The firm scored each country by subtracting the percentage of companies that said they plan to cut back on workers from the percentage that said they plan to add them.

FORBES: The World's Hottest Job Markets

To the left of each country is its total tax revenues as a percentage of its GDP (in 1997, the latest year for which figures were available).

FORBES: Sidelines

U., based on the ratio of overall VC investment as a percentage of each country's gross domestic product.

FORBES: Venture Investing, Euro-Style

Details of how many requests for data each country's government has made and the percentage that the firm complies with.

BBC: Skype graphic