Economic security of the Republic of Serbia in an era of global disruptions: macroeconomic resilience, social cohesion, energy and food security, and innovation capacity

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the economic security of the Republic of Serbia over the period 2021-2025 through a multidimensional framework encompassing macroeconomic resilience, social cohesion, energy and food security, and innovation capacity. The analysis is based on 20 indicators obtained from official Serbian statistical sources. A hierarchical Entropy approach was applied to determine criterion weights, with equal weights assigned to the four dimensions and relative indicator weights within each dimension calculated using the Entropy method. The MARCOS method was then used to rank the observed years, while robustness was assessed by comparison with a conventional Entropy-MARCOS model and a MARCOS model with equal criterion weights. The results show that economic security was highest in 2024, followed by 2025 and 2021, whereas 2022 recorded the least favourable outcome. The dimension-level analysis indicates that the sources of economic resilience changed over time, with innovation capacity reaching its most favourable position in 2025. The identical ranking obtained across all three models confirms the stability of the results and supports the use of a multidimensional approach to assessing national economic security.