This webinar has two aims. The first is to present a new class of indices the Multidimensional Synthesis of Indicators (MSI) introduced in the literature by Mauro, Biggeri and Maggino (2018). The second is to present a case study: the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda 2030(Biggeri, Clark, Ferrannini and Mauro, 2019).

The new approach for the synthesis and analysis of multidimensional poverty and well-being indicators is inspired by the theoretical foundations of the capability approach and sustainable human development paradigm. The new synthesis of indicators aims at monitoring outcomes of units of interest. Its defining features include: full sensitiveness, continuity, flexibility in substitution between dimensions, and the straightforward interpretation of the results. The new synthesis proposed opens up new possibilities for different types of applications, including monitoring and evaluating development programmes. This approach overcomes well-known problems associated with replacing the arithmetic mean with the geometric mean (a difficulty encountered by the post-2010 HDI). Specifically, it makes an allowance for the heterogeneity of dimensions, while avoiding the tendency of the geometric mean to collapse to zero.

The case study regards the monitoring of the SDGs introducing the adjusted ‘Integrated Sustainable Development Index’ (I-SDI) that can take account of trade-offs and synergies between goals and targets as well as across the economic, social and environmental spheres of sustainable development. Then, the I-SDI scores and rankings are compared with those generated by the SDG Index and the geometric mean. By taking account of heterogeneity within and between goals as well as across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, and by capturing synergies and trade-offs among indicators, our study reveals crucial differences in I-SDI scores and rankings that illustrate the value of a more flexible and integrated measure for guiding policymakers and monitor overall progress.

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Associate Professor of Development Economics at the University of Florence. He is expert of the Amartya Sen's Capability Approach and, since 2010, he is a Fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association. Since 2008, he is the scientific Director of ARCO (Action Research for CO-development) a research center based at Pin Prato as well as Director of the Scientific and Ethical Committee of Yunus Social Business Center University of Florence (funded in April 2011).

His research concentrates on the political economy for sustainable human development,  international cooperation programs, industrial policies, evolution of informal activities and clustering of small and medium – sized enterprises, social economy and social enterprises, Social Business and local development, collective action, poverty and inequality, and on the well-being of children, persons with disabilities and migrants, as well as on research methods, well-being and poverty measurement and impact evaluations. He is the author and/or co – author of 20 books and stands out with many publications in international academic journals. Among others, he has been a consultant for UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank, ILO and the EC.

Vincenzo Mauro holds Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Florence. His research interests include development of indicators for the measurement of multidimensional phenomena and models based on causal inference for policy evaluation under a causal inference approach. He is currently Assistant Professor in Statistics at the University of Macerata.