Using AHP for evaluation of criteria for agro-industrial projects

The article describes an application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluation of criteria for agro-industrial projects. For this purpose, a database was collected from interviews with experts in agricultural regions of Russia (South Urals) in 2015-2016. Experts are classified according to their relationship to agro-industrial business, work experience, education, and gender. The questionnaire was developed based on the analytic hierarchy process methodology. Part of the questions was based on the approach of the prospect theory in order to identify expert attitude to risk associated with the implementation of investment projects. In total, 226 experts responded to the questionnaire. Criteria of agro-industrial projects - financial, social, and risk criteria - were ranked according to their importance and taking into account the expert attitude to risk. Estimates of the criteria importance and expert features analyzed in the study may be used to improve the presentation of agro-industrial projects thus contributing to their successful evaluation. Keywords: Agro-industrial projects; South Urals; Evaluation; Analytic hierarchy process; Risk