Abstract

In this paper, a new model to measure the intellectual capital of nations adapted from business level was proposed. In other words, the study obtained an indicator that enhances the picture and position of a nation’s wealth. It was based on the observation of hidden capital as implicit generators of long term wealth, considering not only sustainability and social wellbeing, but also intangible assets such as human development, economic structure, international trade, foreign image and innovation. The main contributions and novelties of the model proposed were firstly the use of principal component analysis to obtain objective weightings to build the efficiency indicators and secondly, it was worth highlighting the possibility of expressing the indicator of intellectual capital in monetary terms. This allowed for the said indicator to a country’s economic development indicators to be compared.

Key words: National intellectual capital, Skandia navigator, indicators, intangible assets.