Drs. Spahr and Sunderman accepted for publication in the Journal of Operational Research Society

For release:  November 15, 2017

Dr. Ronald Spahr, professor of Finance, and Dr. Mark Sunderman, Morris Fogelman Real Estate Chair of Excellence and professor of Finance, recently had a paper accepted for publication in Journal of the Operational Research Society. The paper entitled, "A Prioritization Index for Blight Intervention Strategies in Residential Real Estate," was co-authored with Dr. Fernando A. Ferreira and Dr. Marjan Jalali, both faculty at the ISCTE Business School, BRU-IUL, University Institute of Lisbon. Dr. Ferreira also is an adjunct research professor at the University of Memphis.

The paper constructs multidimensional solutions for urban blight by developing a blight intervention prioritization index. The authors use multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA), integrated with cognitive mapping, in constructing a blight intervention prioritization index that incorporates input from a panel of stakeholders with different interests and perceptions. The study is based on discussions of real-world blight cases with a panel of urban planning experts from the Lisbon municipality in Portugal. Drs. Spahr and Sunderman, along with current and former Ph.D. students, are also applying knowledge from this study to address blight problems in Memphis.