A Robust Alternative to Environmental Performance Index

Abstract

A composite index called the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was obtained to\revaluate countries’ environmental performance. This index was calculated for 180 countries\rconcerning 24 environmental indicators. However, it is well known that there are huge differences\rbetween countries regarding environmental factors besides social, economic, and cultural factors. This\rcase aggravates the doubt that the data set has outliers. Therefore, the index values should be obtained\rsuch that they are unsensitive to outliers. This study aims to generate a composite index, which is a\rrobust alternative to EPI. For this aim, we use the Robust Principal Component Analysis (ROBPCA)\rand the Technique for Order Preferences by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), which is a multicriteria\rdecision-making method.