Reviewing Composite Vulnerability and Resilience Indexes: A Sustainable Approach and Application

Vulnerability–resilience indexes fail to grasp all dimensions of sustainability, whereas sustainable development has gained momentum. We fill this gap with a hierarchical multimetric composite index (Net Vulnerability Resilience Index: NVRI) whose robustness relies on a mathematical algorithm based on graph theory. A worldwide application shows that (i) both vulnerability and resilience are policy-responsive and that (ii) there is no determinism for a country to remain vulnerable or resilient. The NVRI enables us to identify a country’s strengths and weaknesses and determine the policy orientations that should be implemented to achieve sustainability.