A taxonomy for decision models

Decision models can be classified according to the number of decision makers (x1), of decision criteria (x2), and of decisions called for (x3). If we allow eachxj to take one of the values ‘1’ or ‘m’ (many), we have 8 possible triples (x1,x2,x3) each of which defines or describes a class of decision models. The simplest and by far the most prevalent in textbooks and journals are the two (1, 1,m) and (1, 1, 1). The two classes (m, 1,x3) include most of game theory and models for fair allocation; the importance of these classes is widely comprehended. The classes (1,m,x3) are somewhat less well understood although increasingly recognized in the literature of decision models. The class (m, m, 1) has not achieved broad attention even though it relates to highly important national and worldwide problems. Finally, despite its potential importance, the class (m, m, m) has received almost no attention from modelers.