Sensitivity analysis of combinatorial optimization problems using evolutionary bilevel optimization and data mining

Sensitivity analysis in general deals with the question of how changes in input data of a model affect its output data. In the context of optimization problems, such an analysis could, for instance, address how changes in capacity constraints affect the optimal solution value. Although well established in the domain of linear programming, sensitivity analysis approaches for combinatorial optimization problems are model-specific, limited in scope and not applicable to practical optimization problems. To overcome these limitations, Schulte et al. developed the concept of bilevel innovization. By using evolutionary bilevel optimization in combination with data mining and visualization techniques, bilevel innovization provides decision-makers with deeper insights into the behavior of the optimization model and supports decision-making related to model building and configuration. Originally introduced in the field of evolutionary computation, most recently bilevel innovization has been proposed as an approach to sensitivity analysis for combinatorial problems in general. Based on previous work on bilevel innovization, our paper illustrates this concept as a tool for sensitivity analysis by providing a comprehensive analysis of the generalized assignment problem. Furthermore, it is investigated how different algorithms for solving the combinatorial problem affect the insights gained by the sensitivity analysis, thus evaluating the robustness and reliability of the sensitivity analysis results.