A critique of goal programming for public sector decisions

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the applicability of goal programming to public sector types of allocation problems. In the process of this study, the educational budget of Wise County, Virginia was analyzed via goal programming. In addition, the potential for the development of a time-dynamic goal programming model was explored.

Results of the investigation indicate that rigidity of the model and lack of adequate data severely limit potential public sector applications of the goal programming technique. Development of a time-dynamic goal programming model was deemed possible only by incorporating goal programming into a dynamic computer simulation model.

An APL computer program designed to perform the goal programming analysis, and a description of its operation are also included.