ering the economic, social and politica l dimensions of globalisation. The economic globalisa-

tion index includes two variable groups: (i) actual flows (trade, foreign direct investment,

portfolio investment, and income payments to foreign nationals) and (ii) restrictions (hidden

import barriers, mean tariff rate, taxes on international trade and capital account restrictions).

The social globalisation index includes three variable groups: (i) data on personal contact

(telephone traffic, transfers, international tourism, foreign population, international letters), (ii)

data on information flows (Internet users, television, trade in newspapers) and (iii) data on

cultural proximity (number of McDonald’s restaurants, number of IKEA stores, trade in

books). The political globalisation index includes four individual variables: embassies in

countries, membership in international organisations, partic ipation in UN Security Council

Missions, international treaties. The three subindices together define the overall index.