Slacks-based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis Research Articles

Assessing integrated water use and wastewater treatment systems in China: A mixed network structure two-stage SBM DEA model

Abstract Rapid economic growth and urbanization in China have resulted in the dual threats of shortage of water and pollution of water. It is increasingly acknowledged that the efficiency of water resource system is influenced by not only the Water Use (WU) process, but also the process of Wastewater Treatment (WT). This paper considers both WU and WT as an integrated two-stage WUWT system to provide more comprehensive efficiency evaluation. In the first stage (WU subsystem), there are two parallel units, economic and social WU sub-minors, which consume water and capital to produce economic and social benefits. Meanwhile, the undesirable wastewater inevitably arises, which is treated in the second stage (WT subsystem). In order to assess the performance of the integrated WUWT system, an extended mixed network structure two-stage Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is developed to measure the detailed efficiencies and spot the weak link of the system. For case study, the provincial panel data during 2006–2015 of China are selected to verify the applicability of the proposed approach. Discussion is made from both time- and region-perspectives: over the ten years, the WU efficiencies are often higher than the WT efficiencies, so more actions should be carried out to improve the process of WT; from 2006 to 2011, social WU efficiencies are often lower than economic WU efficiencies, but the social WU efficiency has been improved after 2012; in terms of the overall efficiencies, the economically and socially developed provinces also have the higher efficiencies. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the integrated WUWT system is efficient if and only if both WU and WT subsystem are both efficient, and the WU subsystem is efficient if and only if both economic and social WU sub-minors are efficient.

Developing a two-stage approach of super efficiency slack-based measure in the presence of non-discretionary factors and mixed integer-valued data envelopment analysis

An alternatve approach of super efficiency slack-based measure data envelopment analysis has been proposed to make the projection of an efficient decision making unit strongly-Pareto efficient. The approach however did not examine the simultaneous effect of non-discretionary factors and integer requirements on efficiency measures. To obtain more accurate efficiency measures, this paper proposes a two-stage approach of super efficiency slack-based measure in non-discretionary factors and mixed integer requirements. Both new factors and requirements were first integrated into the existing approach. The optimal solution of the proposed approach was then obtained by transforming its fractional form to a linear form. Thus, the scalar measures of the proposed approach can now deal directly with discretionary mixed integer input saving-output surplus and discretionary mixed integer input excess-output shortfall. The practicability of the proposed approach was tested using empirical data of Malaysian community colleges.

Have Emission Control Areas (ECAs) harmed port efficiency in Europe?

Ports in the European Union and North America have enforced environmental regulations on controlling SOx and NOx emissions from ships in their coastal areas known as Emission Control Areas (ECAs). This study uses two-stage approaches to examine whether ECA regulations impact the efficiency of ports operating in such areas. First, port efficiencies are estimated using non-radial slacks-based measure (SBM) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. The efficiency scores estimated by the SBM DEA models are then regressed on explanatory variables, including the ECA factor, and macroeconomic indicators using bootstrapped truncated regression (BTR) models. Panel data is collected on countries in EU ECAs and non-ECAs regarding such input variables as capital and labor, with cargo as an output variable. The results indicate that ECA regulations can harm port efficiency, reflecting concerns of policy-makers and industrial managers: the average efficiency loss from an ECA designation amounts to 0.058–0.066 on a scale of 0–1, accounting for a 15–18% loss from ECA ports’ average efficiency scores.

An extension on super slacks-based measure DEA approach

In order to break the tie of efficient decision-making units, super-efficiency data envelopment analysis is proposed to fully discriminate them. Recently, a slacks-based version of the super slacks-based measure (S-SBM) is developed and a novel two-stage approach is proposed to calculate both super-efficiency score by the S-SBM model and efficiency score by the slacks-based measure model. In this paper, we extend the approach to consider continuity of efficiency scores. We illustrate the discontinuity of efficiency measure, and define a continuous slacks-based measure which is proved continuous and directly calculated. An interesting efficiency zone category is also provided. In addition, this paper investigates the relationship among the super-efficiency measures of the proposed approach and some existing approaches under variable returns to scale.

Environmental efficiency of transportation sectors in China and Korea

This article analyzes the carbon efficiency of the transportation sectors in China and Korea. It also investigates the effect of environmental regulations on efficiency and the opportunity costs of complying with these regulations. The main methodology employed is the Slacks-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA). The results show that Korea has improved its environmental efficiency in the transportation sector in recent years and it seems to have been relatively less affected by environmental regulations, whereas China has slightly deteriorated in its environmental efficiency for the same period and it has been relatively more affected by environmental regulations. The average opportunity cost of China’s provincial transportation industry, in complying with environmental regulations, tripled from US$590 million in 2004 to $1.8 billion in 2009. The unit loss per ton of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission doubled from $64 in 2004 to $115 in 2009. In contrast, the average opportunity cost in Korea’s provincial transportation industry slightly increased for the same period. Similarly, the unit loss per ton of CO2 emission in Korea increased from $44 in 2004 to $57 in 2007, but then gradually dropped to $48 in 2009. In implementing its visionary low-carbon economy, the Chinese government needs to consider not only ways to improve overall environmental efficiency at a national level, but also the opportunity costs of complying with environmental regulations at a provincial level.

旅游地生态效率测度的SBM-DEA模型及实证分析

旅游地生态效率测度的SBM-DEA模型及实证分析

Eco-efficiency and its determinants at a tourism destination: A case study of Huangshan National Park, China

This study creates a comprehensive evaluation index system, including undesirable outputs and a Slacks-Based Measure-Data Envelopment Analysis model, to analyse the characteristics and evolution of eco-efficiency at an individual tourism destination. This study also empirically identifies the determinants of eco-efficiency. Huangshan National Park, one of the most iconic and highly visited national parks in China, was chosen as the study site. The study results indicate that eco-efficiency has improved continuously. Pure technical efficiency is higher than scale efficiency, while eco-efficiency is more relevant to scale efficiency than to pure technical efficiency. The evolution of eco-efficiency undergoes four stages: an initial inefficient stage, a rapid growth stage, a mature efficient stage and a downside risk stage. Moreover, tourism development, industrial structure and technical level have significantly positive impacts on eco-efficiency, but investment level displays the opposite trend. Environmental regulation emphasizing waste control does not effectively promote eco-efficiency. Finally, theoretical and practical contributions of the findings are discussed in the context of eco-efficiency at a tourism destination. For instance, an eco-efficiency analysis of a destination should treat the tourism destination as a macro-scale system with complex evolutionary rules and should combine this perspective with theory, such as the tourist area cycle of evolution proposed by Butler in 1980.

Does the Central Government’s Environmental Policy Work? Evidence from the Provincial-Level Environment Efficiency in China

This paper aims at checking the effectiveness of environmental policy pushed by the Central Government at provincial level since China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). For this purpose, the industrial system of each province is divided into industrial production sub-system and pollution treatment sub-system, and a novel slack-based measure data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) model with non-cooperative game is proposed to evaluate the environment efficiency of both industrial production sub-system and pollutant treatment sub-system. The results show that the proposed model can describe the environmental efficiency more precisely than the traditional DEA models. During 2003–2012, the efficiencies of industrial production sub-system and pollution treatment sub-system at the provincial level are both relatively low. Specifically, the efficiency of industrial production is not only lower than pollution treatment efficiency, but is falling generally, especially in the Eastern area. However, in the Central and Western area, the efficiency of industrial production remains relatively stable, and pollution treatment efficiency is rising steadily. The technology gap between the Central/Western area and the Eastern area is narrowing, particularly concerning pollution treatment technology. We thus conclude that though the Central Government’s environmental policies fail to solve the inner contradiction between economic and environmental systems, and they indirectly contribute to the expansion of pollutant treatment technology among the Eastern, Central, and Western areas, which is conducive to the coordinated development among different areas.

Environmental efficiency of land transportation in China: A parallel slack-based measure for regional and temporal analysis

As the second largest economic entity in the world, China plays an important role in controlling global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The land transportation sector (including railway transportation and road transportation) has been the most important source of emissions in China and the average CO2 emissions of land transportation were 529.31 million tons during the period 2009–2012. In this study, a parallel Slack-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis model is proposed, which is used for evaluating the overall efficiency of the land transportation sector and individual efficiencies of the railway transportation and highway transportation subsectors at the same time, considering CO2 emissions. The empirical results lead to three conclusions: (a) only Anhui province is efficient each year during 2009–2012. (b) The environmental efficiency of the Eastern area in China is the best, followed by the Central area, with the Western area being the worst. (c) The performance of railway transportation is better than that of highway transportation. These three conclusions lead to policy suggestions to promote highway transportation technological innovation and narrow the regional imbalances in land transportation. This paper makes two main contributions: the model advances improvements to methods used in the Data Envelopment Analysis technique, and also provides governments with a practical and yet easy-to-adopt perspective to implement land transportation performance measurement that aids in decision making.

Understanding drivers of energy efficiency changes in China

Under a total-factor framework, this manuscript constructs a slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) model and an index of total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) to investigate the energy efficiency of the 29 provincial-administrative regions (PARs) in China during 1997–2011. Applying spatial panel data models to explore the regional clustering and influential factors of energy efficiency in China’s 29 provincial-administrative regions during 1997–2011, results show that China experienced a continuing increase in energy efficiency during the sample period. In addition, we find evidence of the diffusion of energy efficiency improvements. Research and development investment, particularly when interacted with increases in energy prices, and when government intervention is low, are a powerful drivers of efficiency improvements. We illustrate heterogeneous impacts across Chinese regions. Income gains in more industrialized provinces and education gains in less industrialized provinces also produce efficiency improvements. In contrast to existing literature, we do not find responsiveness to changes in energy prices, growth rates, or income per capita in less industrialized regions. These results highlight the uniqueness of the Chinese experience and warrant more in-depth exploration of the drivers of energy efficiency in China.

Provincial water use efficiency measurement and factor analysis in China: Based on SBM-DEA model

This paper estimates water use efficiency of 31 provinces in China during 2004–2013 using slack based measure-data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) model which takes consideration of sewage. By using panel data model, factors that influence water use efficiency are explored. The results show that: (1) water use efficiency is higher in economically developed provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. (2) In general, inefficiencies of labor input and water input are larger than that of capital input. (3) After taking into account sewage as unexpected output, inefficiency of gross domestic product (GDP) for each province is quite low, but most provinces have inefficient sewage emission. (4) It is found in the analysis of influencing factors that the ratio of added value of agricultural sector, water usage per capita and sewage per unit of output have negative impact on water resources use efficiency, while the import dependence and export dependence have positive impact. The results are robust.

A Slacks-based Measure DEA Methodology for Identification of Returns to Scale in the Slovak Banking Sector

Taking into consideration that knowing the nature of scale of operations is important both to size optimization and to technical efficiency measurement, the paper aims to identify for individual commercial banks of the Slovak banking sector the scale of their operations as exhibited by their production activities during the period from 2000 and 2012. To this end, the DEA procedure of Tone and Sahoo utilizing the concept of the degree of scale elasticity is enhanced and combined with the framework of the SBM model. The analysis of scale is conducted for the major 11 Slovak commercial banks under the prism of the production approach to banking operations, in which the economic assumption that three solid phases can be singled out in the development of the Slovak banking sector is made. The results confirm that the largest Slovak commercial banks were in the investigated period already “too large” so as to gain potentially some benefit from expanding their depository and creditory services by increasing their inputs.

Corporate social responsibility and an enterprise’s operational efficiency: considering competitor’s strategies and the perspectives of long-term engagement

This study employs an existing slacks-based measure-data envelopment analysis to calculate an enterprise’s operational efficiency. With Tobit and threshold regressions, the author analyses the effects of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement of both a focal company and its competitors on its operational efficiency. Long-term CSR engagement plays an important role in corporate efficiency. A firm may enhance the effects of its short-term CSR engagement and decrease those of its competitor’s long-term CSR engagement on efficiency by increasing its own long-term CSR engagement. When a competitor’s long-term CSR engagement is high, its short-term CSR engagement will decrease corporate efficiency. However, when the competitor’s long-term CSR engagement is low, the firm’s long-term CSR engagement will improve its efficiency.

Analysis of the Environmental Efficiency of the Chinese Transportation Sector Using an Undesirable Output Slacks-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis Model

Many countries are attempting to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions while increasing the productivity and efficiency of their industries. An undesirable-output-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with slacks-based measure (SBM) was used to evaluate the changes in the environmental efficiency of the transportation sector in 30 Chinese provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) between 2003 and 2012. The potential for decreasing CO2 emissions and energy saving was also assessed. Transportation was found to be inefficient in most of the provinces and the average environmental efficiency was low (0.45). The overall average efficiency reached a maximum in 2005 and continually decreased until a minimum was reached in 2009; since then, it has increased. In general, transportation is more efficient in eastern than in central or western China. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out on the input and output indicators. Based on these findings, some policies are proposed to improve the environmental efficiency of the transportation sector in China.

An Application of the Dynamic Network DEA Model: The Case of Banks in Taiwan

ABSTRACTIn this study, we apply the dynamic network slack-based measure data envelopment analysis model (DNSBM) to measure the efficiency of Taiwanese banks during the period 2005–11. Using the network structure, we define intellectual capital creation capability as one of the production stages. In order to capture the dynamics of the transformation process, the nonperforming loans and loan loss reserves are defined as carryover items. This study offers sufficient information for managers to understand not only the overall performance of their banks but also the efficiency of each production stage and the dynamic changes of the overall and divisional efficiencies.

A Slacks-based Measure DEA Methodology for Identification of Returns to Scale in the Slovak Banking Sector

A Slacks-based Measure DEA Methodology for Identification of Returns to Scale in the Slovak Banking Sector

Dynamic environmental efficiency evaluation of electric power industries: Evidence from OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries

As most power is consumed domestically, the environmental efficiencies of electric power industries in different countries may serve as a benchmark to evaluate their emission reduction efforts. Taking the power generated and carbon emissions as desirable and undesirable outputs respectively, this study adopts the environmental Malmquist index, which is based on a SBM-DEA (slack based measure data envelopment analysis) model, to investigate the environmental TFP (total factor productivity) index of electric power industries in 26 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries from 1996 to 2010. In addition, we employ the Tobit regression model to analyze the influence of related factors on TFP and its decompositions. The empirical results indicate that the dynamic environmental efficiency or TFP provides a good perspective for evaluating emission reduction efforts of electric power industries in different countries. Fuel structure change and technological progress are the main driving forces to promote dynamic environmental efficiency. Furthermore, the economic situation and energy price changes also affect dynamic environmental efficiency significantly. Therefore, taking the energy structure and affordability into consideration, environmental TFP may indicate climate change mitigation efforts to a large extent.

Environmental efficiency analysis of port cities: Slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis approach

Because ports have been rapidly expanding, port cities have been exposed to air pollution. Air pollution in port cities that has resulted from the intense expansion of ports has become a pressing concern. Although several studies have discussed the relationship between port and city functions and a few studies have attempted to consider ports׳ environmental performance using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, none have examined emerging port city issues like their environmental influence in great detail. To address these gaps, a slacks-based data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) model was used in this paper to assess the environmental efficiency of port cities. The labor population in respective port cities was selected as the input variable, and gross regional domestic product (GRDP) and container throughput were used as the desirable output variables. As the undesirable output variables, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur oxide (SO2), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were selected in the model. The results showed that Singapore, Busan, Rotterdam, Kaohsiung, Antwerp, and New York are the most environmentally efficient port cities, while Tianjin is the least environmentally efficient. The social and opportunity costs for air pollutants emissions in low efficient port cities were calculated as well.

Evaluating economic and environmental efficiency of global airlines: A SBM-DEA approach

This study examined the economic and environmental efficiency of 27 global airlines in 2010. An extended environmental slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis model with the weak disposability assumption was developed to assess the efficiency of the airlines. Asia-based airlines are generally more efficient, followed by European and American airlines. The poor fuel consumption is a major cause of inefficient airlines both in economic and environmental aspects.

Environmental efficiency of ports: a Data Envelopment Analysis approach

Numerous studies have analyzed the productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of ports. However, empirical studies on the environmental efficiency of ports have not yet been carried out, since all previous studies have not considered the undesirable outputs that ports generate, for instance, CO2 emissions. To fill the gap in the literature, the objective of this study is to estimate environmental efficiency of ports. More specifically, this paper intends to analyze environmental efficiency of ports in Korea and to estimate the potential CO2 emission reduction by ports in the country. The main methodology is a Slacks-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) model. Data, on labor, capital, and energy used as major inputs of the port sector; on cargo tonnage and vessel tonnage handled as desirable outputs; and on CO2 emissions as an undesirable output, were collected and estimated. The SBM-DEA model was able to provide us with a more comprehensive efficiency of combining economic performance and environmental performance and was also able to capture slack values of input excess and undesirable output excess (CO2) as well as desirable output shortage. Using the model and the data, it was found that Korean ports are deemed to be economically inefficient, but environmentally efficient when considering economic and environmental performances simultaneously.