Magnitude adjustment for AHP benefit/cost ratios

A feature of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) that has not been subject to close scrutiny is its use for benefit/cost analysis. If benefit priorities are divided by project costs to yield benefit points per dollar, then the resulting numbers can be used to allocate program budgets. But if benefit priorities and cost priorities are derived from two separate hierarchies, then it is likely that the ratio of benefit priorities to cost priorities produces misleading results. To correct the situation, adjustments must be made to put the numerator and denominator priorities into commensurate terms. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.