Intellectual Capital of Nations — for Future Wealth Creation

Abstract

This paper focuses on the concept of Intellectual Capital (IC) of Nations and the need for a change of perspectives from financial to intellectual values. Although the paper briefly describes the concept of IC within business, the principal focus is on IC of Nations. IC of a Nation includes the hidden values of individuals, enterprises, and institutions, communities and regions that are the current and potential sources for wealth creation. It is proposed that every nation should start a process in visualising and measuring IC as a complement to traditional state finances. The present paper also examines the ongoing prototyping within Sweden, Israel and Austria that was initiated in 1996. In addition, the paper describes one of the tools — the IC Navigator for Nations — that can be used to present a pedagogical and holistic view and bring balance between intellectual and financial capital. Examples of indicators of IC for Sweden and Israel are described.

Citation

EDVINSSON, L. and STENFELT, C. (1999), "Intellectual Capital of Nations — for Future Wealth Creation", Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 21-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb029051