Context-dependent data envelopment analysis with cross-efficiency evaluation

Abstract

To address some problems with the original context-dependent data envelopment analysis (DEA), this paper proposes a new version of context-dependent DEA; this version is based on cross-efficiency evaluations. One of the problems with the original context-dependent DEA is that the attractiveness and progress measures only represent the radial distance between the decision-making unit (DMU) under evaluation and the evaluation context. This representation only shows how distinct the DMU is from a single specific DMU on the evaluation context, not from the entire evaluation context overall. Another problem is that the magnitude of attractiveness and progress scores in the original context-dependent DEA may not have significant meanings. It may not be proper to say that a DMU is more attractive simply because it has a higher attractiveness score for the same reason that the performance of inefficient DMUs cannot be compared with one another simply based on their efficiency scores. We incorporate cross-efficiency evaluations into the context-dependent DEA to overcome the preceding shortcomings of the original context-dependent DEA. We also demonstrate the proposed model's appropriateness and usefulness with an illustrative example. Journal of the Operational Research Society (2012) 63, 38-46. doi:10.1057/jors.2011.29 Published online 30 March 2011