Efficiency assessment and cross-country differences in China–ASEAN agricultural trade supply chains: a data envelopment analysis based on a multidimensional input perspective

Abstract

China and ASEAN have become major agricultural trading partners over the past two decades, but how efficiently the supply chains behind that trade work across countries is still poorly understood. Existing research looks at trade flows, comparative advantage, or determinants of bilateral trade rather than supply chain efficiency. This paper measures efficiency of agricultural trade supply chains in ten ASEAN countries from 2010 to 2024 in a multidimensional input setting. The model is an input-oriented DEA-BCC with four inputs, agricultural investment, logistics and transport investment, digital investment, and a composite connectivity input, together with four trade-related outputs. Scale efficiency comes from CRS estimates, and robustness is tested with an alternative connectivity index and two- and three-year Window DEA results. Efficiency does not converge. Brunei and Viet Nam stay on the frontier throughout. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore sit close behind, though Singapore is held back more by scale than by technical performance. Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar improve from much lower starting points, but catch-up is uneven. Technical and scale efficiency often diverge, so a country efficient on one may face constraints on the other. Each group needs its own mix of infrastructure, border, and logistics priorities.