Finland topped the World Economic Forum’s ranking of the most competitive economies for the third consecutive year.

The United States ranks second in the Forum’s 26th annual Global Competitiveness Report, as it did last year. The U.S.’s culture of innovation and technological prowess boosted its rating, while concerns about the health of its macroeconomic environment (ranked 47th out of 117) worked against it.

Nordic countries, which typically have higher tax burdens than other world economies, dominated the list’s top 10: Sweden (3), Denmark (4), Iceland (7) and Norway (9) seem to threaten conventional wisdom that high taxes and strong government safety nets weaken competitiveness.

“Indeed, the high levels of government tax revenue have delivered world-class educational establishments, an extensive safety net and a highly motivated and skilled labor force,” Augusto Lopez-Claros, chief economist and director of the Forum’s Global Competitiveness Program, said in a written statement. Lopez-Carlos also pointed to healthy macroeconomic environments and highly transparent and efficient public institutions within the countries that contribute to finely honed competitiveness.

Taiwan (5) and Singapore (6) represented Asia in the list’s top 10. Japan ranked 12th.

The positions are based on both hard economic data and results from the Executive Opinion Survey, a World Economic Forum-issued questionnaire devised to study the range of factors that affect a country’s business environment as a way to gauge a country’s promise for sustained economic growth. The forum polled nearly 11,000 business leaders from a record 117 economies worldwide.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.