Synthetic Indicator Research Articles

Social Integration of Second Generation Students in the Italian School System

Cultural divides and prejudice complicate the processes of integration and acculturation of migrant families living in a foreign country. Evaluating the impact of such phenomenon can be crucial for social stability and policy making. In this context, the education system has a leading role in fostering and attaining social integration, in particular when it comes to younger sections of the migrant population. In this work, we propose a method for the construction of a quantitative indicator capturing social integration of second generation students in the Italian school system according to areas defined by nationality of the students and administrative region in which they attend school. The indicator, based on survey data, is estimated by means of a 2-step methodology. In the first step, we choose an individual qualitative variable capturing social integration at the unit level, and we compute a first direct estimate of the indicator as the proportion of highly integrated students in each area. Such variable is isolated following alternatively a proxy variable approach or a latent variable model approach. In the second step, we make use of two alternative small area models to improve the estimates, dealing with missing values, low sample size and high variability in smaller domains. At the end, the 2-step methodology results in 4 alternative versions of a synthetic indicator of social integration, that can be used to rank nationalities and administrative regions.

Isolation of Natural Acid Base Indicator from the Flower Extract of Sarca Asoca, Abelmoschus Esulentus, Hibisucs Cannabinus And Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis

The objective of this work is to use more plant indicators than chemical based indicators. Saraca asoca is a species of family Fabaceae and Abelmoschus esculentus and Hibiscus cannabinus is a species of family Malvaceae [1]. Indicator are very special chemicals, they change colour of the solution with change in pH by adding acid or alkali. In the present work acid base titration has been performed by using natural indicators. The natural indicator is prepared from the most commonly occurring flower Hibiscus cannabinus, Abelmoschus esculentus Saraca asoca and Hibiscus Rosa sinensis. Aqueous and methanolic extract of flower were used as natural indicator. One acid one base were selected for acid base titration. Vinegar is used as acid and caustic soda is used as base. The results obtained by the natural indicator are almost similar to the result given by the synthetic indicators. Thus, natural indicator from flowers can be used for acid base titration [2]. Using aqueous extract of flower as indicator is more economical and with the same accuracy of result as that given by synthetic indicators.

The Role of the Financial Condition in the Development of Coastal Municipalities in Poland

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess and discuss the relationship between the financial situation and the level of socio-economic development of coastal rural and urban-rural municipalities in Poland. Approach/Methodology/Design: The diversity of coastal municipalities in Poland due to the level of socio-economic development and financial situation was examined using a synthetic indicator. The analysis was carried out on the basis of data from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office and from the Ministry of Finance and Regional Accounting Chambers. The time range covers 2004-2017. Findings: The analysis shows that there was a statistically significant and bilateral relationship between the financial situation and the socio-economic development in Polish coastal municipalities in the years 2004-2017. Moreover, the results of an extensive analysis of this relationship showed that despite the fact that a statistical relationship was found in the analyzed period, such a relationship was not proven for each class and each municipality. In the case of the study taking into account classes of different levels, a significant relationship did not occur in the extreme classes, but only in the average. Practical Implications: The conclusions refer to the assumptions of the regional and local policy. Originality/Value: The study concerns current issues of regional and local policy. The results can contribute to the analysis of creating development at the local level.

Multidimensional Measures of Economic Insecurity in Spain: The Role of Aggregation and Weighting Methods

Economic insecurity is a relevant dimension of well-being. The limited availability of subjective expectations’ surveys makes multidimensional insecurity indices based on living conditions surveys a valuable alternative. We study differences in synthetic indicators of insecurity for Spain using different methods to aggregate and weigh dimensions. We show that its evolution and distribution is robust to the aggregation procedure, even though levels do differ. All procedures present strengths and weaknesses but the counting approach has a direct economic interpretation and can better capture insecurity in the middle classes. Other aggregation methods are less transparent and give more relevance to extreme situations.

Challenges and Prospects of Applying the Paradigm of Sustainable Development to the Eastern Europe Economy

The paradigm of sustainable development for the economy of Eastern Europe needs detailed research challenges and prospects in Global Sustainable Development Goals implementation by 2030. The main section of the study shows the results determining the position of Eastern European countries on the levels of implementation of the sustainable development concept. The purpose of the study is to analyze existing one’s challenges and prospects of applying the paradigm of sustainable development to the economy of Eastern Europe, by evaluated using a synthetic indicator of development, SDG Index and Spillover Index, to obtain and promote the goals of sustainable development. Research methods: comparative analysis; statistical analysis; systematization, generalization. Over the analyzed period, the situation of all Eastern European countries has improved due to the gradual implementation of sustainable development goals. However, the current situation is not beneficial in Eastern European countries, but the some of them (for example Slovenia and Czech Republic) are very close to completing this status. During analyzed period, a reasonable situation was observed in Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Croatia. Despite the significant progress Bulgaria and Romania continue to exist at a disadvantage. The most popular in Eastern Europe are financial resources to support small and medium-sized companies, research and innovation, and a low-carbon economy. As a result of the research, it was found that this analysis can provide further motivation and incentives for appropriate action by Eastern European countries to address existing calls. In Eastern Europe, sustainable development should be seen as a goal of development, no less important, namely to reduce contrasts in the quality of life of the population compared to Western European countries.

Impact of Electrification on African Development-Analysis with Using Grey Systems Theory

In this paper, the authors discuss the problem of the influence of the level of electrification in African countries on their sustainable development. The first aim of the article is to determine the relationship between changes in the electrification index and changes in the indicators showing individual components of sustainable development for African countries. The analyzed indicators of sustainable development include GDP per capita, Human Deveopment Index (HDI), and the CO2 emissions per capita indicator. The second goal of the article was to develop a synthetic indicator of sustainable development. This study uses the method of relationship research based on Gray Systems Theory—Gray Incidence Analysis. The main conclusion from the research carried out is that improving access to electricity is a necessary condition for the sustainable development of African countries. The lack of improvement in the availability of electricity is a basic barrier to development, especially in the poorest African countries.

Assessing sustainable energy development in the central and eastern European countries and analyzing its diversity

The growing social awareness of environmental protection entails that the assumptions of the sustainable development idea are being implemented in various economic sectors at an increasingly fast pace. One of them is the power industry, the sustainable development of which is now becoming a priority in economic policy for many countries. The paper refers to this issue by developing methodology for both studying and assessing the level of sustainable energy development in the Central and Eastern European Countries. The study involved 21 indicators characterizing the sustainable energy development of these countries in the areas of energy, environmental, economic, and social security for 2008 and 2018. When considering the complexity of the subject matter and the wide scope of the research, four methods of multi-criteria data analysis (TOPSIS, VIKOR, MOORA and COPRAS) were used. For each of them, based on the adopted criteria, synthetic indicators were determined, which allowed for the assessment of the level of sustainable energy development in the CEE countries. Weights for the adopted indicators were identified based on the Shanon's Entropy method. Afterwards, an unambiguous assessment of the level of sustainable energy development of the CEE countries was performed. The results showed that in 2008 and 2018, the best ranking position was held by Latvia and Croatia, and the worst ranking position was held by Poland and Bulgaria. The method of multidimensional scaling made it possible to determine the positions of studied countries on scatter plots in two-dimensional space, which showed differences between individual CEE countries. All in all, the applied methods allowed for a considerably broad assessment of the level of sustainable energy development of the CEE countries.

Measuring the quality of service of water companies: A two-stage goal programming synthetic index proposal

Quality of service (QS) is one of the most important parameters for evaluating the performance of water companies. It is a multidimensional concept that encompasses several performance indicators, with synthetic indicators that provide useful evaluation tools. Drinking water provision and wastewater treatment are basic services for which there is a series of minimum requirements that all water companies must meet. Under this premise, this study proposes a novel synthetic indicator to evaluate the QS of water companies in two stages. First, the non-compliance index was estimated, which provides information on the degree of non-compliance for essential indicators. Second, based on the goal programming approach, each water company's strengths and weaknesses were computed to generate a QS index with rankings. The index was then tested empirically on a sample of 24 water companies in Chile based on 10 initial indicators (of which three are considered essential indicators). Overall, 37.5% of the water companies did not meet the thresholds delineated for the essential indicators. Moreover, only five water companies had a positive QS index (i.e., their strengths were greater than their weaknesses). A scenario analysis evaluated the impact of weight allocation on the QS of water companies and their ranking. The ranking of water companies varied depending on the weights allocated to the initial indicators, demonstrating the importance of delineating regulator preferences when assessing QS.

Synthetic Indicators of Quality of Subjective Life in the EU: Rural and Urban Areas

The aim of this paper is to develop subjective synthetic indicators that quantify the quality of life in the different countries of the EU-28, with data from the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS). We add other indicators to the general synthetic ones in order to quantify the different dimensions of quality life due to its multidimensional nature. The successive but unchained application of the principal component analysis and the Mazziota-Pareto analysis allows us to classify 5 dimensions of quality of life: subjective component of governance, public services, environment, general satisfaction with life, and socioeconomic issues. We verify that countries with the lowest or highest positions in the general index usually keep that position in most dimensions. The spatial perspective is fundamental to study of regional development. For this reason, the next objective is the analysis of differences by spatial location using the variance analysis. The general indicator shows significant differences between EU countries but it does not show differences in the quality of life of European citizens in urban and rural areas.

A Synthetic Indicator for Sustainability Standards of Water Resources in Agriculture

The aim of this work is to evaluate the sustainability of water management for agriculture in a specific territory through the creation of a synthetic index resulting from the aggregation of multiple indices (environmental, economic, and social). The resulting synthetic index can be used to set sustainability standards and to guide the choices mandated by the Common Agricultural Policy 2023–2027. In this work we intend to show how the Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method facilitates a complex process such as establishing a degree of sustainability in a certain area and, therefore, provides support to national or regional policies and communities. The integration of MCDA and GIS increases the efficiency of the support activity. A case study is presented evaluating the level of sustainability in the Irrigation and Reclamation Consortium of Piacenza and Emilia Centrale, in the Emilia Romagna region.

THE IMPACT OF REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ENTITIES LISTED AT THE BVB

The current paper is part of a wider study which aims at identifying the determining factors of the performances of the entities in the real estate field and the setting up of a composite index of the companies’ performances based on a sample of 29 companies listed at the BVB Bucharest (Bucharest Stock Exchange) in the year 2019 using one of the multidimensional data analysis techniques, the principal component analysis. The descriptive analysis, the principal component analysis for setting up the composite index of the companies performances were applied within the study in order to highlight the most important companies from the point of view of the financial performance. The descriptive analysis of the data set highlights the overview within the companies selected for analysis. The study aims at building a synthetic indicator that will show the financial performance of the companies selected based on 9 financial indicators using the principal component analysis PCA. The 9 indicators considered for the analysis were selected based on specialised articles and they are: ROA – return on assets, which reflect the company’s capacity of using its assets productively, ROE – return on equity, which measures the efficiency of use of the stockholders’ capitals, rotation of total assets, general liquidity ratio, general solvency ratio, general dent-to-equity level, net profit margin, gross return of portfolio.

An attempt to evaluate the level of sustainable development in European Union countries

Motivation: Sustainable development is a concept of development that arouses keen interest of various entities, is unprecise in many of its assumptions, undoubtedly applicable for the contemporary civilisation as well as the future generations, with effects difficult to measure and interpret, and constitutes a considerable research challenge. The research on the sustainability level of particular countries or regions have still been insufficient, as well as, due to varying research methods and research scopes, difficult to compare and causing difficulties in clear determination of the scale and progress in implementing the assumptions of this concept of development.
 Aim: To evaluate the level of sustainable development in European Union countries in 2009 and 2018 with the application of the taxonomic method.
 Results: In the vast majority of European Union countries, the value of the synthetic sustainable development indicator was higher in 2018 as compared to 2009. Only in the case of three countries the value decreased. The improvement of the indicator was driven mainly by the economic aspect. When evaluating the sustainable development level of European Union countries in 2009 and 2018, it may be claimed that each time the majority of countries noted a low level of sustainable development: a low and very low synthetic sustainable development indicator was demonstrated by 67% and 56% respectively of the entities under evaluation. In the group of countries with a very high aggregate indicator, the changes in 2018 as compared to 2009 were not significant; only the Netherlands and Slovenia were in the group of countries with a high synthetic sustainable development indicator (in 2018 — with a very high indicator). Certainly, it should be seen as positive that the group of countries with a very low aggregate indicator shrank considerably: from 17 in 2009 to eight in 2018. Among the countries representing that group in 2018 were only those which belonged to it also in 2009. As results from the conducted analysis, the countries which have attained a very high or high level of sustainable development maintain this status.

A synthetic indicator of market leaders in the crowdlending sector

PurposeThis study contributes to the limited literature on crowdlending by providing a data-driven analysis of the sector. A synthetic DP2 indicator is proposed to identify the leaders of the crowdlending market, the key factors behind their success and the medium-term competitive implications.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines 17 crowdlending platforms and eight performance indicators. The information provided by these indicators is aggregated using a synthetic indicator based on the P2 Distance (DP2) method.FindingsMintos, Evoestate, Peerberry, Bondster and Fellow Finance are the leading platforms. This method reveals the key variables in the identification of market leaders, namely year-on-year variation in the number of investors and year-on-year variation in lending per investor. The leaders in terms of lending volumes should not take their current situation for granted. Small and medium-sized platforms are pushing hard and may overtake the incumbents as market leaders.Practical implicationsFinancial intermediation through crowdlending is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to traditional models. Changes in the sector are expected in the coming years due to the rise of platforms with a moderate amount of lending and solid year-on-year improvement. To become leaders and to attract both lenders and borrowers, platforms are encouraged to improve the information that they provide.Originality/valueThis paper offers the first analysis of market leadership in the crowdlending sector. It analyses the competitive market of the crowdlending sector based on its actors and key factors. These factors explain the differences in the market position of different platforms. Based on this analysis, the trends in this sector can be identified. This study is exploratory, so it offers empirical data that can be useful in the development of theories that apply to the sector.

Assessing the sustainability of rice production in Brazil and Cuba

The objective of this paper is to assess the sustainability of the agricultural production chain of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Brazil and Cuba, using a conceptual model that considers five sectors of sustainability supported in the Goals Programming philosophy as multicriteria analysis tools. A synthetic sustainability indicator is constructed to support decision-making through the benchmarking process to contribute the environmental, economic and social sustainability of rice farming. As results, Brazil shows a greater sustainability based on better availability of environmental resources for rice cultivation, a lower relative environmental load, better economic and productive performance, poorer employment and wage policies and higher satisfaction of the social demand for rice. On the other hand, Cuba shows a deficit of environmental resources, higher relative environmental load, low economic and productive performance, better employment and wage policies, and unsatisfied social demand for rice.

Ecological and Economic Context of Managing Enterprises That Are Particularly Harmful to the Environment and the Well-Being of Society

The ecological and economic context determine the management goals of a modern enterprise, which are in line with the growing concern about the well-being of society caused by the effects of enterprises’ activities that are particularly harmful to the environment. This increases the need to search for new tools that will have the capacity to generate information supporting the decision-making process in the area of enterprise management in terms of ecological, economic, and social goals. For these reasons, synthetic measures of development were constructed on the basis of the set of diagnostic variables describing various aspects of sustainable development in the case. Based on the environmental synthetic indicators, it has been possible to point out the Polish voivodeships, in which enterprises that are particularly harmful to the environment were able to reduce the emissions of dust and gaseous pollutants in the 2005–2019 period. These changes were often accompanied by an increase in the production of energy from renewable sources and increasing the supply of plants with devices to contain gaseous and dust pollutants. Moreover, the comparison of positioning the voivodeships in the rankings according to social, economic, and environmental synthetic measures shows that the reduction of the negative impact of energy-intensive enterprises on the environment has been associated with higher the position of the voivodeship in the ranking connected with the health of its inhabitants. It has been also seen that the largest pool of funds was allocated to the voivodeships that need them the most, as these voivodeships were low in the ranking with respect to the degree of the reduction of dust and gaseous emissions by enterprises that are particularly harmful to the environment. The results for regression analysis indicated at the existence of the inter-temporal relationships between the well-being of society and the environmental–economic effects of enterprises’ activities. It was noticed that increasing the possibilities of financing investments in low-emission development of the region, including the modernization of enterprises in terms of decreasing dust and gaseous pollutant emissions and reducing their energy consumption, has a significant impact on the improvement of well-being of society with a one-year lag. In contrast to other studies that mainly refer to the environmental and economic effects of managing enterprises that are particularly harmful to the environment, this paper focuses on the social aspect of the change in the health of the population connected with the emissions of pollutants. A novel approach based on the set of three multi-criteria synthetic measures is proposed to assess the environmental, economic, and social activities of enterprises in individual voivodeships in Poland in the long 2005–2019 period.

Developing Digital Economy and Society in the Light of the Issue of Digital Convergence of the Markets in the European Union Countries

The main objective of the paper is to present the development of digital economy and society in the Countries of the European Union in the light of the digital convergence of these markets. The analysis was based on the data on the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) from 2015 and 2020. Empirical studies have been conducted in two stages. First, basic measures of time series dynamics were used to determine the dynamics of changes in index values. On the other hand, in order to classify countries in terms of similarity of value and structure of the DESI, a cluster analysis was used as one of the basic methods of the so-called unsupervised statistical grouping. The studies presented confirm that the levels of indicators and the dynamics of changes in their value at the level of the synthetic DESI indicator, and in the five underlying areas of analysis, vary despite the fact that almost all are pro-growth, including for isolated clusters of EU-28 countries. When analyzing the DESI synthetic index and its components, it was concluded that there is generally an increase in convergence between the EU-28 countries in terms of the level of development of the digital economy and society, as well as in four components: Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet Services and Digital Public Services. The Integration of Digital Technology area was the only one where increasing polarization of results was observed. The added value of the paper is to fill the research gap in research on the digital convergence of markets in the Countries of the European Union.

Firm Credit Scoring: A Series Two-Stage DEA Bootstrapped Approach

This paper employs a cross-sectional research design to collect quantitative data for a group of Greek pharmaceutical companies in order to evaluate their credit risk. The data are processed using a variety of quantitative approaches, including series two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) combined with bootstrap and hierarchical clustering. The results of the two-stage DEA bootstrapped analysis indicate that the key problem with the firms’ performance is a lack of effectiveness rather than operating efficiency. The lack of a correlation between operating efficiency and effectiveness indicates that the firms’ performance metrics are unrelated. As a result, a bootstrapped DEA-based synthetic indicator is developed to be used with the other performance metrics as inputs to hierarchical clustering to divide sample firms into credit risk clusters. The series two-stage DEA bootstrapped approach used in this study could aid firms in evaluating their performance and increasing their competitive advantages.

Decision support system in management of concrete demolition waste

Processes of concrete waste management can be carried out using various technological and organizational systems. Such systems must meet the boundary conditions of a given project involving deconstruction of a building and will differ in terms of waste management costs, environmental impact and nuisance to the surrounding community. Selecting the most advantageous solution, taking into account numerous standards such as sustainable development, requires a multiple-criteria analysis of such variants. The system presented in this work supports the decision-making process in terms of choosing a technological and organizational solution in the field of concrete waste management. It is based on a mathematical simulation model, which produces rating indicators for technological-organizational waste management systems. Based on a synthetic rating indicator, the decision maker is provided with a list of ranked variants to choose from. Moreover, the system analyses qualitative parameters, such as the building site area required and waste management time.

Quantitative GIS Model for Evaluating the Favorability of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Culture for Suitable Varieties in Romania: Case Study Bihor County

The adaptation measures of agricultural crops to current climate change are also reflected at the level of land-use planning for species with resistance to rainfall shortages and periods of prolonged droughts. The present paper aimed at the spatial modeling of land favorability for alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) within Bihor county, which is located in Northwest Romania. This was performed by using GIS spatial analysis techniques, particularly the technique of rating agricultural plots by using as a modeling basis the synthetic climate indicators, soil indices, as well as topographic characteristics, which are considered relevant for the studied species. As a result of the modeling process, agricultural plots that are favorable for the alfalfa culture were identified. A comparative analysis of the profit was also carried out both for the green and dry masses of eight types of alfalfa, which are suitable for the national environmental conditions. Land favorability modeling for alfalfa cultivation will be carried out by using GIS spatial analysis techniques, which allow the use of large databases while maintaining the necessary degree of detail, and they make possible the correlations between factors and production estimated per hectare, which are correlations that are characteristic for the environmental factors. Thus, for the studied territory, the best green alfalfa production was identified as being obtained from the Carinca and Daniela varieties, whereas the Mihaela and Teodora varieties were noticed to provide the best dry alfalfa production.

Male Activity Rates vs Education Levels: An Analysis Across Selected European Union Countries

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the evolution of male employment rates between 2013–2017 in selected Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Hungary), and to analyze the interregional relationships between male activity and education levels. Methodology: The TOPSIS method was used to build synthetic indicators of male activity and education. An analysis of spatial autocorrelation was carried out to determine the strength of spatial relationships between different regions in terms of male activity and education levels. Also, the dependence between synthetic indicators of male activity and education levels was empirically analyzed based on spatial regression. Findings: The results of spatial regression analysis provide grounds for concluding that a 1% increase in the value of the synthetic indicator of education results, ceteris paribus, in a nearly 0,48% increase in the synthetic indicator of male activity levels in each region. Practical Implications: The results of the conducted research may be indirectly used by the central and local authorities responsible for local and regional development in the context of the choice of the direction for the socio-economic restructuring of countries and local government units. Originality/Value: Rarely used spatial regression together with taxonomic methods may constitute a useful tool for identification of relations between multidimensional categories.