PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS OF RETAIL TRADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND SERBIA USING THE AHP-TOPSIS METHOD

Abstract

Measuring retail trade has received considerable attention in both theory and
practice. Taking up this important issue, this paper analyses retail trade productivity
by means of the AHP-TOPSIS method. The empirical research has shown varying
retail trade productivity across different countries in Europe. For example, in 2016,
retail trade productivity measured as sales per employee in Luxemburg, Belgium and
the Netherlands exceeded the EU average. It can be seen from the decision matrix
rankings obtained using the TOPSIS method that in 2016 in terms of retail
productivity, the European Union seen as a single market ranked first, followed by
individual countries: Malta ranked second, Luxembourg ranked third, while Germany
was fourth. As for some countries in transition in South-Eastern Europe, Slovenia
came 11th, Croatia came 23ndand Serbia came 18th. The application of new business
models in retail trade varies across countries and, as a result, so does their retail productivity.
Key words: efficiency, factors, trade, Serbia, AHP-TOPSIS method.