Exploitation procedure based on eigenvector revisited: the concept of weighted preference flows in multicriteria outranking analysis

The outranking analysis has been frequently used to deal with the complex decisions involving qualitative criteria and imprecise data. So far, various versions of ELECTRE have been proposed for ranking alternatives in the outranking analysis. Among others, ELECTRE III has been widely used. A distillation procedure using a qualification index is proposed to rank alternatives from the fuzzy outranking relation. A weakness of ELECTRE III, however, is to involve the arbitrariness in the selection of the discrimination threshold function for the distillation procedure. On the other hand, various variants of PROMETHEE has also been proposed for the outranking analysis. PROMETHEE intends to be simple and easy to understand. A deficiency of PROMETHEE is that it does not take discordance into account when the outranking relation matrix is constructed. This note revisits an exploitation procedure based on eigenvector using the "weighted" preference in-and out-flows. of each alternative in the outranking analysis. The basic idea is that it should be better to outrank a "strong" alternative than a "weak" one and, conversely, it is less serious to be outranked by a "strong" alternative than by a "weak" one in a PROMETHEE context. It has a completely different interpretation with the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) since the components of the fuzzy (valued) outranking relation matrix are neither ratios nor reciprocal as in the AHP

Multicriteria modelling on recycling of municipal solid waste in Subang Jaya

Recycling is a relatively new exercise in Malaysia. Even though recycling has been introduced years back, lack of public awareness caused a slowdown in the progress of the recycling exercise. Lack of sufficient recycling facilities or the inappropriateness of the facilities' location contributed further to the slowdown. Presently, about 19,000 tonnes (approaching 20,000 tonnes) of solid waste is being discarded daily. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government sets a recycling goal to be 22% by 2020. The collection rate of recyclables in Subang Jaya is estimated to be 0.43% in 2004. The main purpose of this paper is to study the success of recycling exercise in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. In this paper, to achieve the goal in Subang Jaya, we formulate and analyze various strategies to increase the awareness among the residents and to increase the existing facilities. Evaluating various alternatives inherently involve qualitative criteria and imprecise data. In such cases, the outranking analysis has been frequently used. Therefore, we employ the outranking analysis and use a new exploitation procedure based on eigenvector using the "weighted" in- and out- preference flows of each alternative from outranking relation in a PROMETHEE context

The transformation of the clothing industry in China

This article examines the transformation of clothing manufacturing in China with a focus on institutional support, technological upgrading and global production chains. Evidence shows that reforms and integration into global production chains have rapidly expanded China's exports but these have also driven the relocation abroad of Chinese clothing firms. Global integration has motivated clothing firms to upgrade through learning, adoption and innovation. Hence, despite improvements in technological capabilities the share of clothing value-added in manufacturing has gradually declined. Also, China has increasingly faced industrial structural change from clothing to the capital goods, real estate and high-tech sectors

Modelling Oil Palm's Sustainable Management and Practices: A Framework Based On Economic Principles

In recent years, sustainability has emerged as a focal area of cross-disciplinary inquiry and has tended to be problem-driven. These developments are supported by a number of economic theories that include the Neo- Malthusian theory, Kuznet’s Hypothesis and Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons. Two frameworks: theoretical and conceptual were created by assessing correlations based on the above mentioned economic theories. Study frameworks were designed and validated as “economy tools’ for quantitative analysis of variables that are deemed important for sustainable management. These frameworks were applied to the palm oil industry and its sustainability challenges. Stakeholders’ perceptions and their management were incorporated in the overall palm oil economic analysis for sustainability management. This paper discusses the various existing economic theories and how each of it relates to sustainability, and the development of sustainable palm oil industry. Two frameworks were designed: the theoretical framework capturing the analysis of the existing economic theories and their relevance to sustainability and the palm oil industry. In the second framework, a conceptual design was developed as a tool depicting linkages to all important parameters that required evaluation, when measuring sustainability. Overall, despite these framework developments and their application, we conclude that sustainability and existing economic theories do not completely resolve the issue of sustainable production with regards to land management or sustainable land development in the agricultural sector

Climate change mitigation: comparative assessment of Malaysian and ASEAN scenarios

This paper analyses empirically the optimal climate change mitigation policy of Malaysia with the business as usual scenario of ASEAN to compare their environmental and economic consequences over the period 2010–2110. A downscaling empirical dynamic model is constructed using a dual multidisciplinary framework combining economic, earth science, and ecological variables to analyse the long-run consequences. The model takes account of climatic variables, including carbon cycle, carbon emission, climatic damage, carbon control, carbon concentration, and temperature. The results indicate that without optimal climate policy and action, the cumulative cost of climate damage for Malaysia and ASEAN as a whole over the period 2010–2110 would be MYR40.1 trillion and MYR151.0 trillion, respectively. Under the optimal policy, the cumulative cost of climatic damage for Malaysia would fall to MYR5.3 trillion over the 100 years. Also, the additional economic output of Malaysia will rise from MYR2.1 billion in 2010 to MYR3.6 billion in 2050 and MYR5.5 billion in 2110 under the optimal climate change mitigation scenario. The additional economic output for ASEAN would fall from MYR8.1 billion in 2010 to MYR3.2 billion in 2050 before rising again slightly to MYR4.7 billion in 2110 in the business as usual ASEAN scenario