Collective Preference Research Articles

Supplier Selection by Extended TOPSIS to Obtain the Ideal Compromise Solution in Group Decision Making

In the current literature, there are several studies, which the supplier selection is typically a Multi Criteria Group Decision Making problem. Several solutions for the above problem are proposed (from simple approaches; like, Borda, Condorcet, etc., to complex ones; like, Multiple Criteria Decision Making model combined with intuitionistic fuzzy set, etc.). To solve this problem, different method (particularly, extended TOPSIS method) are proposed in this paper. Firstly, we have used TOPSIS to find the individual preference ordering, then, we have used the extended version of this method to find the collective preference orderings. In addition, this model is capable of considering the expert weights. Finally, the proposed approach is compared with an existed approach (i.e., TOPSIS and Borda's function). Compared results show the advantage of our extended model over previous one.

Local feedback strategy for consensus building with probability-hesitant fuzzy preference relations

A consensus reaching process is an iteratively developed negotiation process designed to ensure that a mutual agreement is reached by decision makers. To incorporate distribution information of hesitant fuzzy sets, probability-hesitant fuzzy sets have recently been proposed. In the context of probability-hesitant fuzzy preference relations (PHFPR), this paper aims to provide a novel consensus reaching process for group decision making problems. By means of fuzzy preference relations, an optimization based consistency improvement process is proposed to deal with the inconsistencies in a given PHFPR. Consensus measures that are developed based on the distances between the individuals are computed on three levels: an alternative pair level, an alternatives level, and a preference relations level. An algorithm that adopts a local feedback strategy is designed to improve the consensus reaching process. The feedback strategy sequentially identifies the preferences with respect to the position and the anti-ideal individuals who need to change, after which the convergence of the proposed algorithm is proven. The novelty of the proposed strategy is that it avoids the need to compute the collective preference relations and recommendations are generated for the individuals in their original domains. Finally, some numerical examples taken from the literature are given to compare the proposed approaches with existing studies. The obtained results confirm the theoretical analysis and highlight the advantages of the proposed approaches.

Patterns of acceptance and non-acceptance within energy landscapes: A case study on wind energy expansion in Austria

Wind energy is a key technology in the transition toward a low-carbon society, but acceptance is considered to be a constraining factor in achieving ambitious wind deployment targets. Based on an Austrian case study, this paper investigates eight decisive patterns of acceptance and non-acceptance of wind energy. We apply qualitative research methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and WorldCafé discussions, with stakeholders on the national level and with citizens and local decision-makers at potential wind power expansion sites. The results show that local opposition to wind energy cannot be explained by single factors but is caused by a complex set of individual and collective preferences rooted in institutional and socio-political arrangements. The problem concerning these conflicting patterns is that they are trapped in often opposing or confronting policy core beliefs, which are unlikely to change. Hence, it is necessary to appeal to overarching targets like the claims of environmental justice to counterbalance the impacts of wind energy. We conclude that there is a strong demand for fair decision-making processes and an equal distribution of environmental and economic gains and losses.This article is part of a Virtual Special Issue entitled 'The collaborative "making" of Energy Landscapes'.

Toward precision governance: infusing data into public management of environmental hazards

ABSTRACTPrecision governance is an administrative capacity in which policy decisions are enhanced with information about individual and collective preferences and contexts. We introduce the prospects for precision governance of natural hazards through the use of both big and individual data technologies, describing what is enabled and what concerns arise with their use. We ground our perspective with a topical focus on mitigating the health risks of high temperatures in the chronically hot setting of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. A study examining individually experienced temperature data provides compelling evidence that the transition towards data-driven precision governance will enhance hazard preparedness and response efforts.

An experiment on behavior in social learning games with collective preferences

Many environments with social learning involve payoff interdependencies. Until recently, few studies have examined sequentially observational social learning environments with externalities. This paper presents the results of an experiment that examines the theoretical predictions of a simple model of observational learning where individuals care about their own actions and the actions of others (Ali and Kartik, 2012). Consistent with theory, I find that behavior does not change with this class of payoff interdependencies. However, behavior deviates from equilibrium predictions in the same manner both with and without these interdependencies.

MULTI-LEVEL POLICY COALITIONS AN INTERPRETATIVE MODEL OF WATER CONFLICTS IN THE AMERICAS

ABSTRACT This article proposes an analytical approach to conflicts and policy-making related to urban water management based on multi-level policy coalitions. This is necessary to articulate four main issues. First, the repositioning of social and political struggles for access to water, along with policy variables. Second, the analysis of the effects of ecological transition, including climate change. Third, the reincorporation of these struggles and challenges in a multi-level approach. Finally, the enquiry into the apparent contradiction, in contemporary policymaking. The article proposes a definition of multi-level coalitions as collective preference systems that influence the content of policies (ideas/advocacy, decisions, policy tools) and their implementation, groups of actors that arise from engagement in policy issues. In the first section, the article presents the objectives of research on urban water management in the Americas, within the framework of which this analytical approach by multi-level coalitions is fashioned. In the second section, the article details four analytical issues. In the third section, it gives a definition of multi-level coalitions.

Group decision-making based on heterogeneous preference relations with self-confidence

Preference relations are very useful to express decision makers’ preferences over alternatives in the process of group decision-making. However, the multiple self-confidence levels are not considered in existing preference relations. In this study, we define the preference relation with self-confidence by taking multiple self-confidence levels into consideration, and we call it the preference relation with self-confidence. Furthermore, we present a two-stage linear programming model for estimating the collective preference vector for the group decision-making based on heterogeneous preference relations with self-confidence. Finally, numerical examples are used to illustrate the two-stage linear programming model, and a comparative analysis is carried out to show how self-confidence levels influence on the group decision-making results.

Assessment of pollen rewards by foraging bees

Summary The removal of pollen by flower‐visiting insects is costly to plants, not only in terms of production, but also via lost reproductive potential. Modern angiosperms have evolved various reward strategies to limit these costs, yet many plant species still offer pollen as a sole or major reward for pollinating insects. The benefits plants gain by offering pollen as a reward for pollinating are defined by the behaviour of their pollinators, some of which feed on the pollen at the flower, while others collect pollen to provision offspring. We explore how pollen impacts on the behaviour and foraging decisions of pollen‐collecting bees, drawing comparisons with what is known for nectar rewards. This question is of particular interest since foraging bees typically do not eat pollen during collection, meaning the sensory pathways involved in evaluating this resource are not immediately obvious. Previous research has focussed on whether foraging bees can determine the quality of pollen sources offered by different plant species, and attempted to infer the mechanisms underpinning such evaluations, mainly through observations of collection preferences in the field More recently experimental research has started to ask whether pollen itself can mediate the detection of, and learning about, pollen sources and associated floral cues. We review advancements in the understanding of how bees forage for pollen and respond to variation in pollen quality, and discuss future directions for studying how this ancestral floral food reward shapes the behaviour of pollinating insects. A lay summary is available for this article.

A Group Decision Framework with Intuitionistic Preference Relations and Its Application to Low Carbon Supplier Selection.

This article develops a group decision framework with intuitionistic preference relations. An approach is first devised to rectify an inconsistent intuitionistic preference relation to derive an additive consistent one. A new aggregation operator, the so-called induced intuitionistic ordered weighted averaging (IIOWA) operator, is proposed to aggregate individual intuitionistic fuzzy judgments. By using the mean absolute deviation between the original and rectified intuitionistic preference relations as an order inducing variable, the rectified consistent intuitionistic preference relations are aggregated into a collective preference relation. This treatment is presumably able to assign different weights to different decision-makers’ judgments based on the quality of their inputs (in terms of consistency of their original judgments). A solution procedure is then developed for tackling group decision problems with intuitionistic preference relations. A low carbon supplier selection case study is developed to illustrate how to apply the proposed decision model in practice.

Group decision making based on incomplete multiplicative and fuzzy preference relations

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the group decision making on incomplete multiplicative and fuzzy preference relations without the requirement of satisfying reciprocity property. This paper introduces a new characterization of the multiplicative consistency condition, based on which a method to estimate unknown preference values in an incomplete multiplicative preference relation is proposed. Apart from the multiplicative consistency property among three known preference values, the method proposed also takes the multiplicative consistency property among more than three values into account. In addition, two models for group decision making with incomplete multiplicative preference relations and incomplete fuzzy preference relations are presented, respectively. Some properties of the collective preference relation are further discussed. Numerical examples are provided to make a discussion and comparison with other similar methods.

Comparing sexual health history collection preferences among gynecologic oncology patients and OB/GYN patients

Comparing sexual health history collection preferences among gynecologic oncology patients and OB/GYN patients

Single-peakedness and semantic dimensions of preferences

Among the possible solutions to the paradoxes of collective preferences, single-peakedness is significant because it has been associated to a suggestive conceptual interpretation: a single-peaked preference profile entails that, although individuals may disagree on which option is the best, they conceptualize the choice along a shared unique dimension, i.e. they agree on the rationale of the collective decision. In this article, we discuss the relationship between the structural property of single-peakedness and its suggested interpretation as uni-dimensionality of a social choice. In particular, we offer a formalization of the relationship between single-peakedness and its conceptual counterpart, we discuss their logical relations, and we question whether single-peakedness provides a rationale for collective choices.

Ontological Security and Private Car Use in Sydney, Australia

Successful promotion of alternative transport modes needs to be underpinned by better understandings of a seemingly cemented collective preference for private car use. This paper contributes to these understandings and proposes that automobility's dominance can be explained by a series of benefits intimately linked to the car. These benefits extend beyond those associated with utilitarian factors such as saving time. The concept of ontological security is used to propose that attachments to the private car are underpinned by an innate desire for predictability, autonomy and acceptance in modern lives increasingly characterised by insecurity. Empirical evidence on the journey to work in Australia's largest city, Sydney, is applied to examine the way mobility is practised and inform the paper's central proposition.

Prioritizing Sustainable Transport Projects through Multicriteria Group Decision Making: Case Study of Tianjin Binhai New Area, China

AbstractIt is challenging to devise a group decision-making process that supports compromise solutions reflecting diverse stakeholders’ preferences about multiple criteria. This study illustrates how the combination of multicriteria decision analysis and a group decision-making technique can be used to arrive at solutions that are mutually acceptable to multiple stakeholders when selecting sustainable transport projects. The proposed methodology, in which the collective preference is determined based on the aggregation of individual preferences from all stakeholders, is illustrated through a case study of the prioritization of nine prospective transport projects affecting three stakeholder groups (decision-makers, project designers, and system users) in Tianjin Binhai New Area, China. Specifically, the various projects were evaluated for their probable sustainability performance according to 14 criteria. The results show that the proposed methodology can enable transportation managers to achieve an accept...

Contrasting collective preferences for outdoor recreation and substitutability of nature areas using hot spot mapping

This paper investigates one specific cultural ecosystem service: outdoor recreation. We present a method to map the collective preferences for outdoor recreation and to identify the substitutability among nature sites in the context of the province of Antwerp, Belgium. We propose an indicator of substitutability among nature areas, contrasting unique but poorly substitutable sites (hot spots) with highly substitutable sites (cold spots). Using a combination of survey information, public participation GIS (PPGIS) and kernel density mapping, we produce density surfaces representing the distribution of the collective preferences for outdoor recreation and identify the spatial characteristics of the market (e.g. extent, discontinuities) for outdoor recreation. We also compute Getis-Ord Gi* spatial statistics to identify local outdoor recreation clusters. In addition, we explore how recreational behaviour affects substitutability. Our results suggest a duality between the social value of outdoor recreation and the level of substitutability among nature sites. Highly substitutable sites tend to be found near areas of higher population density, which are as well highly visited sites. The type of recreational activity – hiking, cycling, dog walking or jogging – appears to substantially modify substitutability patterns among nature sites. We conclude by discussing the methodological implications of this research in the context of stated preference ecosystem service valuation and stress several policy-related implications.

Canadian Physiotherapy Assessment of Clinical Performance: Face and Content Validity.

To investigate face and content validity of a draft measure to be used across Canada to assess physiotherapy students' performance in clinical education, through broad consultation with physiotherapy clinical instructors (CIs) across Canada. An online survey was used to collect input on the draft measure. In addition to demographics, the questionnaire included questions on the preferred rating scale, the items within the measure that should have their own rating scale, and general impressions. Among the 259 CIs who completed the survey, a discrete rating scale with six anchors and 10 boxes or a continuous-line rating scale with six anchors was preferred. Respondents favoured using one rating scale for each key competency in the Expert role but considered a single rating scale sufficient for assessing the Scholarly Practitioner role. CIs agreed that the proposed measure would allow them to assess a student who was performing poorly or very well. The name Canadian Physiotherapy Assessment of Clinical Performance (ACP) received the most votes in the questionnaire. CIs' collective preferences on the design, organization, and naming of the measure they will use in evaluating students are reflected in the second draft of the ACP.

Probabilities of Consistent Election Outcomes with Majorities Based on Difference in Support

Computer simulations are used to evaluate the likelihood of consistent outcomes under the class of majorities based on difference in support. These majorities require certain consensus in collective preferences to declare an alternative as the winner. More precisely, individuals show preference intensities in the unit interval among each pair of alternatives and it is required that the winner alternative obtains a difference in the sum of the intensities with respect to the loser alternative. This difference is a real number located between 0 and the total number of voters. We introduce the values of the required threshold for which majorities based on difference in support lead to transitive and triple-acyclic collective decisions with a probability of 1. Our results improve the previous theoretical ones since they require softer thresholds to reach consistent collective decisions.

Reconciling normative and behavioural economics

The aim of this thesis is to address from a methodological, philosophical and theoretical perspective the problem of how to reconcile normative and behavioural economics — the “reconciliation problem”. The first part develops a methodological assessment of behavioural welfare economics (and more specifically of libertarian paternalism), which currently constitutes the most accepted approach to deal with the reconciliation problem. We argue that behavioural welfare economics is in the direct continuation of neoclassical welfare economics, and that its conception of individual behaviour is tightly connected to Pareto’s reductionist model of the Homo economicus. It is assumed that an individual can be defined by “true” preferences — distinct from her revealed preferences — and that those preferences are consistent and context-independent. The satisfaction of those true preferences is taken as the normative criterion. The existence of true preferences requires accepting that people have access to a latent mode of reasoning able to generate consistent and context-independent preferences, and to treat individual decision-making as if it was the result of an optimisation problem faced by an inner rational agent trapped in an outer psychological shell. We argue on the contrary that we cannot define unambiguously such true preferences. We then argue that the normative challenge raised by behavioural economics is that individuals may lack of autonomy: rather than focusing on the satisfaction of one’s preferences, we argue that what matters is the ability to choose one’s own preferences. Since we suggest that the difficulties of behavioural welfare economics are related to its commitment to an implausible model of individual preferences, we provide in the second part of the thesis a model of preferences compatible with our methodological analysis: we take Bacharach’s variable frame theory as the primitive of our analysis, and build a model of endogenous preferences, in which individuals can choose to some extent their own preferences. The main contributions of this model are that (i) it does not require the existence of latent true preferences, and (ii) the individuals are allowed to team reason. We assume that collective preferences are strategically chosen, and show that team reasoners tend to be aggressive (cooperative) with other teams in submodular (supermodular) games. We finally show that team reasoning can be empirically justified as an ecologically rational heuristic.

Board Diversity and Firm Performance Volatility

Diverse directors may have diverse preferences over firms’ policies and objectives. As shown by Arrow (1951), diverse individual preferences may fail to univocally aggregate in collective preferences and may consequently lead to arbitrary and volatile decisions. Using the board of directors as a laboratory, we test whether diversity leads to higher performance volatility. We show that firms with more diverse boards have greater stock return and fundamental volatility suggesting that board diversity indeed makes decision-making more erratic. Also, firms with diverse boards have less persistent strategies and analysts make larger forecast errors in predicting their performance supporting the conjecture that board members’ diverse preferences lead to hard to predict decisions. Consistent with the presence of conflicts in the boardroom, we find that executive and director turnovers are higher in firms with diverse boards. These firms also have more board meetings. We find no evidence that our results may be driven by firm risk-taking or complexity.

Generalized Edgeworth–Pareto principle

The general multicriteria choice problem with m individual preference relations and an asymmetric collective preference relation is considered. The concept of a k-effective alternative is introduced, which coincides with an effective alternative for k = 1 and represents a weakly effective alternative for k = m. For the other integer values of k, it lies somewhere in between. In terms of the general multicriteria choice problem, the Pareto axiom and the exclusion axiom for dominated alternatives are stated. Assuming that these axioms hold, a generalized Edgeworth–Pareto principle is established, which was earlier introduced by the author in the special case k = 1. The results are extended to a fuzzy collective preference relation and to a fuzzy set of initial alternatives.