Ranking-based evaluation of dynamic indicator trajectories: Evidence from LGBT rights in Europe

The development of rankings based on composite indicators is a well-established practice in socio-economic research, providing policy-makers and scholars with comparative evaluations across countries and regions. Conventional approaches, however, are typically static, assessing performance at a single point in time and neglecting the temporal dynamics of change. This study introduces a methodology grounded in Functional Data Analysis to produce dynamic rankings. By representing indicators as smooth temporal trajectories, the approach derives functional measures that capture level, trend, and acceleration. These measures are subsequently aggregated to generate global rankings that enable the evaluation over time. The framework is applied to the Rainbow Index, which annually monitors LGBT rights across European countries, illustrating how dynamic rankings offer a deeper understanding of long-term progress compared to static evaluations.