Proceedings of 11th Asian Business Research Conference
26-27 December, 2014, BIAM Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, ISBN: 978-1-922069-68-9
Doing Business in Iceland: International Perspectives
ABM Abdullah*, M. Saeed**, James Ondracek** and Andy Bertsch**
The economy of Iceland suffered greatly due to the 2008 financial crisis. The financial
sector of Iceland, once an industry pillar accounting for 8% of the total GDP, literally
vanished and plunged the country into its biggest recession since 1900. Straddled with
huge foreign debt with little access to foreign credit, Iceland’s future looked bleak in the
immediate aftermath of the 2008 meltdown. Nevertheless, the people and policy makers
of Iceland were set on a quick recovery. We provide an overview of the political,
economic, and cultural environments of Iceland and track Iceland’s progression from
traditional factors of production (i.e., land, labor, and capital) to a knowledge and
innovation based economy. Our analysis of Iceland includes a review of financial markets
and how the country has responded to pull itself out of the recession. The Global
Competiveness Index ranks Iceland at the highest tier (i.e., Stage 3) along with measures
such as business sophistication and innovation.
Key Words: Global Competitive Index, business sophistication, Iceland
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*ABM Abdullah, Academic Portfolio, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia,
E-mail: abm.abdullah@unisa.edu.au
**M. Saeed, College of Business, Minot State University, Minot, ND 58707 USA, E-mail:
saeed@minotstateu.edu
** James Ondracek, College of Business, Minot State University, Minot, ND 58707 USA,
E-mail: james.ondracek@minotstateu.edu
** Andy Bertsch, College of Business, Minot State University, Minot, ND 58707 USA,
Email: andy.bertsch@minotstateu.edu