MEASUREMENT OF NATIONAL NONVISIBLE WEALTH THROUGH INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

The economy of knowledge requires measures of national wealth that take into

account aspects not contemplated by GDP, in order to portray the situation of a

country more truthfully. In this paper, we use a new model to measure the intellectual

capital of nations, adapted from microeconomics. It is based on the observation of

hidden capital as implicit generator 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.

This empirical study reveals the importance of hidden capital in a nation’s wealth,

making the difference where economic growth is concerned, as the most developed

countries record the highest scores of efficiency in terms of intangible capital.