Determining the logistics market performance of developing countries by entropy and MABAC methods

Background: The levels of logistics market performance of developing countries are published with Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index (AEMLI) reports. The main purpose of this research is to propose a new model to determine the logistics market performance of developing countries in 2022 and to reorder the developing countries according to their logistics market performance. Methods: AEMLI indicators have been accepted as the basic criteria for determining the logistics market performance. The importance levels of these criteria have been determined by the Entropy technique. The logistics market performance rankings of developing countries according to the criteria were determined using the Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison (MABAC) technique. The data set of 50 developing countries included in the 2022 AEMLI report has been used in the investigation. Results: According to the proposed new model, the weights of the criteria and logistics market performance rankings of developing countries have been determined. The importance levels of the criteria have been determined as Business Fundamentals (BF), Digital Readiness (DR), International Logistics Opportunities (ILO), and Domestic Logistics Opportunities (DLO), respectively. The ranking based on the new model was compared with the rankings in the 2022 AEMLI report. 21 of the 50 developing countries have improved their rankings. The ranking of 20 countries has been dropped. There is no change in the ranking of 9 countries. Additionally, according to AEMLI, the country with the highest logistics market performance is China, while the country with the best logistics market performance according to the proposed model is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Conclusions: Contrary to the literature, Entropy and MABAC techniques were used to rank the logistics market performances of developing countries by making use of AEMLI reports. The issues that countries should focus on in the development of their logistics market performance are shown.