The European school of MCDA: Emergence, basic features and current works

TLDR

Multiple‑criteria decision analysis has evolved since the 1960s, giving rise to several schools of thought, among which the European School—led by the European Working Group on Multicriteria Aid for Decisions—has emerged as a distinct approach. The paper aims to trace the emergence of the European School, outline its distinctive features and main ideas, and review its current major research topics. This is achieved by presenting a historical perspective, detailing the school’s key concepts, and providing a comprehensive review of contemporary research within the framework.

Abstract

Multiple-criteria decision analysis has evolved considerably since its birth during the 1960s. As part of this evolution, several schools of thought have developed emphasizing different techniques and, more generally, different attitudes as to the way of supporting or aiding decision making. One of these schools is now commonly referred to as the ‘European School’, its members being part of a European Working Group entitled ‘Multicriteria Aid for Decisions’. In the first part of this paper (Section 1) we follow a historical perspective in order to trace the emergence of the European School. Its distinctive features and main ideas are then outlined in Section 2. Finally we provide a general review of the current major research topics developed within this framework (Section 3).