Equitable aggregations and multiple criteria analysis

In the past decade, increasing interest in equity issues resulted in new methodologies in the area of operations research. This paper deals with the concept of equitably efficient solutions to multiple criteria optimization problems. Multiple criteria optimization usually starts with an assumption that the criteria are incomparable. However, many applications arise from situations which present equitable criteria. Moreover, some aggregations of criteria are often applied to select efficient solutions in multiple criteria analysis. The latter enforces comparability of criteria (possibly rescaled). This paper presents aggregations which can be used to derive equitably efficient solutions to both linear and nonlinear multiple optimization problems. An example with equitable solutions to a capital budgeting problem is analyzed in detail. An equitable form of the reference point method is introduced and analyzed.