Multicriterial threshold binarization of clustered matrices as exemplified by export sector’s competitiveness of the Subsaharan African economies

Abstract

The paper offers the methodology of the matrix clustering consisting of multicriteria threshold binarization of the initial matrix of states of objects and clustering the resulting binary matrix into submatrices with different densities of zero and unit elements. Using hand calculation, the methodology was fine-tuned on the export competitiveness indicators of all the Sub-Saharan African countries for the Fresh Food sector of the Trade Competitiveness Map database