The Business Excellence Attraction Composite Index (BEACI) in small areas. Design and application to the municipalities of the Barcelona province

The location of economic activity, in general, and the ones of business excellence (high-tech or knowledge-intensive businesses that have a low environmental impact), in particular, is not dependent on one single factor, but rather on a series of economic, geographical, social and political variables. The aim of this article is to design a composite index for assessing the capacity to attract this kind of economic activity for small areas. As a case study, we have calculated this index for 26 of the main municipalities in the province of Barcelona (Spain).