Relationships between constrained and unconstrained multi-objective optimization and application in location theory

This article deals with constrained multi-objective optimization problems. The main purpose of the article is to investigate relationships between constrained and unconstrained multi-objective optimization problems. Under suitable assumptions (e.g., generalized convexity assumptions) we derive a characterization of the set of (strictly, weakly) efficient solutions of a constrained multi-objective optimization problem using characterizations of the sets of (strictly, weakly) efficient solutions of unconstrained multi-objective optimization problems. We demonstrate the usefulness of the results by applying it on constrained multi-objective location problems. Using our new results we show that special classes of constrained multi-objective location problems (e.g., point-objective location problems) can be completely solved with the help of algorithms for the unconstrained case.