Ranking Veterinary Dispensaries in Odisha Using DEA and PCA

Abstract

The idea of measuring efficiencies of service delivery of veterinary dispensaries (VDs) and ranking them is an unexplored territory. However, since governments spend considerable amounts of money on promoting service delivery of VDs to enable animal production and productivity, and thereby promote rural livelihoods, efficiency measurement and ranking of VDs based on efficiency are necessary in a futuristic ‘transparency in governance’ environment apart from guiding in better performance. Given the non-quantifiable nature of the production function of veterinary service delivery, a non-parametric method like data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be an answer. Hence, this study measures the efficiencies of 101 VDs belonging to 2 ecosystems in Odisha, India, using DEA and ranks them using principal component analysis (PCA) along with average efficiency based on multiple data models. Analysis of various variables in models revealed that the presence or absence of variables—institutions; vaccination; a weighted variable combining castration, insurance and training (CIT); large animals’ population; and breedable animals’ population—lead to differences in average efficiencies. PCA of efficiency scores reveals that vaccination, CIT and large animal population are significant in factor loadings on first principal component (PC). The study finds high correlation between ranking based on average efficiency and ranking based on PCA, suggesting that the two methods are comparable. Both the efficiency measures and ranking reveal that VDs of the coastal ecosystem performed better than those of the western ecosystem.