hSNS publication in the European Journal of Operational Research

Using a Choquet integral-based approach for incorporating decision-maker’s preference judgments in a Data Envelopment Analysis model

Authors: Miguel Alves Pereira; José Rui Figueira; Rui Cunha Marques

Abstract: In a world in permanent (r)evolution that revolves around money, seeking new ways to contain costs, better allocate resources, and, overall, improve performance is a constant across all fields. Hence, the use of computational methods based on operational research and statistical science is crucial for achieving an appropriate combination of efficiency and effectiveness, especially in domains where the decision-making process is a complex task. This is where Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) comes in. However, as a non-parametric and, usually, purely objective technique, DEA makes up for what it lacks in incorporating preference information with flexibility and adaptability, which is particularly important in areas where the decision-makers’ judgments are crucial. This work proposes a cutting-edge and original approach to fill in this knowledge gap by linking DEA and multiple criteria decision-making with an additive DEA model that takes into account criteria interactivity, by using an inference methodology to determine their weights, and decision-makers’ preference information incorporation, by taking advantage of the Choquet multiple criteria preference aggregation model. Thus, this approach was applied to a case study of performance assessment of Portuguese National Healthcare Service secondary healthcare providers across robustness-testing perspectives, generating credible weights stemmed from the decision-maker’s judgments and yielding acceptable and valid results.

Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis; Multiple criteria analysis; Preference learning; Choquet integral; Performance evaluation.

[Bibliographic reference] Pereira, MA; Figueira, JR; Marques, RC. Using a Choquet integral-based approach for incorporating decision-maker’s preference judgements in a Data Envelopment Analysis model. European Journal of Operational Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.01.037

About the journal: The European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR) publishes high quality, original papers that contribute to the methodology of operational research (OR) and to the practice of decision making. EJOR contains the following types of papers:

• Invited Reviews, explaining to the general OR audience the developments in an OR topic over the recent years;
• Innovative Applications of OR, describing novel ways to solve real problems;
• Theory and Methodology Papers, presenting original research results contributing to the methodology of OR and to its theoretical foundations;
• Short Communications, if they correct important deficiencies of papers previously published in EJOR.