Business Research for Extension Students

There are several databases that can provide financial data and other forms of information about companies.

Capital IQ: Data on public and private companies, investment firms, capital transactions, and people. (Requires account set up through Harvard. To access Capital IQ after an account is set up, one must use both Harvard Key and the username and password established.)

Orbis: Global company database with extensive data, including subsidiaries. You can screen for companies based on geography, financial performance, industry, deals, ownership structure, number of employees, year of incorporation and other criteria. You can also compare a company to its competitors along multiple dimensions.

Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS): Provides access to financial, accounting, banking, economics, marketing, and public policy databases through a uniform, web-based interface. Strengths include deep archives of historical data, a common web interface for access to all WRDS databases, and a variety of output file formats. Harvard University faculty, students (including MBA students) and researchers can request a WRDS account. You will need to have a Harvard email address to register - here is how to open a Harvard Gmail address.

Many students and faculty ask about access to Bloomberg. The Harvard Library does not provide access to this database, but there is a guide to using other tools from Harvard's Baker Business Library: Alternatives to Bloomberg.