Eigenvector Method and rank reversal in group decision making revisited

Abstract

It has been shown recently that the Eigenvector Method may lead to strong rank reversal in group decision making, that is, the alternative with the highest priority according to all individual vectors may lose its position when evaluations are derived from the aggregated group comparison matrix. We give a minimal counterexample and prove that this negative result is a consequence of the difference of the rankings induced by the right and inverse left eigenvectors.