A multiobjective DEA approach to ranking alternatives

•We present a new method for ranking that combines DEA and multiobjective concepts.•Multiobjective DEA is approached from the space of aggregate inputs and outputs.•A computational experiment has been performed with encouraging results.•The new procedure shows a better discrimination performance than two known methods. The application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a tool for efficiency evaluation has become widespread in public and private sector organizations. Since decision makers are often interested in a complete ranking of the evaluated units according to their performance, procedures that effectively discriminate the units are of key importance for designing intelligent decision support systems to measure and evaluate different alternatives for a better allocation of resources. This paper proposes a new method for ranking alternatives that uses common-weight DEA under a multiobjective optimization approach. The concept of distance to an ideal is thereby used as a means of selecting a set of weights that puts all the decision units in a favorable position in a simultaneous sense. Some numerical examples and a thorough computational experiment show that the approach followed here provides sound results for ranking alternatives and outperforms other known methods in discriminating the alternatives, therefore encouraging its use as a valuable decision tool for managers and policy makers.