automobile industry, food industry etc.
These titles available in the collections provide industry overviews:
- Encyclopedia of American Industries, 5th edition, 2 Volume set. Millerton, N.Y. : Grey House Pub.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HC102 .E53 2008 )
- Dun & Bradstreet/Gale Group Industry Handbook. Detroit : Gale Group.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HF 5035 .D86x 2000)
- 5- volume set covering many industry sectors.
- Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries. Detroit : Gale Group.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HD 2324 .E528)
The Industrial College of the Armed Forces produces industry reports on defense related industries. These reports are available under the Industry Studies Program of the college.
Consulting firms produce research reports on industries. These reports may contain overviews of industries. Check the web sites of the major consulting firms such as Accenture, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, to see any industry report that may be available.
The U.S. International Trade Commission provides some industry, commodity, or service sectors reports. See the Industry and Trade Summaries.
The International Trade Administration has some industrial sector data on a number of industries including Automotive Industries, Consumer Goods, and Travel and Tourism. Reports are available under the Manufacturing and Services unit.
There are many industry classification schemes.
I. United States and North American Classification Schemes
II. International Classification SchemesFor U.S. and North American industries, consult:
North American Industry Classification System - NAICS. The NAICS is the most widely used classification by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments. (Print copy is available in the Ready Reference. HF 1042 .A55 2007).
Standard Industrial Classification - SIC. TheSIC Manual was last revised in 1987; it provides the government-assigned (four-digit) numerical codes for identifying industries, businesses, and products. With the adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the SIC is officially replaced by NAICS. However, some industry publications still provide data based on the SIC (Print copy is available in the Ready Reference. HF 1042 .A55 1987). The Correspondence Tables for the 2002 NAICS and SIC allows for cross referencing between the two classification systems. The 1997 NAICS Correspondence Tables is also available on the Internet.Data on the U.S. imports and exports of merchandise is based on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS). The HTS provides a detailed tariff classification system covering more than 10,000 product categories. (HTS is available in the Library: CDROM 714; U.S. Documents ITC1.10:).
Numerical Manufactured and Mineral Products is used for reporting production statistics in the Economic Census and the Current Industrial Reports. It extends the NAICS codes to the product level.
Harmonized System Nomenclature (HS) - is the (six-digit) classification system that replaces the Standard International Trade Classification - SITC for international trade statistics. The Correspondence Tables for cross referencing between HS and SITC classification schemes is available on the Internet.
International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). The ISIC is the standard industrial classification of all economic activities. It is a (four-digit) classification system for statistics on economic activity (e.g. agriculture, manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade.)
NACE is the general industrial classification of economic activities within the European Union. NACE is based on a five to six-digit classification system and corresponds with ISIC at the two-digit level.
Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) is a five-digit classification system for products in external trade data and is used in reports from the United Nations and the OECD.
The Industry Classification Benchmark is a new classification system developed by FTSE Group and Dow Jones Indexes. It is used for classifying public companies for investment analysis.
The US Census Bureau provides many reports and data on U.S. manufacturing industries. Listed below are selected Census reports on the manufacturing industry. More reports are available on the Census home page.
Current Industrial Reports. Reports arranged by Subject titles and NAICS Subsectors.
Other reports include Manufacturing Profiles and Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (1982-2006)Reports include - Geographic Area Series - Manufacturing; Industry Series Reports - Manufacturing ; and Manufacturing - Industry Series
Other reports available include -
Annual Survey of Manufactures (2003-2006); including Statistics for Industry Groups and Industries (1993-1996, 1998-2001, 2003-2006); Value of Product Shipments (1994-1996, 1998-2001, 2003-2006); Geographic Area Statistics (1994-1996, 1998-2001, 2003-2006);1992 Census of Manufactures: Final Reports, Industry Series; 1992 Census of Manufactures: Final Reports, Area Series and Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales ReportIndustrial Production and Capacity Utilization: monthly (Federal Reserve Board).
U.S. Manufacturing Fact Sheet is a monthly economic review by the Congressional Task Force on Manufacturing.
The Federal Reserve Banks conduct periodic surveys of the manufacturing industries in their regions. These reports are available on the web sites of the respective bank. Example:
From Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago- Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index
From Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas- Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey
From Federal Reserve Bank of New York- Empire State Manufacturing Survey
From Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia- Third District Business Outlook Survey of Manufacturers
From Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas- Survey of Tenth District Manufacturers
From Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond- Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity
The Economic Census provides a number of data on the retail and wholesale industry. These reports include:
The Census Annual Retail Trade Survey: 1986 to 2004.
2002 Economic Census -Geographic Area Series - Retail Trade; Industry Series Reports - Retail Trade;
1997 Economic Census- Retail Trade
1992 Census of Retail Trade- U.S. summary ; Establishment and Firm Size
The reports for wholesale data is available from Annual Wholesale Trade Survey.
2002 Economic Census - Geographic Area Series; and Industry Series Reports for Wholesale Trade
1997 Economic Census - Wholesale Trade- Geographic Area Series.
1992 Census of Wholesale Trade- U.S. summary
Additional data will be available from the 1992 Census of Wholesale Trade (state summary tables) and Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales Report
The Bureau of Census provides many reports and data on U.S. Services industries. Listed below are selected Census reports on services industry.2002 Economic Census includes the Geographic Area Series; and Industry Series Reports.
Also available are reports from 1997 Economic Census - Geographic Area Series; and 1992 Economic Census including-- Census of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate- U.S. summary and state summary tables ; Census of Service Industries - U.S. summary tables and state summary tables; 1992 Census of Transportation, Communications, and Utilities - U.S. summary.
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics produces reports on service industry productivity measures in a number of industries. Example, New Service Industry Productivity Measures for architectural services (NAICS 54131) and engineering services (NAICS 54133).The Federal Reserve Banks conduct periodic surveys of the service industries in their respective region. The following are selected surveys from the Federal Reserve Banks:
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis- Agricultural Credit Conditions Survey
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond- Fifth District Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions and Fifth District Survey of Services and Retail Activity
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia- Regional Economy Surveys and Reports
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City- Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions
More data may be obtained from the Service Annual Survey such as Annual Survey of Communication Services (1998) and Transportation Annual Survey (1998).
There are a number of resources for gathering industry ratios.
- Analyst's Handbook. New York: Standard & Poor's Corporation. Annual with monthly supplements.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HG4915 .S74).
Location: Morris Library - ( HG4915 .S74) Earlier eds.- Includes composite per share ratios for many of the approximately 100 industries covered. Also includes data for the S&P 400, the S&P 40 Utilities, the S&P 20 Transportation, the S&P 40 Financial, and the S&P 500 Composite Companies. Statistics and percentages covering thirteen components, including sales, operating profits, depreciation, earnings, dividends, prices, etc., are given.
- Troy,Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, Annual.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HF5681 .R25 T68) Latest ed.
Location: Morris Library (HF5681 .R25 T68) Earlier eds.- Ratios, grouped by asset size, are listed for industries and product lines, by NAICS code from the 2002 Edition onwwards
- Financial Studies of the Small Business. Washington, D. C., : Financial Associates, Annual.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HD2346 .U5 F55a ) Latest ed.
Location: Morris Library (HD2346 .U5 F55a) Earlier eds.- Gives ninteen ratios for small businesses with assets under $1,000,000. Arranged in groups by asset size and business category.
- D&B Key Business Ratios.
Location: Library Databases
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HF 5681 .R25 I525) Latest ed. Location: Morris Library (HF 5681 .R25 I525) Earlier eds.- Provides key ratios (at median, upper, and lower quartiles) for industries arranged by SIC number.
- Annual Statement Studies. Philadelphia : The Risk Management Association (formaly Robert Morris Associates.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HF5681 .B2 R6 ) Latest ed.
Location: Morris Library (HF5681 .B2 R6) Earlier eds.- Gives current and historical ratios for manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and selected service industries. Includes a bibliography of ratio sources for particular industries.
Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining and Trade Corporations - QFR (Also in U.S. Documents-Microfiche C 3.267:). Presents estimated statements of income and retained earnings, balance sheets, and related financial and operating ratios.
Selected Industry Statistics and Financial Ratios are available for sole proprietorships, S-corporations, and corporations from BizStats website.
The annual Fortune 500 rankings include sections on industry growth: U.S. Top Industries and Global 500 Top Industries. (subscription required)
Additionally, some Library Databases (UD authorized access) provide ratio data. These databases include - Mergent Online, Key Business Ratios, Business and Company Resources Center (use the financial tab to access ratios), Value Line Research Center and Standard and Poors Net Advantage
More resources for ratios are included in the research guide entitled Industry Financial and Operating Ratios.
Additional industry information is available from the Economic Census. Economic Census is conducted on a five year cycle covering most industries including construction, financial, insurance, manufactures, mineral industries, transportation, communications, retail trade, wholesale trade, real estate, service industries, and utilities industries. The latest reports are available at the U.S. Census Bureau web site. For additional help ask at the Morris Library Reference desk.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides reports on a number of industries. These Industry Sector Notebooks are available online from the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance .
Trade groups and associations provide information about their industries.
- The Encyclopedia of Associations. Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HS17 .G33 ) Latest ed.
Location: Library Annex (HS17 .G33) Earlier eds.- Includes list of national state and international organizations and their contacts information.
- The Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources. Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research.
Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref HF5351 .E94 ) Latest ed.
Location: Morris Library (HF5351 .E94 ) Earlier eds.- A good publications with wide range of industry information and where to locate them.
The Business and Company Resource Center Database also provides links to industry associations within the industry section of the database.
The American Society of Association Executives has directory of trade associations, membership societies and non-profit associations at its Gateway to Association portal.
