The rank reversal effect and its manifestation in the ecological and economic tasks of placing objects in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation

The manifestations of the rank reversal effect in the study of ecological and economic objects are considered. This phenomenon occurs in various expert technologies when new factors are added and changes the order of their arrangement in the ranked series. This leads to a change in the significance of factors, their weighting coefficients and may, in turn, affect the ranking of alternatives when using some approaches and models. The problem of the occurrence of violations in formal logical constructions when using expert methods is discussed, for which the authors find explanations that are quite acceptable from a meaningful point of view. It is shown that one of the reasons for the appearance of the rank reversal effect when ranking a combined group of factors and alternatives may be the appearance of a "group expert", as a result of which significant changes occur in the initial order. Using a concrete example - the task of justifying the choice of the location of an industrial facility with associated infrastructure in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, it is shown how this can happen. A recommendation is given which order of factors established after the addition of new ones should be taken as final.