On the input/output reduction in efficiency measurement

• In this paper we propose a method for input/output reduction.
• Our aim is to get the reduced value such that the inefficiency of all DMUs is minimized.
• Our goal is to maximize the total efficiency of the central DMU after reduction.
• We compare the proposed model with those in the literature.

Inputs and outputs reduction is an important discussion in management science. In some cases decision makers (DMs) forced to reduce some inputs and as a result they have to reduce some outputs. In this paper we propose a new method to find how much some inputs/outputs of each decision making unit (DMU) should be reduced such that the total efficiency of all DMUs after reduction being maximized. For this purpose we propose an improved DEA-like model. The proposed model decreases the total inefficiency of all DMUs. We employ a set of real data to show applicability of the proposed method and the results are compared with those find in the literature.