This paper is based on the recent (2006) publication of The World Bank, “Where Is The Wealth Of Nations? : Measuring Capital for the 21st Century” The publication estimates the wealth of 120 countries. The estimates of the total wealth for each country are divided into three groups: Produced Capital, Natural Capital, and Intangible Capital. One of the highlights of the study is that the Intangible Capital constitutes the largest form of wealth in the world.

• Produced wealth includes: machinery, structures, and urban land.
• Natural wealth consists of: energy resources, mineral resources, cropland, timber resources, pasturelands, and protected areas.
• Intangible capital includes: human capital (the skills and unskills knowhow) embodied in the labor force and social capital (the degree of trust among people, governance elements, rule of law, judicial system, property rights)

The objectives of this study are two-fold: First, I will investigate the quantitative impact of wealth on the economic growth of low-income and high-income countries. It is implicit in The World Bank study that the composition of the three categories of wealth affects the economic growth differently in the high and low-income countries.

Second, since intangible capital accounts for the largest share of wealth in all 120 countries, this section of the paper will explore whether or not intangible wealth has varying impacts on the economic growth in high and low income countries.

Correlation and Regression techniques will be used to weigh the impacts of different components of intangible wealth on the economic growth.

Data Source: The World Bank and International Monetary Fund. JEL  Category  Number & Title: 010 Economic Development