Combine MCDM methods and PSO to evaluate economic benefits of high-tech zones in China

Abstract

High-tech zones (HTZs), as important economic growth poles, have played a key role in China's economic boom. A method based on multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed to evaluate economic benefits of HTZs. MCDM involves analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) as they are easy and simple to calculate. AHP is used to construct judgment matrix. Then, the judgment matrix is converted to a constraint optimization problem. PSO is adopted to optimize the problem and get weights of indicators. TOPSIS is used to make the evaluation. The results from 2012 to 2016 of 105 HTZs are obtained and hierarchical clustering analysis is applied to cluster results. The results have demonstrated that the rankings of Zhongguancun Technology Park and Wuhan East Lake HTZ have always been at the forefront, and the ranking of Kunshan New District has risen rapidly, while Shenyang HTZ has dropped significantly. According to the results, some targeted suggestions have been proposed for the development of HTZs.