Performance Criteria to Validate Simulation Models

This thesis explores performance criteria adequate to validate simulation models. An overview on the most widely performance criteria used in literature is firstly provided. The thesis proceeds with the proposal of two new criteria that assess the distortion of the warping path obtained after applying the Dynamic Time Warping algorithm: the Warping Path Distortion (WPD) and the Percentage Warping Path Distortion (PWPD). A case study focused on the demographic evolution of Portuguese firms is presented, whose results are used to perform a comparative analysis on all the criteria revised. This work concludes with a concise outline on the criteria advantages and drawbacks. The criteria WPD and PWPD returned adequate evaluations, yet further applicability of these measures to benchmark data sets is necessary to provide a proper conclusion on its quality.