CLUSTERING ANALYSIS OF TURKEY AND EU COUNTRIES ON THE AXIS OF GREEN GROWTH HEADLINE INDICATORS


Ok Y., Yılmaz Kaya B.

XLVIII International Symposium on Operational Research, Belgrade, Serbia, 20 - 23 September 2021, pp.483-488

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • City: Belgrade
  • Country: Serbia
  • Page Numbers: pp.483-488
  • Gazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Clustering is the classification of objects into different groups, or the division of a data set into subsets (clusters) so that the data in each subset share some common characteristics. Clustering techniques basically seeks a structure of natural clusters for a dataset, based on their similarities or dissimilarities [1]. Green growth is a complex and multidimensional concept. While this concept is similar to “sustainable development”, unlike sustainable development, green growth aims to support economic growth and
development in a way that balances environmental damage concerns wi
th long-term economic growth [2]. Five main categories including approximately 150 sub-criteria developed by the OECD balance out the central elements of green growth. While a large number of well-designed indicators are potentially required in economic environmental connectivity to provide background information, they are unlikely to resonate with policy makers and the wider public. Thus, to synthesize the main messages in a clear and easy interpretable way, one of the possible standing out approaches is to assemble a small number of headline indicators. Therefore, in this study, headline indicators are used to cluster the countries. This study was carried out to classify EU countries and Turkey according to the headline indicators of green growth. Considering 5 headline indicators of green growth, Turkey and EU countries were grouped using fuzzy C means clustering with two different tool, MATLAB and R. As a result of the analyses, the countries that provide homogeneity in terms of green growth headline indicators and show similarities among themselves were grouped to determine whether Turkey has similar characteristics with other countries in the same cluster, lastly, the statistical results were evaluated.