Malmquist productivity index based on common-weights DEA: The case of Taiwan forests after reorganization

The performance of a decision making unit (DMU) can be evaluated in either a cross-sectional or a time-series manner, and data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a useful method for both types of evaluation. In order to eliminate the inconsistency caused by using different frontier facets to calculate efficiency, common-weights DEA models have been developed, under which a group of DMUs can be ranked for a specific period. This study proposes a common-weights DEA model for time-series evaluations to calculate the global Malmquist productivity index (MPI) so that the productivity changes of all DMUs have a common basis for comparison. The common-weights global MPI not only has sound properties, but also produces reliable results. The case of Taiwan forests after reorganization shows that the MPIs calculated from the conventional DEA model produce misleading results. The common-weights global MM approach, on the other hand, correctly identifies districts with unsatisfactory performance before the reorganization and those with unsatisfactory productivity improvement after the reorganization. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.