Route-based data envelopment analysis models

This paper proposes two novel route-based data envelopment analysis (DEA) models that jointly measure the route-level and company-level efficiencies amongst transport carriers. The core logics comprise a three-stage procedure that determines company efficiency, route efficiency and optimal allocation ratios for the common inputs. We prove that the ranking order of company performance determined by the route-based DEA model is identical to that determined by the company-based DEA model. An empirical case demonstrates the superiority of the proposed models in identifying the less efficient routs/companies as well as in reducing the input slacks without subjective conjectures.

► Two route-based DEA models are proposed to measure the route-and company-level efficiencies.
► The proposed models can determine optimal allocation ratios for common inputs.
► We prove that the proposed models have a consistency property in ranking.
► An empirical study demonstrates the superiority of the proposed models.