A genetic search for exploiting a fuzzy preference model of portfolio problems with public projects

When an organization solves a portfolio problem with public projects evaluated by multiple criteria, in which the economic dimension is not essential or not well characterized, the classical methods are not useful. We propose a non-linear preference model developed from normative Value Theory and using fuzzy sets to model some sources of imprecision. This model can be considered as a generalization of the classical approaches. However, the optimization problem is very complex in order to be solved with non-linear programming techniques. Therefore, the model is exploited by an evolutionary algorithm, able to achieve a strong improvement of the quality of solution.