Decomposing technical efficiency and scale elasticity in two-stage network DEA

作者：Sahoo Biresh K^*; Zhu Joe; Tone Kaoru; Klemen Bernhard M

来源：European Journal of Operational Research, 2014, 233(3): 584-594.

DOI：10.1016/j.ejor.2013.09.046

• Data envelopment analysis
• Network DEA
• Returns to scale
• Scale elasticity decomposition
• Technical efficiency decomposition

The constant returns to scale assumption maintained by neoclassical theorists for justifying the black-box structure of production technology in long run does not necessarily allow one to infer that there are no scale benefits available in its sub-technologies. Most of real-life production technologies are multi-stage in nature, and the sources of increasing returns lie in the sub-technologies. It is, therefore, imperative to estimate the scale economies of a firm not only for the network technology but also for the sub-technologies. To accomplish this, two approaches are suggested in this contribution, based on the premise concerning whether a network technology construct considers allocative inefficiency. The first approach, which is ours, makes use of a single network technology for two interdependent sub-technologies. The second approach, which is due to Kao and Hwang (2011), however, assumes complete allocative efficiency by considering two independent sub-technology frontiers, one for each sub-technology. The distinction between these two approaches is important from a policy point of view since the network efficiencies revealed from these two approaches have distinctive causative factors that do not permit them to be used interchangeably.

• 出版日期2014-3-16