IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v113y2015icp25-38.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A non-simplistic approach to composite indicators and rankings: an illustration by comparing the sustainability of the EU Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Luzzati, T.
  • Gucciardi, G.

Abstract

Composite indicators are very popular, despite being affected by several problems that often result in lack of robustness of the rankings involved. The aim of this paper is to show that composite indicators can be safely used, provided that rankings are built via uncertainty analysis rather than using a single composite. For this purpose, the approach we follow first combines different normalisation, aggregation rules, and weighting systems to calculate many different composites, and then derives the rankings from the frequency distribution of the rankings of each “competitor” according to each composite. Such an approach appears to be a good compromise between the need for a more concise overview when looking at many variables and the loss of relevant information occurring when indicators are aggregated into a single composite indicator. To illustrate the approach, we rank EU Countries in terms of their sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Luzzati, T. & Gucciardi, G., 2015. "A non-simplistic approach to composite indicators and rankings: an illustration by comparing the sustainability of the EU Countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 25-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:113:y:2015:i:c:p:25-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.02.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800915000658
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.02.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paolo Paruolo & Michaela Saisana & Andrea Saltelli, 2013. "Ratings and rankings: voodoo or science?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(3), pages 609-634, June.
    2. Bohringer, Christoph & Jochem, Patrick E.P., 2007. "Measuring the immeasurable -- A survey of sustainability indices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-8, June.
    3. K. William Kapp, 1970. "Environmental Disruption And Social Costs: A Challenge To Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 833-848, November.
    4. Michela Nardo & Michaela Saisana & Andrea Saltelli & Stefano Tarantola & Anders Hoffman & Enrico Giovannini, 2005. "Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and User Guide," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2005/3, OECD Publishing.
    5. Giuseppe Munda, 2012. "Choosing Aggregation Rules for Composite Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 337-354, December.
    6. Floridi, Matteo & Pagni, Simone & Falorni, Simone & Luzzati, Tommaso, 2011. "An exercise in composite indicators construction: Assessing the sustainability of Italian regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1440-1447, June.
    7. Kapp, K William, 1970. "Environmental Disruption and Social Costs: A Challenge to Economics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 833-848.
    8. Giuseppe Munda, 2012. "Intensity of preference and related uncertainty in non-compensatory aggregation rules," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 73(4), pages 649-669, October.
    9. Tommaso Luzzati, 2009. "Human Needs, Sustainable Development and Public Policy: Learning from K.W. Kapp (1910–1976)," Chapters, in: Neri Salvadori & Arrigo Opocher (ed.), Long-run Growth, Social Institutions and Living Standards, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. L Cherchye & W Moesen & N Rogge & T Van Puyenbroeck & M Saisana & A Saltelli & R Liska & S Tarantola, 2008. "Creating composite indicators with DEA and robustness analysis: the case of the Technology Achievement Index," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(2), pages 239-251, February.
    11. Enrico Casadio Tarabusi & Paolo Palazzi, 2004. "An index for sustainable development," Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 57(229), pages 185-206.
    12. Marc Fleurbaey, 2009. "Beyond GDP: The Quest for a Measure of Social Welfare," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1029-1075, December.
    13. Pasquale De Muro & Matteo Mazziotta & Adriano Pareto, 2011. "Composite Indices of Development and Poverty: An Application to MDGs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 1-18, October.
    14. Giuseppe Munda & Michaela Saisana, 2011. "Methodological Considerations on Regional Sustainability Assessment Based on Multicriteria and Sensitivity Analysis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 261-276.
    15. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2002. "An Index of Economic Well–Being for Selected OECD Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 48(3), pages 291-316, September.
    16. Pearce, David W. & Atkinson, Giles D., 1993. "Capital theory and the measurement of sustainable development: an indicator of "weak" sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 103-108, October.
    17. Neri Salvadori & Arrigo Opocher (ed.), 2009. "Long-run Growth, Social Institutions and Living Standards," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13364.
    18. Giuseppe Munda, 2008. "Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation for a Sustainable Economy," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-540-73703-2, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Salvatore Greco & Alessio Ishizaka & Menelaos Tasiou & Gianpiero Torrisi, 2019. "On the Methodological Framework of Composite Indices: A Review of the Issues of Weighting, Aggregation, and Robustness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 61-94, January.
    2. Tommaso Luzzati & Bruno Cheli & S. Arcuri, 2014. "Measuring the sustainability performances of the Italian regions," Discussion Papers 2014/187, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    3. Tommaso Luzzati & Bruno Cheli & Gianluca Gucciardi, 2017. "Communicating the uncertainty of synthetic indicators: a reassessment of the HDI ranking," Discussion Papers 2017/228, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Floridi, Matteo & Pagni, Simone & Falorni, Simone & Luzzati, Tommaso, 2011. "An exercise in composite indicators construction: Assessing the sustainability of Italian regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1440-1447, June.
    5. Lozano-Oyola, Macarena & Contreras, Ignacio & Blancas, Francisco Javier, 2019. "An Operational Non-compensatory Composite Indicator: Measuring Sustainable Tourism in Andalusian Urban Destinations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 1-10.
    6. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano, 2016. "Methodological challenges in building composite indexes: Linking theory to practice," MPRA Paper 73276, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Giuseppe Munda, 2014. "On the Use of Shadow Prices for Sustainable Well-Being Measurement," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 911-918, September.
    8. Khatab Alqararah, 2023. "Assessing the robustness of composite indicators: the case of the Global Innovation Index," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    9. Man Liang & Shuwen Niu & Zhen Li & Wenli Qiang, 2019. "International Comparison of Human Development Index Corrected by Greenness and Fairness Indicators and Policy Implications for China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 1-24, February.
    10. Zofio, Jose Luis & Aparicio, Juan & Barbero, Javier & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel, 2023. "The influence of bottlenecks on innovation systems performance: Put the slowest climber first," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    11. Edson Kogachi & Adonias Ferreira & Carlos Cavalcante & Marcelo Embiruçu, 2021. "Development of Performance Evaluation Indicators for Table Grape Packaging Units. 2. Global Indexes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Ruiz, Francisco & El Gibari, Samira & Cabello, José M. & Gómez, Trinidad, 2020. "MRP-WSCI: Multiple reference point based weak and strong composite indicators," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    13. Giuseppe Munda, 2015. "Beyond Gdp: An Overview Of Measurement Issues In Redefining ‘Wealth’," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 403-422, July.
    14. Ludmila Petkovová & David Hartman & Tomáš Pavelka, 2020. "Problems of Aggregation of Sustainable Development Indicators at the Regional Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, September.
    15. Carlo Drago, 2021. "The Analysis and the Measurement of Poverty: An Interval-Based Composite Indicator Approach," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, October.
    16. Chao Shi & Kenneth C. Land, 2021. "The Data Envelopment Analysis and Equal Weights/Minimax Methods of Composite Social Indicator Construction: a Methodological Study of Data Sensitivity and Robustness," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1689-1716, August.
    17. Greco, Salvatore & Ishizaka, Alessio & Resce, Giuliano & Torrisi, Gianpiero, 2017. "Is the Grass Always Greener on the Other Side of the fence? Composite Index of Well-Being Taking into Account the Local Relative Appreciations in Better Life Index," MPRA Paper 82718, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Yang Ding & Yelin Fu & Kin Keung Lai & W. K. John Leung, 2018. "Using Ranked Weights and Acceptability Analysis to Construct Composite Indicators: A Case Study of Regional Sustainable Society Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 871-885, October.
    19. Francesco Vidoli & Elisa Fusco & Claudio Mazziotta, 2015. "Non-compensability in Composite Indicators: A Robust Directional Frontier Method," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 635-652, July.
    20. Tommaso Luzzati & Gianluca Gucciardi, 2012. "Una classifica robusta della sostenibilita delle regioni italiane," Discussion Papers 2012/140, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Composite indicators; Rankings; Sustainability; European Union Countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:113:y:2015:i:c:p:25-38. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.