Preferences for multi-attributed alternatives.

The article discusses some techniques a decision maker might employ if he wants to assess a utility function over complex consequences. It examines the problem where each complex alternative can be described by a series of attributes which are interdependent in various ways. A hierarchical structuring procedure for obtaining a relevant list of attributes is described and examples are cited from Northeast Corridor transportation problems and from medical treatment problems. This paper also presents sufficient conditions in terms of strong conditional utility independence for obtaining a quasi-additive representation.