AN APPLICATION ON RE-EVALUATING GOOD COUNTRY RANKINGS OF EU COUNTRIES WITH SLACK-BASED DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS METHOD

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the “good country” status of EU countries through the Good Country Index using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each country and to provide recommendations to policy makers and civil society organizations based on this information. The efficiency analysis was applied to four components of the GCI, which has seven basic indicators, each of which has five subcomponents, simultaneously containing both positive and negative elements. The mentioned components are the contributions of countries to world culture, contributions to world peace and security, contributions to world order and contributions to the planet and climate. The components of the GCI that are wholly composed of positive elements—contribution to welfare and equality, research and technology, and health and well-being—are excluded as they are not in line with the logic of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that reduces inputs or increases outputs. It should be kept in mind that this study, whose subject matter is countries and therefore people, is due to the mechanical structure of DEA, which suggests proportional increases or decreases, and that some of the recommendations of DEA, which cannot be considered natural, are due to the mechanical structure of DEA, and that the GCI is handled differently with efficiency analysis and should be considered as a partial interpretation of the index. Version 1.5 of the GCI, calculated with 2022 data, was used in this study. Efficiency scores were calculated with the RStudio deaR package. According to the efficiency rankings of EU countries calculated on the components of the GCI, Austria and Belgium ranked last in terms of contribution to world culture, Portugal and Estonia in terms of contribution to world peace and security, Slovakia and Czechia in terms of contribution to world order, and Croatia and Estonia in terms of contribution to the planet and climate. The study also presents various challenges and suggestions for those who are considering working on this topic, as there is no study in the literature that deals with good country rankings using an efficiency analysis approach.

Keywords

• Good Country Index
• Data Envelopment Analysis
• Slack Based Model

AB ÜLKELERİNİN İYİ ÜLKE SIRALAMALARININ AYLAK TABANLI VERİ ZARFLAMA ANALİZİ YÖNTEMİ İLE YENİDEN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİNE İLİŞKİN BİR UYGULAMA

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı; İyi Ülke Endeksi üzerinden AB ülkelerinin “iyi ülke” olma durumlarını Veri Zarflama Analizi (VZA) ile değerlendirmek, her bir ülkenin güçlü ve zayıf yönlerini belirlemek ve bu bilgilere dayanarak politika yapıcılara ve sivil toplum kuruluşlarına öneriler sunmaktır. Etkinlik analizi, her birinde beşer alt bileşen bulunan yedi temel göstergeye sahip GCI’nın, aynı anda hem pozitif hem de negatif unsurlar içeren dört bileşeni üzerinden uygulanmıştır. Bahsi geçen bileşenler; ülkelerin dünya kültürüne katkıları, dünya barışı ve güvenliğine katkıları, dünya düzenine katkıları ve gezegen ve iklime katkılarıdır. GCI’nın tümüyle pozitif unsurlardan oluşan; bilim ve teknolojiye katkı, refah ve eşitliğe katkı, sağlık ve esenliğe katkı bileşenleri, VZA’nın girdileri azaltan veya çıktıları arttıran mantığına uygun olmadığı için kapsam dışı bırakılmıştır. Konusu ülkeler ve dolayısıyla insanlar olan bu çalışmanın, VZA’nın doğal kabul edilemeyecek birtakım önerilerinin, VZA’nın oransal artış veya azalışlar öneren mekanik yapısından kaynaklanmakta olduğu unutulmamalı, GCI’nın etkinlik analiziyle farklı bir şekilde ele alındığı ve endeksin kısmi bir yorumu olarak değerlendirilmelidir. Uygulamada GCI’nın 2022 verileriyle hesaplanmış olan 1.5 versiyonu kullanılmıştır. Etkinlik skorları, RStudio deaR paketi ile hesaplanmıştır. AB ülkelerinin GCI’nın ele alınan bileşenleri üzerinden hesaplanan etkinlik sıralamalarına göre; Avusturya ve Belçika dünya kültürüne katkı bakımından, Portekiz ve Estonya dünya barış ve güvenliğine katkı bakımından, Slovakya ve Çek Cumhuriyeti dünya düzenine katkı bakımından, Hırvatistan ve Estonya ise gezegen ve iklime katkı bakımından en son sırada yer almışlardır. Çalışmada, ayrıca, literatürde iyi ülke sıralamalarının etkinlik analizi yaklaşımıyla ele alındığı bir çalışma olmaması nedeniyle, bu konuda çalışmayı düşünenler için karşılaşılan çeşitli zorluklara ve önerilere de yer verilmiştir.

Keywords

• İyi Ülke Endeksi
• Veri Zarflama Analizi
• Aylak Tabanlı Model

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