Spatial Interpretation of Multi-Criteria Analysis: A Case Study with a Decreasing Number of Criteria and Subjective Approach to Determining Their Importance

Abstract

Municipal activities should not be profitable. Their intention is to provide the highest possible quality of service to citizens and, in this way, contribute to improving their quality of life. For this reason, the evaluation of their performance is very complex and should include several aspects, or criteria. The aim of this study is to quantify the agreement of the financial health assessment of the territorial self-government entities in 2020 with the financial health assessment based on a gradually decreasing number of entry criteria. For this purpose, we use a TOPSIS technique, and a total of 26 combinations of criteria are created with a gradually decreasing number of criteria, i.e., five, four, three, and two criteria used. For a description of the results obtained, we use a wide range of mathematical and statistical methods. The tests used include the Jaccard index, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, Levene test, Moran index, and others. Our results confirm the fact that the outcome of MCDM analysis is directly and significantly affected by the structure and number of entry criteria. The reduction in the number of criteria resulted in a change in the parameters of the overall results.

Keywords

• TOPSIS technique
• municipalities
• Slovakia
• Moran index