Perhaps the most difficult aspect of constructing a multi-dimensional index is that of choosing weights for the components. This problem is often bypassed by adopting the ‘agnostic’ option of equal weights, as in the human development index. This is an annual ranking of countries produced by...

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of constructing a multi-dimensional index is that of choosing weights for the components. This problem is often bypassed by adopting the ‘agnostic’ option of equal weights, as in the Human Development Index. This is an annual ranking of countries produced by...

We highlight differences in the way multiplicative DEA is being applied and draw attention to the fact that a units-invariant (i.e. scale-invariant) form is available. Moreover, this model avoids the ‘zero weight problem' in DEA (where criteria are effectively ignored)