Measuring Relative Efficiencies in the Shoe Industry Sector in Colombia: A DEA Approach

Abstract

EVA® (Economic Value Added) is a commonly used financial indicator that measures the real profitability of a firm for a specific period of time. The main concept behind EVA® is that the real profitability of the firm is a function of its cost of capital, net operational profits after taxes (NOPAT) and the invested capital in the firm (IC). Is within this context that we used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyze the financial data from 75 companies of the Colombian Shoe Industry Sector, in order to find which input factor (NOPAT or IC) is more relevant in maximizing the EVA® of the firm. Our findings indicate that for the years 2007-2006, the most important factor for maximizing EVA® in the Colombian shoe sector was invested capital and that for the years 2005-2004 was NOPAT.