scholarly journals Benchmarking freight transportation corridors and routes with data envelopment analysis (DEA)

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 713-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isotilia Costa Melo ◽  
Paulo Nocera Alves Junior ◽  
Ana Elisa Perico ◽  
Maria Gabriela Serrano Guzman ◽  
Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento Rebelatto

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to collectively measure and compare the efficiency of Brazilian and American soybean transport corridors, from farmers to export ports, using the data envelopment analysis (DEA). Design/methodology/approach This paper aims to determine routes from main producing micro-regions to main export ports, specifically using slack-based measure and variables that represent the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental). The choice of variables was guided by literature review and analyzed through the principal component analysis. After the application of the model, the quantitative tiebreaking method of the composite index is applied. Findings The findings are coherent with a global report that compares soybean transportation in both countries (Brazil and USA). Efficient routes and corridors tend to present short distance truck trips and long distance train or barge trips. The efficiency of the inland waterway trips depends on how many barges are used in the same expedition. Routes with more than three modes tend to be inefficient which suggest that there is a limit for multimodality. Originality/value Corridor benchmarking is a rare topic in the literature and previous works normally focus on some specific and limited corridor performance characteristics, such as cost. The main contribution of this research is that it expands the discussion regarding corridor benchmarking and it focuses on efficiency as a whole. The paper also proposes a method that can be applied in different logistics contexts, like expanding the study to different countries. More specifically, this method could be used in infrastructure investments programs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
Paulo Nocera Alves Junior ◽  
Isotilia Costa Melo ◽  
José Eduardo Holler Branco ◽  
Daniela Bacchi Bartholomeu ◽  
José Vicente Caixeta-Filho

The development of Green Transport Corridors (GTCs) is an important strategy to help a region achieve more sustainable solutions. When such GTCs are implemented, multimodal supply chains and environmentally-friendly alternatives for freight transportation through economically relevant hubs and long-distance routes can be facilitated. Based on previous efforts for evaluating single routes, this paper aimed to propose a single multi-criteria Logistics Composite Index (LCI), constructed based on a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), to evaluate the efficiency of GTCs considering the integration of multiple transport modes (highways, railways, and waterways). This approach consists of a dual-step procedure, applying a Network Equilibrium Model (NEM) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It was applied to Brazilian agricultural bulk transport export corridors, considering the existing and planned infrastructure in the harvest year of 2018/2019. In general, the best indexes were those from corridors considering planned railways. Specifically, the best index was from a corridor from the Northeast region. The second was from the South. The third was from the North (Amazon), and was one of the few corridors with adequate waterways. This approach is useful for decision-makers to determine the most efficient corridors as well as for policy-makers to guide infrastructure investments and address public policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwame Owusu Kwateng ◽  
Edna Edwina Osei-Wusu ◽  
Kofi Amanor

Purpose Increased competition in the banking sector coupled with long queues in the banking hall has necessitated the introduction of internet banking among banks in Ghana. As a result, internet banking has attracted a great deal of attention from both academicians and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of internet banking on the performance of banking institutions in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach In total, 20 banks in Ghana were selected from the Bank of Ghana website for the study. The financial information about the banks’ operations was retrieved from the financial statements of the respective banks for the end of the year 2016. The data envelopment analysis-bootstrap approach with principal component analysis and cluster analysis was used to estimate 49 models. Findings The findings of the study indicated that the integration of internet banking into traditional banking methods has led to superior bank performance in Ghana. It was observed that while the independent application of internet banking as a strategy to raise performance was not yielding higher returns due to the low patronage of internet services among banking consumers, its integration with possible traditional methods is widely observed among the top performers in the banking industry. Practical implications Traditional banking methods, integrated banking service strategies and the internet banking service-oriented strategy emerged as the main banking strategies among the banks. Originality/value Extant literature is quite silent on the effect of internet banking on bank performance in Africa. However, this paper is among the first significant attempts to examine the effect of internet banking on bank performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 891-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justo De Jorge-Moreno ◽  
Virignia De Jorge-Huertas

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conduct a benchmark analysis of European cities based on the estimation of a composite index of efficiency from the dimensions of the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor 2017 (CCCM). The study helps to initiate a new exploration path based on this information, using a segmentation criterion of countries according to their economic and demographic characteristics, in search of greater comparative homogeneity.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the metafrontier methodological proposal with data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been used to compare the groups of cities individually with their joint reference.FindingsThe results obtained indicate, from a greater control of heterogeneity, through the segmentation of the sample of cities and the metafrontier methodology, that the composite index (IEC3) through the enveloping data analysis methodology (DEA) is more robust than that obtained with the arbitrary assignment of CCCM weights. The analyses carried out make it possible to study and conduct more real and rigorous comparisons of the cities that experience the best practices, unlike other more distant ones. Reference to cities such as Paris, Louvain and Cork could serve as a basis for possible improvements.Originality/valueIt is important to bear in mind that the possible urban policies of a city and the creative strategies and their derived impact are different, because of the diversity in each city. These new comparability possibilities could serve as a tool for economic policy makers, companies and local managers to carry out learning and simulation processes in the improvement of creative cities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 2302-2312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shazida Jan Mohd Khan ◽  
Shamzaeffa Samsudin ◽  
Rabiul Islam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use the concept of meta-frontiers data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compare the technical efficiencies of banks in selected Southeast Asia countries in the periods of 1998-2012. Design/methodology/approach The authors evaluate bank efficiency in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines by means of DEA, and the authors employ a meta-frontiers approach to calculate efficiency scores in a cross-country setting. Findings The analysis shows that even there are some similarities in the process of financial reforms undertaken in the selected countries, the observed efficiency levels of banks vary substantially across the market. Originality/value It is crucial to take into consideration of different technologies in explaining the efficiency differences.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Abdelrahman Kamel ◽  
Mohamed El-Sayed Mousa

PurposeThis study used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure and evaluate the operational efficiency of 26 isolation hospitals in Egypt during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as identifying the most important inputs affecting their efficiency.Design/methodology/approachTo measure the operational efficiency of isolation hospitals, this paper combined three interrelated methodologies including DEA, sensitivity analysis and Tobit regression, as well as three inputs (number of physicians, number of nurses and number of beds) and three outputs (number of infections, number of recoveries and number of deaths). Available data were analyzed through R v.4.0.1 software to achieve the study purpose.FindingsBased on DEA analysis, out of 26 isolation hospitals, only 4 were found efficient according to CCR model and 12 out of 26 hospitals achieved efficiency under the BCC model, Tobit regression results confirmed that the number of nurses and the number of beds are common factors impacted the operational efficiency of isolation hospitals, while the number of physicians had no significant effect on efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsThe limits of this study related to measuring the operational efficiency of isolation hospitals in Egypt considering the available data for the period from February to August 2020. DEA analysis can also be an important benchmarking tool for measuring the operational efficiency of isolation hospitals, for identifying their ability to utilize and allocate their resources in an optimal manner (Demand vs Capacity Dilemma), which in turn, encountering this pandemic and protect citizens' health.Originality/valueDespite the intensity of studies that dealt with measuring hospital efficiency, this study to the best of our knowledge is one of the first attempts to measure the efficiency of hospitals in Egypt in times of health' crisis, especially, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to identify the best allocation of resources to achieve the highest level of efficiency during this pandemic.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 2390-2406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aibing Ji ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
Hong-jie Qiu ◽  
Haobo Lin

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build a novel data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to evaluate the efficiencies of decision making units (DMUs). Design/methodology/approach – Using the Choquet integrals as aggregating tool, the authors give a novel DEA model to evaluate the efficiencies of DMUs. Findings – It extends DEA model to evaluate the DMU with interactive variables (inputs or outputs), the classical DEA model is a special form. At last, the authors use the numerical examples to illustrate the performance of the proposed model. Practical implications – The proposed DEA model can be used to evaluate the efficiency of the DMUs with multiple interactive inputs and outputs. Originality/value – This paper introduce a new DEA model to evaluate the DMU with interactive variables (inputs or outputs), the classical DEA model is a special form.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Ameneh Bazrafshan ◽  
Mahdieh Hosseinkamal

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between a CEO's ability and authority with firm performance. The authors used a sample of 127 Iranian listed firms for over seven years, from 2011 to 2017. Design/methodology/approach The authors used data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate managers' abilities, and the authors used business strategies to gauge authorities. Also, the methods of Fama–French and Herfindal–Hirschman were used for 889 firm-year observations. Findings The results show that managers' ability based on return on assets can affect firm performance, and skilled managers can improve performance. Originality/value In Iran, managers' abilities and other variables can impact it has been studied. Still, no study has been conducted on managers' strength and their level of authority with the presence of supervision on them.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1854-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Shabani ◽  
Gholam Reza Faramarzi ◽  
Reza Farzipoor Saen ◽  
Mohsen Khodakarami

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique that simultaneously measures efficiency and effectiveness to provide a comprehensive appraisal of the productivity. Additionally, an algorithm is recommended to determine targets that are used for measuring effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, for measuring productivity, a new methodology based on non-parametric mathematical DEA technique was presented. The proposed procedure is able to compute the efficiency input effectiveness, and output effectiveness, simultaneously. Findings By comparing with previous models, the authors’ proposed integrated model generates more detailed results and has more discriminating power. Originality/value To the best of the authors knowledge, there is not any study in which a non-parametric mathematical approach measures productivity through simultaneous combining of the effectiveness, including input effectiveness, and output effectiveness, and the efficiency.


Author(s):  
Taylor Boyd ◽  
Grace Docken ◽  
John Ruggiero

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve the estimation of the production frontier in cases where outliers exist. We focus on the case when outliers appear above the true frontier due to measurement error. Design/methodology/approach The authors use stochastic data envelopment analysis (SDEA) to allow observed points above the frontier. They supplement SDEA with assumptions on the efficiency and show that the true frontier in the presence of outliers can be derived. Findings This paper finds that the authors’ maximum likelihood approach outperforms super-efficiency measures. Using simulations, this paper shows that SDEA is a useful model for outlier detection. Originality/value The model developed in this paper is original; the authors add distributional assumptions to derive the optimal quantile with SDEA to remove outliers. The authors believe that the value of the paper will lead to many citations because real-world data are often subject to outliers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-210
Author(s):  
Shih-Liang Chao ◽  
Yi-Hung Yeh

Purpose This study aims to measure the productivity of 21 major shipyards in China, South Korea and Japan. Design/methodology/approach Data envelopment analysis was applied to measure the productivity of shipyards. The contemporaneous and intertemporal productivity scores of each shipyard were measured. Additionally, the technical gaps among shipyards in China, South Korea and Japan were measured and compared. Findings The results indicate that Japan led the global shipbuilding industry in 2014 and South Korea dominated in 2015. Additionally, from 2014 to 2015, shipyards in South Korea and Japan maintained their levels of productivity. Comparatively, major shipyards in China made substantial progress from 2014 to 2015, revealing their strong ambition to improve productivity. Originality/value This study first used a metafrontier framework to measure the technical gap of shipyards among major shipbuilding countries. The model and approach objectively analyze the productivity of major shipyards and considers their nationalities. Additionally, this study is the first to measure changes in the productivity of shipyards. By decomposing the metafrontier Malmquist productivity index, major shipyards were categorized into eight sets. The results of this study can provide a clear direction for shipyards to improve their productivity.


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