Title: Numerical and Verbal Decision Analysis Compared in Practice
Authors: Oleg Larichev, Institute for Systems Analysis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Rex Brown, George Mason University, Nick Flanders, The Institute for Arctic Studies, Dartmouth College, Elena Andreyeva, Institute for Systems Analysis
Date: March 1998
Status: working paper

Personal decision analysis can take one of two forms: numerical and verbal. They are typically associated with Western and Russian schools of thought, respectively.  An empirical study, supported by NSF and the Russian Academy of Science, sought to compare the two approaches, as useful aids for policy prescription.  Both approaches were exercised in two live cases of Arctic natural resource development.  One was a Russian government decision on where to located a major Siberian gas pipeline.  The other was the design of a US regulatory procedure for approving industrial waterway projects, in the context of an Alaskan oil construction application.  Part I reports on the case studies themselves.  Part II attempts to draw some general conclusions on the practical strengths and weaknesses of each approach under different circumstances.

Click here to access a pdf version of the Part I of the paper, Siberian and Alaskan Test Cases
Click here to access a pdf version of the Part II of the paper, General Comparison

Back to the Decision Analysis Working Paper Index