A benefit-of-the-doubt model with reverse indicators

Abstract

Recognizing the popularity of healthier food options, we reformulate the diet problem as a linear optimization program with desirable and undesirable food nutrients. We then show how the dual formulation of this diet problem is equivalent to a new Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BoD) model with forward and reverse indicators and with a wide range of applications in the construction of composite indicators. As an illustration, we use the BoD model to construct a composite index of public health for 180 countries.