DHL Global Connectedness Index 2014

DHL Global Connectedness Index 2014
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Dear Reader,
The surge in attention to globalization since the 1990s has been accompanied by interest in ranking
countries in terms of their globalization levels. The DHL Global Connectedness Index is one of several
indexes that have been developed for this purpose. It is the only one of the established indexes, however, that
registers what many regard as the biggest drop-off in the overall level of globalization since World War II, in
the wake of the global financial crisis. That should boost confidence in using it as the basis for diagnosis and
decision-making.
This year’s edition of the DHL Global Connectedness Index has been completely refreshed to reflect changes
in 12 types of cross-border trade, capital, information, and people flows—or stocks cumulated through past
flows—through the end of 2013. The updating indicates that globalization depth began growing again, albeit
at a modest rate, during 2013, after its recovery stalled during 2012. However, globalization breadth—which
other globalization indexes ignore—continued its multiyear slide.
This report documents and dissects these patterns, both at the global level and for 140 countries
and territories that jointly account for 99% of the world’s GDP and 95% of its population. And as an
enhancement, it also uses techniques developed for “big data” to visualize some of these patterns at a global
level.
The preparation of this report was a massive undertaking. At a personal level, I am particularly grateful to
Steven A. Altman, my tireless partner in conducting this research and the co-author of this report. I would
also like to express my deep appreciation to Yi Mu for the skill and care with which she helped compile the
data and conduct the statistical analyses, to Víctor Pérez García and Adrià Borràs Carbonell for excellent
research assistance and, last but not least, to Dr. Rahul C. Basole and Hyunwoo Park for converting our large
datasets into stunning visualizations. At an institutional level, I am very grateful to Deutsche Post DHL for
supporting this project—with particular acknowledgment of the roles played by Jill Meiburg and Johannes
Oppolzer in guiding the development of this year’s report and by Dirk Hrdina in its graphic design—and
to New York University’s Stern School of Business and IESE Business School for supporting the broader
research agenda behind this project.
I hope you will agree that our collective efforts have yielded a timely, thorough, and thought-provoking
analysis of the state of globalization in 2014.
Pankaj Ghemawat
NYU Stern/IESE