Pareto trade-off comparison

Method, inputs and limits

Identifies alternatives dominated on every declared comparable dimension without adding unlike units or choosing a policy winner. Method version 0.2.0. Choose a government action, value unlike dimensions equally, infer causation or compare incomplete alternatives as if complete.

Visible mathematics / decision rules

A dominates B iff A is no worse than B on every declared dimension and strictly better on at least one

Nondominated alternatives have no dominator among complete, comparable alternatives

What this result cannot establish

• Bounded implementation from supplied acceptance checks and restored CORE definitions; scope choices are explicit below.
• Optional constraints screen feasibility before dominance. Optional visible weights require explicit per-dimension normalization and produce a conditional preference order, never an automatic policy action.
• Directions are explicit human choices. No preference score is created without explicitly supplied weights and normalization; no policy winner is selected.
• All alternatives must share definitions, period and scope externally; matching unit labels alone do not establish substantive comparability.
• Incomplete alternatives remain unresolved and may dominate an eligible complete alternative if unknown values are later supplied.
• Measurement uncertainty is not modeled; exact numeric comparisons may be sensitive to rounding. Preference values outside a declared normalization range are reported as extrapolations.

What would falsify the assumptions?

• The result fails if dimensions, directions, units, scope or values are incorrect.
• Independent comparable measurements can change dominance relationships.
• No resources are added or allocated; all dimensions retain their own units.
• Check each pair of alternatives manually using the same inequalities.
• This is a descriptive ordering of supplied values, not a forecast or causal estimate.
• MAR adds no benefit if manual comparison is equally clear; concealing missing metrics would add risk.
• Assumptions fail if the supplied definitions, units, period, scope or source records are wrong or incomplete.
• An independent source audit or replication may contradict an input or the recorded dependency.
• This method creates no resources. Physical conservation is checked in the inventory and transfer ledgers; descriptive graphs and checklists are not resource-flow models.
• The same equations and review checklist can be reproduced with a spreadsheet or structured human-only process.
• This is deterministic arithmetic, a descriptive comparison or a structured governance check, not a fitted causal effect or forecast. Fictional inputs remain an exercise.
• Equal or worse measured errors, net review effort, disclosure burden or fallback under MAR would show no added benefit or added risk; no improvement is assumed.

{
  "observations": {
    "unit": "separate declared dimensions",
    "origin": "synthetic",
    "sources": [
      {
        "id": "SYN-001",
        "kind": "synthetic",
        "label": "Fictional alternatives with separate dimensions",
        "url": null
      }
    ],
    "dimensions": [
      {
        "id": "cost",
        "label": "Declared cost",
        "unit": "USD minor units; nominal 2026",
        "kind": "money",
        "currency": "USD",
        "priceBasis": "nominal",
        "baseYear": 2026,
        "direction": "minimize"
      },
      {
        "id": "served",
        "label": "Requests served",
        "unit": "requests",
        "kind": "quantity",
        "direction": "maximize"
      }
    ],
    "alternatives": [
      {
        "id": "A",
        "label": "Option A",
        "values": {
          "cost": {
            "value": 10000,
            "unit": "USD minor units; nominal 2026"
          },
          "served": {
            "value": 70,
            "unit": "requests"
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "id": "B",
        "label": "Option B",
        "values": {
          "cost": {
            "value": 12000,
            "unit": "USD minor units; nominal 2026"
          },
          "served": {
            "value": 90,
            "unit": "requests"
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "id": "C",
        "label": "Option C",
        "values": {
          "cost": {
            "value": 13000,
            "unit": "USD minor units; nominal 2026"
          },
          "served": {
            "value": 70,
            "unit": "requests"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "parameters": {
    "constraints": [],
    "preferences": {
      "enabled": false,
      "weights": {
        "cost": 0.5,
        "served": 0.5
      },
      "normalization": {
        "cost": {
          "min": 0,
          "max": 20000,
          "unit": "USD minor units; nominal 2026"
        },
        "served": {
          "min": 0,
          "max": 100,
          "unit": "requests"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "nondominatedCount": 2,
  "dominatedCount": 1,
  "incompleteCount": 0
}

Authoritative background references

• U.S. GAO: Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide — Published 12 March 2020. Estimation and sensitivity guidance; no endorsement of this implementation. Reviewed 2026-11-09. Reference, not endorsement or validation.

These sources inform definitions or review practices. They do not validate this implementation or endorse MAR.