Abstract:

Over the last few decades, member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have reached varying levels of economic development. In the current era of sustainability, increased efficiency and productivity are among the goals to be achieved. Development goals of primarily achieving food security, secure and prosperous life for all ages, gender equality, inclusive economic growth, and industrialization hold a prominent role in ensuring access to a sustainable life. This research aimed at assessing the total changes in productivity and efficiency factors based on indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 49 OIC member states within the period 2010–2017. Using the Malmquist Index (MI) and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method, this research estimated the changes in productivity and efficiency that took place in each OIC member state. The results showed that Jordan, Cameroon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon were the states with the highest MIs within the observation years. However, the collective productivity of the OIC member states was declining, as suggested by a Malmquist Index of lesser than 1 (0.991). This productivity drop was attributable to technical and technological inefficiencies. Also, there were differences in productivity observed in the states belonging to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), AMU (Arab Maghreb Union), Sub-Saharan African, Middle-East, and Asian countries. This study also conducted a comparison of performance to aid in identifying policies for further improvement of the OIC states within those areas. Meanwhile, the average CRS and VRS efficiency values of the OIC member states as a whole were relatively high at 82 percent and 87 percent, respectively.