Methodological Considerations on Regional Sustainability Assessment based on Multicriteria and Sensitivity Analysis

Giuseppe Munda (1) , Michaela Saisana (2)

1 G.09 Unit Econometrics and Applied Statistics [Ispra]
2 IPSC - JRC Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen [Ispra]

This paper proposes the use of a non-compensatory multicriteria approach combined with sensitivity analysis for constructing composite indicators of sustainability. An illustrative example on Spanish and selected Mediterranean regions is used. The sensitivity analysis shows that excluding an indicator from a 29-indicator dataset (which represents in principle a small structural change) has a much lower impact on the regional ranking if that is based on a non-compensatory multicriteria approach than on the classical linear aggregation, for example the weighted arithmetic average. An alternative approach that employs endogenous weighting (region-specific weights) and is based on data envelopment analysis is discussed.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Giuseppe Munda, Michaela Saisana. Methodological Considerations on Regional Sustainability Assessment based on Multicriteria and Sensitivity Analysis. Regional Studies, 2010, 45 (02), pp.1. ⟨10.1080/00343401003713316⟩. ⟨hal-00605946⟩