Performance Evaluation of Rural Governance Using an Integrated AHP-VIKOR Methodology

Abstract

The objective of this study is to provide an assessment of the performance of the development process of Leader Approach in the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 in Calabria. In particular, on one hand, it is measured and evaluated the application of the " Good Governance " criteria by the identification and selection of an appropriate set of process indicators, procedures and actions practiced by Local Action Groups (LAG) in the planning phase of the Local Development Plans. On the other side, those indicators have been employed to construct an evaluation tree through which the performance of each LAG is tested and compared to an ideal model of " Good Governance " . To this end, it is used an integrated multicriteria model, which combines two techniques: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija The Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). The results deal with the definition of a possible model for assessing the quality of the integrated planning process of the rural governance. The results can be useful to the policy makers at the regional level and also to the LAGs in highlighting eventual elements of criticism and possible virtuous behaviours of their own planning process that can be considered in the future EU programming period 2014-2020.