Applications of data envelopment analysis in development and assessment of sustainability across economic, environmental and social dimensions

Abstract

Recently, senior managers are paying much more attention to the environmental aspects of decision-making units. Technically, global economy is inextricably connected to the environment, as it is heavily dependent on extraction and exploitation of natural resources. In this article, we try to propose a number of models for efficiency evaluation that combine the growing concepts in environmental areas along with social and economic subjects. Generally speaking, if economic growth is to be continuous and effective in the long term, it must be based on a combination of economic, environmental and social components. The existing literature on data envelopment analysis (DEA) is often based on economic efficiency. However, due to the environmental pollution at a global level, there have been recent studies in relation to sustainability efficiency with focus on environmental and social aspects; although, these studies were limited and left much room for further research. The present study evaluates the efficiency of decision-making units using social, economic and environmental indicators, and tries to minimize the flaws of DEA in the proposed models by making relative comparisons to previous models.