On constructing a composite indicator with multiplicative aggregation and the avoidance of zero weights in DEA

Peer reviewe

Švietimo sistemos stebėsena: išteklių ir rezultatų indeksų sąveika

Education is one of keystones that guarantees well-being of a country, therefore the understanding about the educationsystem status might be crucial. It motivates to measure the state of the education system, to understand its determinants and tomonitor changes over time that would allow the implementation of evidence-based education policy. Measurement and assessment ofthe state of the education system is a complex task, as the analysis of individual indicators of the educational system is insufficient tomonitor and evaluate education as a multidimensional phenomenon. To achieve a comprehensive and generalized assessment of theeducation system, we have chosen to calculate the composite indicators, namely, indicators of resources and outcomes. Using thelatter indicators we evaluate state of resources and output of the educational system, understand the factors, determining the state, andcompare it over time and in the context of other countries. Indices were calculated for the Baltic countries and three “old” EUmember states: UK representing the Anglo-Saxon liberal model, Germany for the Continental corporatist model and Finland as anexample of the Scandinavian model. For the analysis we used 2002-2014 annual publicly available data from EUROSTAT, OECD,and IEA databases. We have employed a simple weighted additive method with equal weights and principal components analysis forthe construction of indices. We have found that the differences between composite indicators, constructed by the simple weightedadditive method with equal and principal components analysis weights, are limited. The increase in the number of sub-indicators byalmost two-thirds does not affect dynamics of the output indices over time. We have established that inertia of the education systemis different for the countries: the impact of the output on the results is observed with 2–4 year lag for the Baltic States, as there is notime lag or there is a one year lag for Germany and the United Kingdom. Finland's results are different as compared with the othercountries examined. The dynamics of the Baltic indices is similar and possibly constitutes a separate group.Švietimas yra vienas pagrindinių veiksnių, užtikrinančių šalies gerovę, todėl svarbu suprasti švietimo sistemos būklę. Todėl svarbu išmatuoti švietimo sistemos būklę, suprasti ją lemiančius veiksnius bei stebėti kaitą laike, tai leistų įgyvendinti duomenimis grįstą švietimo politiką. Švietimo sistemos būklės išmatavimas ir įvertinimas yra sudėtingas uždavinys, nes švietimui kaip daugialypiam reiškiniui stebėti ir vertinti nepakanka pavienių švietimo sistemos rodiklių analizės. Siekiant visuminio ir apibendrinto švietimo sistemos vertinimo buvo pasirinkta skaičiuoti sudėtinius rodiklius – švietimo išteklių ir rezultatų indeksus, kuriais bus įvertinta švietimo sistemos išteklių ir rezultatų būklė, pristatyti būseną lemiantys veiksniai bei palyginta laike ir kitų šalių kontekste. Indeksai apskaičiuoti Baltijos ir trims „senosioms“ ES šalims: Jungtinei Karalystei, kuri atstovauja anglosaksišką liberalųjį švietimo modelį, Vokietijai kaip kontinentinio-korporatyvistinio modelio atstovei ir Suomijai, skandinaviškojo socialdemokratinio modelio pavyzdys. Analizei panaudoti 2002–2014 m. viešai prieinami rodikliai iš Eurostato, OECD ir IEA duomenų bazių. Sudėtiniams indeksams skaičiuoti buvo pritaikyti vienodi ir pagrindinių komponenčių analizės svoriai; atliktas tiesinis agregavimas. Gauta, kad skirtumas tarp vienodų svorių priskyrimo ir svorių priskyrimo, taikant pagrindinių komponenčių analizę, yra mažas. Rezultatų indeksų dinamikai laike rodiklių kiekio padidinimas beveik dviem trečdaliais įtakos neturi. Atlikus švietimo išteklių ir rezultatų indeksų sąveikos laike analizę, gauta, jog švietimo sistemų inertiškumas yra skirtingas: Baltijos šalyse rezultatai sureaguoja į išteklių pasikeitimus po 2–4 m., o Vokietijoje ir Jungtinėje Karalystėje – tais pačiais ar kitais metais. Suomijos rezultatai, palyginti su kitomis nagrinėtomis šalimis, kitokie. Baltijos šalių indeksų dinamika – panaši, galimai sudaranti atskirą grupę

Sustainability evaluation of olive oil mills in Andalusia (Spain): a study based on composite indicators

In recent times, the need for food systems that, in addition to being economically viable and socially equitable, use environmentally friendly production processes has made sustainable production one of the olive oil sector's main concerns and priorities. In this context, evaluation of the economic, social and environmental performance of olive oil companies and the design of sustainable management alternatives have become fundamental activities for companies. Thus, this article's main objective is to measure the sustainability of a representative sample of olive mills located in Andalusia (Spain), the leading olive oil-producing region internationally, and to identify its determinants. First, based on data envelopment analysis, synthetic sustainability indices are constructed. Second, truncated regression analysis and bootstrapping techniques are used to identify the determinants of the sustainability of olive oil mills. The results show that factors such as company size, commitment to quality, and manager training and professionalisation are crucial elements for the sustainable development of olive oil mills. These results can be useful for company managers in the design of strategies aimed at improving company sustainability

Study of the Caribbean tourism destinations' competitiveness through composite indicators

Programa de Doctorado en Administración y Dirección de EmpresasLínea de Investigación: Métodos Cuantitativos en GestiónClave Programa: DAECódigo Línea: 5Tourism is frequently viewed as an important engine for the economic growth and development for both, developed and developing countries. Consequently, the number of new tourist products and markets is constantly rising worldwide. Therefore, the competence among tourism destinations in attracting more visitors and investors is also on the rise. As a result, tourism destination competitiveness has become a principal topic in the field of tourism research and its importance has augmented the debate regarding its definition and measurement tools. In this respect, the present research aims to propose new feasible and reliable tools to measure the competitiveness of the tourism destinations of the Caribbean region, which is one of the most intensely and tourism-dependent regions worldwide. To this end, a variety of studies are presented towards the proposal of composite indicators to measure this phenomenon. Certain comprised techniques are based on mathematical procedures that strive to guarantee the higher explanatory power of the global measures proposed. Furthermore, they attempt to overcome those aspects that have been criticised of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum. The present studies analysed tourism competitiveness from either two perspectives, and propose static and dynamic measures A total of 33 destinations are included, almost twice the number of countries from the region included within the editions of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. Furthermore, diverse sets of indicators have been employed. The results of the static measures demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodologies the measurement of tourism destination competitiveness and its closeness to the World Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. First, the proposed methods enable all the information provided by the World Economic Forum to be utilized. Additionally, less information can be employed to attain results close to those provided by the Global International ranking. This is a major finding that may lead to the inclusion of developing countries into the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. The dynamic methods developed herein attain outputs consistent with the predictions of the World Travel and Tourism Council. The analysis comprised all the available information within a given time span and, therefore, the intermediate scores influenced the results. Moreover, the dynamic indicator provides a detailed information regarding the change in competitiveness over time of a tourism destination and enables the cause of the improvement in the level of competitiveness to be determined, whether it be due to internal improvement of its performance or to changes relative to external issues.Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla. Departamento de Economía, Métodos Cuantitativos e Historia Económic

Los desafíos de la planificación para el desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe: algoritmos, metodologías y experiencias

Esta publicación recoge la selección de trabajos presentados con ocasión de las VII Jornadas de Planificación “70 años CEPAL: Planificación para el desarrollo con visión de futuro”, realizadas el 22 y 23 de octubre de 2018 en la sede de CEPAL en Santiago de Chile. Estas Jornadas se han consolidado como un espacio emblemático de encuentro entre especialistas de la región en los temas de la planificación y de la gestión pública en América Latina y el Caribe