Working Paper

New Metrics for Economic Complexity: Measuring the Intangible Growth Potential of Countries

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In this paper we provide a summary and a guide to the literature for a new line of research which goes under the name of Economic Complexity and is partly performed incollaboration with INET.

This line of research portrays economic growth as an evolutive process of ecosystems of technologies and industrial capabilities. Complex systems analysis, simulation, systems science methods, and big data capabilities offer new opportunities to empirically map technology and capability ecosystems of countries and industrial sectors, analyse their structure, understand their dynamics and measure economic complexity. This approach provides a new perspective for data-driven fundamental economics in a strongly connected, globalised world.