The
KOF Index of Globalization was introduced in 2002. The overall index covers the economic, social and political dimensions of globalization. Following Clark (2000), Norris (2000) and Keohane and Nye (2000), it defines globalization to be the process of creating networks of connections among actors at multi-continental distances, mediated through a variety of flows including people, information and ideas, capital and goods.
Globalization is conceptualized as a process that erodes national boundaries, integrates national economies, cultures, technologies and governance and produces complex relations of mutual interdependence.
More specifically, the three dimensions of the KOF index are defined as:
- economic globalization, characterized as long distance flows of goods, capital and services as well as information and perceptions that accompany market exchanges;
- political globalization, characterized by a diffusion of government policies; and
- social globalization, expressed as the spread of ideas, information, images and people.
