Singapore sixth in national intellectual capital

Singapore is ranked sixth in National Intellectual Capital: A Comparison of 40 Countries. America is fifth, Finland first, Sweden second, Switzerland third and Denmark fourth.

The book is published by Springer, a leading scientific, technical and medical publisher partly owned by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC). Here’s an earlier post I wrote when GIC bought a stake in the company in 2009.

The authors are Leif Edvinsson, of the University of Lund in Sweden, and Carol Yeh-Yun Lin, of the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Taiwan is ranked 17th.

I can’t be online often where I am at the moment, so here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Maybe I will be blogging again late in January.

The national intellectual capital is a composite of what the authors call human capital, or education; market capital, which includes foreign investments and exports; process capital, which includes government efficiency and protection of intellectual property rights; renewal capital, or R&D spending; and financial capital, or the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted by purchasing power parity.

Singapore is ranked 18th in human capital, first in market capital, 13th in renewal capital, and third in process capital and financial capital.

Edvinsson explained: “National intellectual capital is comprised of the knowledge, wisdom, capability and expertise that provide countries with a competitive advantage over other countries and determine a country’s potential for future growth.”

Here is the list of the top-ranked countries.

1. Finland

2. Sweden

3. Switzerland

4. Denmark

5. USA

6. Singapore

7. Iceland

8. Netherlands

9. Norway

10. Canada

11. Australia

12. Austria

13. Ireland

14. Japan

15. Germany

16. Belgium

17. Taiwan

18. New Zealand

19. UK

20. France

21. South Korea

China is 36th and India 40th.

The complete rankings are here. That’s a chapter from the book where the authors explain the rankings. I first read about it on World University News. Here’s the Springer page on the book.

The top 10 in human capital are:

Denmark
Sweden
Canada
Finland
Norway
America
Iceland
Switzerland
Belgium
Australia

2010 Legatum Prosperity Index

The 10 most educated nations on the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index are:

New Zealand
Australia
Finland
Norway
Denmark
Iceland
Taiwan
South Korea
America
Sweden

Singapore is ranked 30th in education, 36th in personal freedom, 54th in social capital, 24th in health, 11th in governance, eighth in entrepreneurship and opportunity, sixth in economy, fifth in safety and security and 17th overall on the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index, which is based on all the aforementioned sub-indices. Singapore is ranked third overall in Asia-Pacific behind Australia (fourth overall) and New Zealand (fifth). You can find more on the Legatum Prosperity Index website. Social capital refers to social cohesion and social engagement.

America is ranked ninth in education, ninth in personal freedom, 12th in social capital, first in health, third in governance, third in entrepreneurship and opportunity, 14th in economy, 25th in safety and security and 10th overall on the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index.

The top 25 countries on the 2010 Legatum Prosperity Index countries are: