The synthesis of a number of single observed indicators into a unique composite indicator involves various subjective choices related, for instance, to the type of combination (linear, non-linear) and to the aggregation method (simple average, geometric average) used in its construction. Thus,...

This paper presents the scoring and weighting methodology for calculation of the services trade restrictiveness indices (STRIs) for 18 sectors. The STRIs are composite indices taking values between zero and one, zero representing an open market and one a market completely closed to foreign...

Cross-country analysis of the economic effects of environmental policies is limited by the lack of reliable, comparable measures of the stringency of environmental policies. This paper attempts to fill this gap, by constructing new quantitative indexes of environmental policy stringency (EPS)....

Innovation is currently seen as a cornerstone not only for economic development but also as an intrinsic human activity that could help to face the great challenges of human kind. Given the importance of innovation in the new European 2020 Strategy, measuring progress but also monitoring what...

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...

Germany’s energy transition envisages a shift toward energy being supplied primarily from renewable sources. The expansion of renewables is largely determined by central government policy but the German Länder also play a major role and could consequently make a significant contribution...

This paper presents a piece of research aimed at evaluating the relative sustainability of the Italian Regions. After selecting a core set of indicators, for which we referred to the EU Sustainable Development Strategy, we built a composite index and checked for its robustness. As a result we...

A composite indicator is an aggregated index comprising individual performance indicators. Composite indicators integrate a large amount of information in a format that is easily understood and are therefore a valuable tool for conveying a summary assessment of performance in priority areas....

This article focuses on the role of demand in the National System of Innovations: why it is so important, and how does it affect the dynamics of the system and the flow of inventions and innovations. To study the evolutions and the dynamics of the different systems a series of composite...