A DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS FOR SPATIAL EFFICIENCY

This paper proposes a new technique for measuring relative spatial efficiency. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for evaluating the efficiency of incremental siting decisions is formulated. The model provides an intuitively attractive approach to measuring accessibility on the basis of multiple spatial criteria, and articulates a ratio-scale based understanding of the "noninferiority" of locational decisions. As such, it puts the more useful aspects of the multiobjective siting process within the grasp of the decision maker. This work rests squarely on the conceptual foundation laid down by Fisher and Rushton (1979). Consequently, our model might best be viewed as a first attempt to operationalize their constructs. © 1990.