Eco-Efficiency Measurement by Implementing DEA Models with Weight Restrictions

Abstract

Nowadays, there is consensus on the fact that the sustainability, in which the international political debate constitute one of the most powerful concepts, opens entirely new opportunities for reaching higher levels of development. Sustainability development means making sure the social, economic and environmental needs of current generations are met and kept healthy for future generations. Increasing importance of sustainable development has lead eco-efficiency to find a specific position in literature. Efficiency is an index that measures management ability in optimal use of inputs for generating outputs. A unit can be more efficient if it produces 1) the same outputs with fewer inputs 2) more or better outputs for the same inputs. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the power efficient evaluation methods. In this paper, a new method is proposed for appraising eco-efficiency of manufacturing factories based on an extended DEA approach. The advantage of this model in contrast with current models in eco-efficiency is that DM can keep in perfect control the dispersal of weights. Finally, a case study is implemented by using simulated data in order to evaluate proposed model.