Multiattribute Evaluation within a Present Value Framework and its Relation to the Analytic Hierarchy Process

ABSTRACT

Recent recognition of the difficulties in measuring the true economic costs and benefits of major technological alternatives, as well as the much broader scope of analysis required for the full consideration of such alternatives, has highlighted the limitations of traditional capital investment analysis methods. This has led to an interest in the use of multicriteria methods of analysis in which financial returns are treated as one of several criteria. In this paper we argue that there should be no conflict between the objective of a multicriteria analysis and that of maximizing the wealth of the firm. We introduce a framework of analysis in which a decision maker's judgments concerning the intangible and difficult-to-quantify criteria are given economic value. The framework of analysis also incorporates consistency checks on the decision maker's judgments.