In substitutable concepts, one dimension can fully compensate for another.

Evidence

In terms of measurement and data these goods are measured by the sum of government expenditures in these areas. A big welfare state is one that spends a lot in total for these services. Equivalent welfare states can spend a lot on health or a lot on retirement. At the extremes they can spend nothing on one service if they provide a lot on another. Typical of best shot aggregation, one dimension can completely substitute for another. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 984

Categorization

• DEFINE: Substitutability is the defining property of best shot aggregation: strong performance on one dimension offsets absence on another.
• SEED: Article angle: why nearly every country-index (welfare, democracy, development) silently assumes dimensions are interchangeable when policy reality says otherwise.