Globalisation Index 2012

As a new year unfolds, lists and charts and date on various types of rankings are also unfolded, sometimes on an unwitting public. I quite enjoy perusing some of these 'best of' lists as a way of reminiscing about the year gone-by. On the other hand lists and indexes of ranking supported by data hold my interest much longer - it is interesting to compare my own personal perceptions of the prior year against analysis backed by data and methodology ... admittedly however I think I spend far too much time critiquing data sources, processing, methodology and analysis by the report authors.

I may edit this post at a later time to include links to indexes and rankings that I found to be of particular interest - the 2012 Globalization Index by Ernst & Young was a good read.

Ernst & Young’s annual Globalization Index was first developed in 2009 in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Index is based on a comprehensive understanding of the underlying drivers for globalization across five main pillars: openness to trade, capital flows, exchange of technology and ideas, labor movements, and cultural integration. With these key categories, the Index incorporates a broad range of sub-indicators for 60 countries and spans a 20-year time horizon from 1995 to 2016.

Great! EY acknowledges that "As globalization evolves, and new and better data sets become available, it is appropriate to review the index data and methodology to accurately reflect these developments." Some of the indicators used in the index are below:

By way of summary, three things stood out for me:


1) New Zealand has been ranked 21st on the globalisation index, beating out both Australia and the US. New Zealand  is tipped to climb to 12th position by 2016.

2) "The biggest increases in cross-border integration continue to be driven by technology, particularly global connectivity through broadband penetration and internet access, as well as increases in R&D trade."

3) "While integration in mature markets appears to be slowing down, reflecting the already high penetration levels of technologies such as the internet and broadband, it is ramping up for rapid-growth markets. This suggests that the BRICs and other emerging economies can reap particularly big opportunities from further technological integration through 2016."

The report in-itself was a great read ... and I enjoyed the fact that EY made the data available in various chart formats as a charting tool for public consumption (although I could not see a way to export / extract the raw data).