DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) if a subfield of economics that compares the best ideal producer of a given good or service with one or more actual producers. "If the virtual [ideal] producer is better than the original producer by either making more output with the same input or making the same output with less input then the original producer is inefficient. Some of the subtleties of DEA are introduced in the various ways that producers A and B can be scaled up or down and combined." (From the Portland State University website).

Table of Contents

Preface.- Data Envelopment Analysis.- Measuring Efficiency of Highway Maintenance Patrols.- Prioritizing Highway Accident Sites.- Benchmarking Models: Evaluating the effect of e-business activities.- Factor Selection Issues in Bank Branch Performance.- Multicomponent Efficiency Measurement in Banking.- DEA and Multicriteria Decision Modeling.- Modeling Rank Order Data.- Resource Allocation in an R and D Department.- Resource Constrained DEA.- Multicomponent Efficiency: Measurement and core business identification in multiplant firms.- Implementation of Robotics: Identifying Efficient Implementors.- Setting Performance Targets for New DMUs.- Aggregating Preference Rankings.- Ranking Players in Round Robin Tournaments.- Context-Dependent DEA: Models and extension.- Evaluating Power Plant Efficiency: Hierarchical Models.- Subject Index.