Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/73000 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
Nota di Lavoro No. 16.2013
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
This paper presents an application of a multi-attribute aggregation methodology to the construction of a sustainability index. Sustainability is a multi-faceted issue, in which synergies or conflicts may arise among the different components, thus making it a complex concept to which multi attribute methods can be employed. This paper addresses the development of the FEEM Sustainability Index (FEEM SI), a composite index including 19 different indicators grouped in the three classical pillars of sustainability ? economic, social and environmental. We present the relevance of multi-attribute aggregation methodologies when dealing with such complex concepts and provide an aggregation methodology used for this case study, the Choquet-integral aggregation. First, we normalize each sustainability indicator with the use of a benchmarking procedure with a smooth target of sustainability. Furthermore, an ad-hoc questionnaire implemented to assess the importance of each sustainability indicator and their interaction with other indicators through expert elicitation. After normalizing each sustainability indicator and computing consensus importance of each sustainability indicator and their interactions for the Choquet-integral aggregation procedure, the overall sustainability index, the FEEM SI is calculated. This paper also conducts robustness analysis and discusses the main implications of the aggregation methodology used.
Subjects: 
sustainability indices
composite indicators
Choquet integral
multiattribute value theory
JEL: 
C43
C44
Q01
Q56
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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