AT Kearney

• Produced annually by the AT Kearney management consulting firm in conjunction with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's 'Foreign Policy' magazine. 
• • It uses 12 indicators spread across 4 categories:
  • Economic integration
  • Trade and FDI flows
  • Technological connectivity
  • Number of internet users, internet hosts and secure servers. 
  • Political engagement
  • Membership of international organisations and treaties, contribution to UN peacekeeping, level of governmental transfers (e.g. aid)
  • Personal contact
  • International travel and tourism, international telephone traffic, personal cross border financial transfers (e.g. remittances)
• Index value calculated for each indicator based on its relative position on the scale - with the highest actual value scoring 1.0 and the lowest 0. FDI, internet usage and international traffic telephone weighted double. Overall index value calculated. 
• But:

  • Only includes 62 countries, though these include 84% of the world's population and 96% of global GDP.
  • First published in 2008. 
  • Small European countries dominate the top 20, though the USA is 4th and Canada is 6th. Smaller countries have higher FDI indicators due to small domestic markets. 
  • Heavy weighting given to ICT connectivity enables the USA to gain a high index score despite low political engagement in terms of treaties signed.