Using data envelopment analysis as a tool for multiple criteria decision making: Some remarks

The purpose of this paper is to study proposals to use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a tool for Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). We first recall, using a simple model, the equivalence between the concept of ‘efficiency’ in DEA and that of ‘convex’ efficiency in MCDM. Examples are then used to show that various techniques that have been proposed in the DEA literature to deal with MCDM problems violate simple normative properties that are commonly accepted. We conclude with some remarks on the possible areas of interaction between DEA and MCDM.