The problem of supplier selection is an important concern for all businesses. Also, as environmental concerns are mounting and socio-economic crises are increasing worldwide, the need for resilient and environment-friendly suppliers is aggravating. Companies are under tremendous pressure to redefine their business practices and operations to achieve sustainability goals while being resilient. The study aims to evaluate the Chinese automotive parts suppliers based on 'gresilience' (green and resilient) criteria. The suppliers are evaluated using the Ordinal Priority Approach (OPA) and TOPSIS models. Also, it is the first time the TOPSIS model has been executed on the OPA-based criteria weights. The results from the two methods were mostly consistent. However, the OPA is flexible and can produce ranking under different assumptions.

PurposeElectricity plays an essential role in nations' economic development. However, coal and renewables currently play an important part in electricity production in major world economies. The current study aims to forecast the electricity production from coal and renewables in the USA, China and Japan.Design/methodology/approachTwo intelligent grey forecasting models – optimized discrete grey forecasting model DGM (1,1,α), and optimized even grey forecasting model EGM (1,1,α,θ) – are used to forecast electricity production. Also, the accuracy of the forecasts is measured through the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE).FindingsCoal-powered electricity production is decreasing, while renewable energy production is increasing in the major economies (MEs). China's coal-fired electricity production continues to grow. The forecasts generated by the two grey models are more accurate than that by the classical models EGM (1,1) and DGM (1,1) and the exponential triple smoothing (ETS).Originality/valueThe study confirms the reliability and validity of grey forecasting models to predict electricity production in the MEs.

Purpose – The importance of electricity in the economic development of nations is undeniable. Although coal and renewable sources are significant contributors to electricity production in major world economies, a new study seeks to predict the future production of electricity from these sources in Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. Design/methodology/approach – Two optimized grey forecasting models – DGM (1,1,α) and EGM (1,1,θ,α) – are used to forecast electricity production. Also, the accuracy of the forecasts is measured through the Javed-Cudjoe scale of Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). Findings – The electricity production from coal is on the decline, while renewable energy production is increasing in Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. The accuracy of the forecasts for these trends, as generated by two grey models, surpasses that of the Exponential Triple Smoothing (ETS). Originality/value – For the first time, optimized even and discrete grey forecasting models have been utilized to make predictions about electricity production in the three largest economies in Europe.

Countries often take on debt as a means of financing their economic development, such as funding infrastructure projects, investing in education or healthcare, or stimulating economic growth. This paper aims to analyze international debt statistics using the PostgreSQL database management system, specifically focusing on the external debt of countries as presented in the World Bank's International Debt Statistics (IDS) database. The analysis examines the most prevalent debt indicators and investigates the amount of debt owed by countries to identify potential economic issues and findings show that long-term external debt is the most common form of external debt for low- and middle-income countries. The IDS dataset displays that the most prevalent debt indicators are DT.INT.OFFT.CD, DT.INT.MLAT.CD, DT.INT.DLXF.CD, DT.AMT.OFFT.CD, DT.AMT.MLAT.CD, and DT.AMT.DLXF.CD. The study also finds that among the top five countries with the highest maximum debt, four are from emerging market economies, suggesting that they may be facing economic challenges. However, the study emphasizes that the findings should be interpreted with caution and that other economic indicators, such as the debt-to-GDP ratio and debt sustainability, should be considered when analyzing a country's overall economic health.