Generalized Consistency and Intensity Vectors for Comparison Matrices

A crucial problem in a decision-making process is the determination of a scale of relative importancefor a set X$x1, x2, . . . , xn % of alternatives either with respect to a criterion C or an expertE. A widely used tool in Multicriteria Decision Making is the pairwise comparison matrix A ~aij !, where aij is a positive number expressing how much the alternative xi is preferred to thealternative xj . Under a suitable hypothesis of no indifference and transitivity over the matrixA ~aij !, the actual qualitative ranking on the set X is achievable. Then a vector wt may representthe actual ranking at two different levels: as an ordinal evaluation vector, or as an intensityvector encoding information about the intensities of the preferences. In this article we focus onthe properties of a pairwise comparison matrix A ~aij ! linked to the existence of intensityvectors. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.