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Composite indicators are synthetic indices of individual indicators and are increasingly being used to rank countries in various performance and policy areas. Using composites, countries have been compared with regard to their competitiveness, innovative abilities, degree of globalisation and environmental sustainability. Composite indicators are useful in their ability to integrate large amounts of information into easily understood formats and are valued as a communication and political tool. However, the construction of composites suffers from many methodological difficulties, with the result that they can be misleading and easily manipulated. This paper reviews the steps in constructing composite indicators and their inherent weaknesses. A detailed statistical example is given in a case study. The paper also offers suggestions on how to improve the transparency and use of composite indicators for analytical and policy purposes ...

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Venture capital has grown significantly in most OECD countries during the 1990s, and is increasingly associated with improved firm performance in terms of survival rates, innovation and growth. This paper compares venture capital activity across OECD countries by taking into account international venture capital flows. Most comparisons are based on data concerning investments made by venture capital funds located in a given country (“country of management”). In contrast, this paper also uses a more policy relevant measure that examines data on investments made in a country (“country of destination”), by subtracting cross-border outflows and including inflows. For countries such as Ireland, Denmark and Switzerland, inflows plus outflows largely outweigh investments by domestic venture capital funds. Some countries, especially Ireland and Denmark, have significant net inflows of venture capital, while net outflows appear for the United Kingdom and Switzerland. While such cross-border ...

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"This volume is the third of a series of Supplements to OECD Papers gathering together the background papers for the OECD Growth Project. Others will be issued as material becomes available.

Venture capital --- Globalization --- Global cities --- Globalisation --- Internationalization --- International relations --- Anti-globalization movement --- Risk capital --- Seed capital --- Capital --- Small business --- Small business investment companies --- Finance