We propose a non-parametric methodology to study the presence of economies of scope between teaching and research (i.e., the teaching–research nexus). In particular, the paper advocates a conditional version of the ‘benefit-of-the-doubt’ approach to estimate the relationship between...

This paper focuses on the construction of a composite indicator for the knowledge based economy using imprecise data. Specifically, for some indicators we only have information on the bounds of the interval within which the true value is believed to lie. The proposed approach is based on a...

Semi-radial efficiency measurement combines technical efficiency, as captured by the classical Farrell measure, with an economically meaningful mix efficiency component. The semi-radial evaluation we propose proceeds in two steps. First, we build on the price interpretation of the generally...

The need for monitoring countries’ overall performance in Sustainable Development (SD) is widely recognized, but the methods for aggregating vast amounts of empirical data remain rather crude. This paper examines the so-called ‘benefit-of-the-doubt’ weighting method as a tool for...

The open method of co-ordination (OMC) intends to enhance EU Member States'performance on social inclusion. In this context a set of commonly agreed performance indicators plays an important role. While the communicative power of a synthetic indicator has been recognized, several objections have...

This article aims to provide an introduction to empirical revealed preference (RP) and an overview of the current state of the field. We hope to give a sense of how RP methods work and the types of questions they can address and to assess the strengths and drawbacks of the approach. After...