Evaluation of DEA validity as a MCDA/M tool: some problems and issues

Some questions regarding the possibility of considering DEA as a MCDM tool have been put in literature. Some of the answers, however, areproblematic more than "resolutive" . The multiplicity of "criteria" or "objectives" involved in a DEA model, does not necessarily mean that such a kind of representation might answer some questions, which concern the preferences on a given candidate (or alternative) set, as other MCDM tools can do validly, both conceptually and formally. A few methodological considerations and research proposal regarding these aspects shall be presented in the paper. In particular, the importance of clearly defining the "Decision Maker" figure is underlined to distinguish situations in which an individual, rather than a group of judges, is involved in the evaluation and ranking of candidate set.