Evaluation of Logistics, Sustainability and Economic Performances of OECD Countries Through the Integrated CRITIC-MAIRCA Methods

Aim: The increasing complexity of global supply chains and the growing emphasis on sustainability have highlighted the need for integrated performance evaluation frameworks that jointly consider logistics, economic, and environmental dimensions. In this context, this study aims to determine the relative importance of logistics, sustainability, and economic performance indicators in OECD member countries and to rank these countries based on their overall performance. The analysis incorporates six widely used macro-level indicators: the Logistics Performance Index (LPI), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and trade openness (TO).Method: The study employs an integrated Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework. The CRITIC method is used to objectively determine the weights of the evaluation criteria, while the MAIRCA method is applied to rank OECD countries according to their relative performance. To ensure the robustness of the findings, sensitivity analyses are conducted using alternative weighting (ENTROPY, CILOS, and Standard Deviation (SD)) and ranking (CoCoSo, MABAC and VIKOR) methods.Results: The CRITIC methodology results reveal that trade openness is the most dominant criterion in determining overall performance in OECD member countries, with a weighting of 0.284. This is followed by the Sustainable Development Goals Index (0.203) and the Logistics Performance Index (0.189), while carbon emissions (0.109), gross domestic product (0.108), and foreign direct investment inflows (0.106) have relatively lower weightings. These findings indicate that performance assessment in OECD countries is being reshaped around global trade integration, sustainability, and logistics efficiency, rather than traditional macroeconomic indicators. The ranking results obtained using the MAIRCA methodology show that Belgium has the highest performance, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark; while Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica were identified as the lowest performing countries in the analysis. Overall, the results confirm that strong trade integration, advanced logistics infrastructure, and high sustainability performance play a decisive role in the overall performance of countries.Conclusion: The findings suggest that policymakers seeking to enhance national performance should prioritize trade openness, sustainability-oriented indicators, and logistics performance rather than relying predominantly on traditional macroeconomic measures such as GDP and foreign direct investment inflows. The results demonstrate that countries with stronger integration into global trade networks and higher sustainability performance tend to achieve superior logistics outcomes, underscoring the strategic interdependence among these dimensions. Accordingly, policymakers’ effort should be designed in an integrated manner, whereby improvements in lower-weighted criteria are supported through policies that reinforce higher-weighted dimensions. For instance, fiscal incentives aimed at attracting foreign direct investment into sustainable projects can simultaneously strengthen sustainability objectives and trade-related performance. Despite the growing global emphasis on sustainability, the findings also indicate that commercial considerations continue to play a significant role in OECD member countries. Overall, the study highlights the necessity of coordinated policy frameworks that effectively balance economic performance, sustainability goals, and logistics efficiency.