An analytical model for benchmarking the development of national infrastructure items against those in similar countries

Analysis of the critical infrastructure development experiences of similar countries can help identify the critical infrastructure items that are lacking in a country of interest, mitigate the risks pertaining to policy implementation failures and provide useful planning information to policymakers. To support such examinations, a double-L fuzzy similarity model that uses the infrastructure indicators included in the World Competitiveness Yearbook of 2011 is employed. A new analytic model is then developed that leverages the fuzzy model evaluations to analyze infrastructure data and understand the leading/lagging performance of infrastructure indicators in various countries. To illustrate the application of the analytic model, 10 countries that display the most similar infrastructure development conditions to those of Taiwan (country of interest) are selected. Comparing the infrastructure indicators of the 10 similar countries can enable Taiwanese policymakers to determine the significantly leading (relatively strong), significantly lagging (relatively weak) and non-significant indicators for the Taiwan environment and help identify infrastructure items that require further investment, select benchmarks for infrastructure development and set development goals.