Analysis and classification of the literature dealing with the relative importance of criteria in multiple criteria decision aids

Analysis and classification of the literature dealing with the relative importance of criteria in multiple criteria decision aid. The notion of importance of criteria is central in the field of multiple criteria decision aid. This notion is used in a large majority of methods through importance parameters which aim at capturing the role of each criterion in the elaboration of overall preferences. This paper lists a large number of articles that have been published in the field and gives a critical analysis of this literature. Moreover, a two-level classification is proposed. The first level segments the literature into categories of works of the same nature. The second level is transverse to the first one and point out (through semantic indicators) the global orientation of each paper.