The variance equity measure in locational decision theory

Classical location theories and models were initially developed for the private sector, so that the related operational research literature has emphasized performance measures of efficiency and effectiveness. For public sector applications, measures of equity become important, yet such measures have received little formal treatment. This paper suggests a locational equity measure, the variance measure, and investigates its properties for tree networks. A fast algorithm (O(M)) to locate the minimum variance point on a tree network is developed, and some numerical results illustrate the variance optimal location.