Measurement of Energy-Environment-Economic Performance for EU, APEC, and ASEAN Countries: Combination of a Fixed-Factor Model with an SE Model

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to apply an extended DEA model – emerging from a blend of a distance friction minimization (DFM) and a target-oriented (TO) with a fixed (inflexible) factor (FF) approach based on a super-efficiency (SE) model – for generating an appropriate efficiency-improvement projection model. The DFM model is able to calculate an optimal input reduction value and an optimal output increase value in order to reach an efficiency score of 1.0, even though in reality this may be hard to achieve for low-efficiency DMUs. To design a feasible improvement strategy for low-efficiency DMUs, we develop here a target-oriented (TO) DFM model. However, in many real-world cases input factors may not be flexibly adjusted in the short run. We integrate here the TO-DFM model with a fixed (inflexible) factor (FF) approach to cope with such more realistic circumstances. Super-efficiency DEA is next used in our comparative study on the efficiency assessment of energy-environment-economic targets for the EU, APEC, and ASEAN (A&A) countries, employing appropriate data sets from the years 2003 to 2012. We consider two inputs (primary energy consumption and population) and two outputs (CO2 and GDP), including a fixed input factor (viz., population). On the basis of our DEA analysis results, EU countries appear to exhibit generally a higher efficiency than A&A countries. The above-mentioned TO-DFM-FF projection model is able to address realistic circumstances and requirements in an operational sustainability strategy for efficiency improvement in inefficient countries in the A&A region.