Multi-criteria decision-making in the evaluation of environmental quality of OECD countries

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use multi-criteria decision-making methods to assess environmental quality of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Design/methodology/approach Weights of criteria are determined by means of entropy weight method. VIKOR method is used to rank different OECD countries based on their environmental quality. Findings The results show the best and the worst environmental quality of different OECD countries. The top five countries of environmental quality are Spain, Israel, Belgium, Japan and the USA. These countries have the best quality of environment. By contrast, the worst five countries of environmental quality are Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Chile. Originality/value The findings have implications regarding environmental quality. The results suggest that governments should engage in policy-making that improves their environmental quality. Specifically, those having poor quality of environment should protect the environment and reduce the negative impact on environment. For example, reduce emission of CO2 to lessen the impact of climate change, improve the quality of air and water, reduce waste generation, increase biodiversity and enhance forest resources. Improvement of environmental quality will improve our social and economic life as well as health conditions.