This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Multi-Objective Programming and Goal Programming: Theory & Appli cations (MOPGP'02) held in Nara, Japan on June 4-7, 2002. Eighty-two people from 16 countries attended the conference and 78 papers (including 9 plenary talks) were presented. MOPGP is an international conference within which researchers and prac titioners can meet and learn from each other about the recent development in multi-objective programming and goal programming. The participants are from different disciplines such as Optimization, Operations Research, Math ematical Programming and Multi-Criteria Decision Aid, whose common in terest is in multi-objective analysis. The first MOPGP Conference was held at Portsmouth, United Kingdom, in 1994. The subsequent conferenes were held at Torremolinos, Spain in 1996, at Quebec City, Canada in 1998, and at Katowice, Poland in 2000. The fifth conference was held at Nara, which was the capital of Japan for more than seventy years in the eighth century. During this Nara period the basis of Japanese society, or culture established itself. Nara is a beautiful place and has a number of historic monuments in the World Heritage List. The members of the International Committee of MOPGP'02 were Dylan Jones, Pekka Korhonen, Carlos Romero, Ralph Steuer and Mehrdad Tamiz.

Most real-life problems involve making decisions to optimally achieve a number of criteria while satisfying some hard or soft constraints. In this book several methods for solving such problems are presented by the leading experts in the area. The book also contains a number of very interesting application papers which demonstrate theoretical modelling, analysing and solution of real-life problems.

The book is dedicated to multi-objective methods in decision making. The first part which is devoted to theoretical aspects, covers a broad range of multi-objective methods such as multiple linear programming, vector optimisation, fuzzy goal programming, data envelopment analysis, game theory, and dynamic programming. The reader who is interested in practical applications, will find in the remaining parts a variety of approaches applied in numerous fields including production planning, logistics, marketing, and finance.

1.1. The origin of the multiobjective problem and a short historical review The continuing search for a discovery of theories, tools and c- cepts applicable to decision-making processes has increased the complexity of problems eligible for analytical treatment. One of the more pertinent criticisms of current decision-making theory and practice is directed against the traditional approximation of multiple goal behavior of men and organizations by single, technically-convenient criterion. Reins- tementof the role of human judgment in more realistic, multiple goal se,ttings has been one of the ma~or recent developments in the literature. Consider the following simplified problem. There is a large number of people to be transported daily between two industrial areas and their adjacent residential areas. Given some budgetary and technological c- straints we would like to determine optimal transportation modes as well as the number of units of each to be scheduled for service. What is the optimal solution? Are we interested in the cheapest transportation? Do we want the fastest, the safest, the cleanest, the most profitable, the most durable? There are many criteria which are to be considered: travel times, consumer's cost, construction cost, operating cost, expected fatalities and injuries, probability of delays, etc.

This book gives the reader an insight into the state of the art in the field of multiobjective (linear, nonlinear and combinatorial) programming, goal programming and multiobjective metaheuristics. The 26 papers describe all relevant trends in this fields of research . They cover a wide range of topics ranging from theoretical investigations to algorithms, dealing with uncertainty, and applications to real world problems such as engineering design, water distribution systems and portfolio selection. The book is based on the papers of the seventh international conference on multiple objective programming and goal programming (MOPGP06).

Throughout the development of mathematical programming researchers have paid great attention to problems that are described by a single objective that can only be achieved subject to satisfying a set of restrictions or constraints. Recently, it has been recognized that the use of a single objective limits the applicability of In reality, many multiobjective mathematical programming models. situations exist and frequently these mUltiple objectives are in direct conflict. Research on multiobjective problems can be broken down into two broad categories: multiobjective optimization and multicriterion decision theory. Multiobjective optimization models are based on techniques such as linear programming. In general, the multiobjective optimization problem can be defined as finding a feasible alternative that yields the most preferred set of values for the objective functions. This problem differs from a single objective because subjective methods are required to determine which alternative is most preferred. A body of literature parallel to that m multiobjective optimization has been developing in the area of multicriterion decision theory. These models are based on classical decision analysis, particularly utility theory. One focus of this research has been the development and testing of procedures for estimating multiattribute utility functions that are consistent with rational decision maker behavior. A utility function provides a model of a decision maker's choice among alternatives. This literature is directly xii MULTIOBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION applicable to multiobjective optimization and provides much needed insight into the subjective character of that problem.

Most real-life problems involve making decisions to optimally achieve a number of criteria while satisfying some hard or soft constraints. In this book several methods for solving such problems are presented by the leading experts in the area. The book also contains a number of very interesting application papers which demonstrate theoretical modelling, analysing and solution of real-life problems.