Author:Dr. Carol Yeh-Yun Lin, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan; Prof. Leif Edvinsson, Universal Networking, Intellectual Capital, Norrtalje, Sweden

Over the past decade a new economic landscape is emerging based on intangibles, or an evolution toward Knowledge. Knowledge assets and intellectual capital are attracting the attention of all aspects of governance in the public and private sectors. To date, most studies of intellectual capital have focused at the organizational level, with an emphasis on explaining the role of “intangible assets” as a differentiator between accounting value and market value as a possible source of corporate competitive advantage. More recently, pioneers in the field, including the authors of this book, have begun to apply these methodologies to a broader scope, with the objective of comparing the intellectual capital indices at the national or regional level. As a result, an increasing number of world organizations and researchers are commissioned to investigate this future-oriented crucial national issue. Yet, the linkage between the value of intangible assets and how to quantify or benchmark it is still tenuous, not to mention easily misunderstood by a layman for guiding better decision making. With the belief that numbers talk and statistics hide valuable information, this book serves to present the authors’ research findings, covering 14 years (1995-2008) of intellectual capital information.

National Intellectual Capital:

▶ Gives statistically validated reports on intellectual capital indicators for 40 countries, over a 14 year period. ▶ Identifies three major types of intellectual growth patterns.▶ Details the impact and implications of three major types of intellectual capital growth patterns for innovation, business creation, competitiveness, growth, and development