Santha Chenayah

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.

Agriculture and food security challenge of climate change: a dynamic analysis for policy selection

This study presents an empirical examination of climate change related to vulnerability impacts on food security and remedial adaptation options as a suitable strategy by prioritizing needs over a 50-year period. An Empirical Dynamic Commutable General Equilibrium Model for Climate and the Economy (EDCGECE) is applied using future strategies for Malaysia against a baseline scenario of existing conditions, following the top-down options. The model takes into account various climatic variables, including climatic damage, carbon cycle, temperature and rainfall fluctuation, carbon emissions, vulnerability and carbon concentrations, which were adapted from national observational predictions of climatic changes caused by global warming from 2015 to 2065. The results prioritize climate change mitigation for the future. Specifically, this study estimates Malaysia’s food sustainability prospects without adaptation actions and with 5 % to 20 % adaptation actions overtime in different adaptation scenarios, as contrasted with the baseline. The results indicate that food sustainability cost in the baseline in 2015 is 859.3 million US Dollar (USD), which is about a 30-35 % shortage compared with the national targets, and that the shortage will rise over time to USD 987.3 million in 2065. However, the cost of applying different levels of adaptation for food sustainability over time is rising considerably. However, the residual damage also decreases with all adaptation actions in the different scenarios. Thus, adaptation shows a positive sign for Malaysia’s agricultural sectors. As growth values are positive and show rising trends, therefore the projected adaptation policy can be effective for food sustainability for sustainable future strategies in Malaysia.

MCDA in Analyzing the Recycling Strategies in Malaysia

The outranking analysis has been frequently used to deal with the complex decisions involving qualitative criteria and imprecise data (see [5]).

A Generalized Procedure in PROMETHEE Analysis, with an Application to the Evaluation of Recycling Strategies in Malaysia

At present, the per capita generation of solid waste in Malaysia varies from 0.45 to 2kg/day depending on the economic status of an area. In general, the per capita generation rate is about 1kg/day. Even though 17,000 tonnes/day of solid waste is being generated, only 5% is being recycled. If this particular scenario continues without appropriate mitigation, Malaysia will be facing a serious problem in municipal solid waste management. Hence, government has targeted 22% of waste to be recycled by 2020. Various strategies have been formulated in achieving this figure. In Malaysia, research is being done vastly on recycling but very few related to multicriteria. The purpose of this paper is to propose an eigenvector procedure using the ”weighted” preference flows in the PROMETHEE multicriteria analysis. It is illustrated by an application to the evaluation of the recycling strategies to provide an insight on inspiring the recycling activities among residents.

Strategic Responses by Exporters to Non-Tariff Measures: Firm-Level Evidence from Malaysia

This paper examines strategic responses by exporters to non-tariff measures (NTMs) in major export destinations, based on a newly constructed representative firm-level survey. The responses are examined for exporting firms, with differing levels of trading intensities, given prior evidence that NTMs disproportionately affect exporters. The assessment within the groups of exporters accounts for products and structural characteristics of the exporting firm, namely size, ownership and age of firm. The key findings of the study show that most firms choose to comply with the NTMs. Of concern, is that, irrespective of the response strategy, the general approach taken by these exporters is largely reactive. Further, the most negative approach, which is a combination of ‘exit’ and ‘reactive’, is prevalent among the resource-based, small-sized and young firms that are Malaysian-owned, relative to their counterparts within the different groups of exporters. The findings of the study brings to the fore the importance of capacity building for firms to maximize their strategic options through a proactive approach, and for engaging more exporters to use the ‘voice’ strategy.

Stringency of Non-Tariff Measures in Partner Countries: The Perspective of Malaysian Exporters

National policymakers and trade negotiators lack a clear understanding on what non-tariff measures (NTMs) their exporters perceive as predominant impediments to trade. This paper therefore examines the stringency of NTMs, by NTM-type and partner country, from the perspective of Malaysian exporters. The information is compiled through a representative firm-level survey of 143 exporting companies, and interviews with firms of different size and sector in manufacturing. The key findings of the study are that NTMs, specifically technical measures, are perceived to be stringent and pose challenges to small-and medium firms, resource-based firms and firms with less exposure to international markets. The stringency of customs procedures and other formalities, more specifically, is found to be not just a concern when exporting to the advanced markets (US, EU and Japan), but is also singled out to be an issue in exporting to the ASEAN region. The disproportionate effects that NTMs pose on exporters suggest that specific assistance and focus be provided to the affected firms.