Multivariate approach to imposing additional constraints on the Benefit-of-the-Doubt model: The case of QS World University Rankings by Subject

Maričić Milica (), Bulajić Milica (), Radojičić Zoran () and Jeremić Veljko ()
Additional contact information
Maričić Milica: Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Bulajić Milica: Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Radojičić Zoran: Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Jeremić Veljko: Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, 2016, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Composite indexes have become a valuable asset for stakeholders as they provide ranks of entities and information upon which decisions are made. However, certain questions about their development procedure have been raised recently, especially regarding the weighting process. To tackle the observed issue, in this paper we propose a new multivariate approach for defining weights. Namely, the model based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) model, has been used with significant success in the process of composite index development. On the other hand, the Composite I-distance Indicator (CIDI) methodology stands out as an impartial method for assigning weights to indicators. By combining these two approaches, some of the limitations of the original BoD model could be overcome. As a result, new entity-specific weights which maximize the value of the composite index can be proposed. As a case study, we analysed the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject in the field of statistics and operational research. The obtained results, which are based on the data-driven weights, can provide new insights into the nature of the observed ranking. The approach presented here might provoke further research on the topic of composite index weights and on the university rankings by subject.

Keywords: Benefit-of-Doubt model; Composite I-distance Indicator (CIDI); operational research; university rankings by subject (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1515/crebss-2016-0005 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:crebss:v:2:y:2016:i:1:p:1-14:n:1

DOI: 10.1515/crebss-2016-0005

Access Statistics for this article

Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics is currently edited by Dragan Bagić, Ksenija Dumičić and Nataša Erjavec

More articles in Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().