The authors describe several regional development-assessment methods and subsequently apply them in a comparative development level analysis of the Slovenian and Croatian municipalities. The aim is to compare performance and suitability of several parametric and non-parametric ranking methods and to develop a suitable multivariate methodological framework for distinguishing development level of particular territorial units.
Link
http://www.ersa.org/ersaconfs/ersa03/cdrom/papers/350.pdf