Papers
Axioms of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and its Generalization to Dependence and Feedback: The Analytic Network Process (ANP)
Author(s)Thomas Saaty
Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business
University of Pittsburgh
United States
Konrad Kułakowski
AGH University of Science and Technology
Poland
Publication date: Feb, 2021
Journal: eprint arXiv:1605.05777
Abstract: The AHP/ANP are multicriteria decision-making theories that deal with both hierarchic structures when the criteria are independent of the alternatives and with networks when there is any dependence within and between elements of the decision. Both of them have been repeatedly used in practice by various researchers and practitioners. From the perspective of almost 40 years of practice in solving problems using both theories, some of their properties seem to be more important than others. The article indicates four of them as fundamental for understanding AHP/ANP. These are the axioms related to structure, computation, and expectation. The mathematical formulation of the axioms is preceded by an introduction explaining the motivation behind the introduced concepts. The article is expository and it is an improved and refined version of the work.
Keywords: AHP, ANP, Analytic Network Process, Analytic Hierarchy Process