J 2026

Ranking stability unde runiform preference intensification in pairwise comparison matrices

CALVO, Luis and Jiří MAZUREK

Basic information

Original name

Ranking stability unde runiform preference intensification in pairwise comparison matrices

Authors

CALVO, Luis and Jiří MAZUREK

Edition

Operations Research Perspectives, 2026, 2214-7160

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Article in a journal

Field of Study

10200 1.2 Computer and information sciences

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

References:

Impact factor

Impact factor: 3.700 in 2024

Marked to be transferred to RIV

No

Organization unit

School of Business Administration in Karvina

Keywords in English

Eigenvector method; Geometric mean method; Pairwise comparison matrices; Rank reversal; Uniform preference intensification
Changed: 3/9/2026 11:17, doc. Mgr. Jiří Mazurek, Ph.D.

Abstract

In the original language

This paper examines ranking stability in multiplicative pairwise comparison matrices under uniform preference intensification, represented by the entrywise power transformation. The associated invariance requirement is known as scale invariance; here, we study its failure at the level of the induced ranking, referred to as intensity-of-preference rank reversal. We combine theoretical observations, illustrative examples, and Monte Carlo experiments to analyse how this phenomenon depends on matrix order, inconsistency, and the priority derivation method. The row geometric mean method is used as the known scale-invariant benchmark, since its ranking is preserved under uniform intensification. In contrast, the eigenvector method and several other commonly used procedures may change the induced ranking, including the top-ranked alternative. The simulations indicate that such instability becomes more frequent as the number of compared objects increases, persists even among matrices satisfying conventional consistency-ratio thresholds, and differs substantially across priority derivation methods. These results show that robustness to uniform preference intensification is distinct from consistency screening and should be considered separately when evaluating priority derivation methods.