This book provides a comprehensive and practical introduction to Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It explains how this non-parametric technique is used to measure performance and extract efficiency from homogeneous entities within a production procedure. It situates DEA within a growing field of productivity analysis and performance measurement, for which numerous models have been proposed. This book encapsulates all of the advances in DEA models proposed in the literature. These models are presented in the context of the GAMS software, which is a powerful tool for mathematical programming models. This book serves two educational purposes: it introduces readers to DEA models and provides examples using GAMS. In addition, the reader is introduced to GAMS programming, as well as innovative and practical applications. GAMS codes are available for free, allowing readers to test and expand the models to meet their specific needs.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a relatively new “data-oriented” approach for evaluating the performances of a set of entities called Decision- Making Units (DMUs) which convert multiple inputs into multiple outputs. DEA has been used in evaluating the performances of many different kinds of entities engaged in many different kinds of activities in many different contexts. It has opened up possibilities for use in cases which have been resistant to other approaches because of the complex and often unknown nature of the relations between the multiple inputs and outputs involved in many of these activities, which are often reported in non-commeasurable units. DEA has also been used to supply new insights into activities and entities that have previously been evaluated by othermethods. This handbook is intended to represent a milestone in the progression of DEA. Written by experts, who are often major contributors to the topics to be covered, it includes a comprehensive review and discussion of basic DEA models, extensions to the basic DEA methods, and a collection of DEA applications in the areas of banking, education, sports, retail, health care, and a review of current DEA software technology. This handbook’s chapters are organized into three categories: (i) basic DEA models, concepts, and their extensions; (ii) DEA applications; and (iii) xii Preface DEA software packages. The first category consists of eleven chapters.

From the Foreword: 'This book is an excellent tool for practitioners who are interested in the merits and pitfalls of the technique.... (The author's) research is an example of inventiveness, diligence and accuracy' - Freerk A. Lootsma, Delft Institute of Technology Data envelopment Analysis is a Mathematical Programme for measuring performance efficiency of organizational units. The organizational units, termed as decision-making units (DMU) can be of any kind: manufacturing units, a set of schools, banks, hospitals, power plants, police stations, prisons, a set of firms etc. DEA has been unsuccessfully applied to measure the performance efficiency of these different kinds of DMUs which share a common characteristic - that they are non-profit organization where measurement of performance efficiency is difficult. DEA has been employed for assessing the relative performance of a set of firms that use a variety of identical inputs-say in the case of a school: quality of students, teachers, grants etc.,-to produce a variety of identical outputs-number of students who pass the final year, average grades obtained by the students in the final year etc. DEA assumes the performance of the DMUs by using the concepts of efficiency or productivity which is measured as the ratio of total outputs to total inputs. Also, the efficiencies estimated are relative to the best performing DMU or DMUs. The best performing DMU is given a score of 100% and the performance of other DMUs vary between 0 -100%.

This book provides a comprehensive and practical introduction to Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It explains how this non-parametric technique is used to measure performance and extract efficiency from homogeneous entities within a production procedure. It situates DEA within a growing field of productivity analysis and performance measurement, for which numerous models have been proposed. This book encapsulates all of the advances in DEA models proposed in the literature. These models are presented in the context of the GAMS software, which is a powerful tool for mathematical programming models. This book serves two educational purposes: it introduces readers to DEA models and provides examples using GAMS. In addition, the reader is introduced to GAMS programming, as well as innovative and practical applications. GAMS codes are available for free, allowing readers to test and expand the models to meet their specific needs.

In a relatively short period of time, data envelopment analysis (DEA) has grown into a powerful analytical tool for measuring and evaluating performance. DEA is computational at its core and this book is one of several Springer aim to publish on the subject. This work deals with the micro aspects of handling and modeling data issues in DEA problems. It is a handbook treatment dealing with specific data problems, including imprecise data and undesirable outputs.

Praise for the Second Edition: "This is quite a well-done book: very tightly organized, better-than-average exposition, and numerous examples, illustrations, and applications." —Mathematical Reviews of the American Mathematical Society An Introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory, Third Edition presents a rigorous, yet accessible, introduction to the theoretical concepts and computational techniques of linear programming and game theory. Now with more extensive modeling exercises and detailed integer programming examples, this book uniquely illustrates how mathematics can be used in real-world applications in the social, life, and managerial sciences, providing readers with the opportunity to develop and apply their analytical abilities when solving realistic problems. This Third Edition addresses various new topics and improvements in the field of mathematical programming, and it also presents two software programs, LP Assistant and the Solver add-in for Microsoft Office Excel, for solving linear programming problems. LP Assistant, developed by coauthor Gerard Keough, allows readers to perform the basic steps of the algorithms provided in the book and is freely available via the book's related Web site. The use of the sensitivity analysis report and integer programming algorithm from the Solver add-in for Microsoft Office Excel is introduced so readers can solve the book's linear and integer programming problems. A detailed appendix contains instructions for the use of both applications. Additional features of the Third Edition include: A discussion of sensitivity analysis for the two-variable problem, along with new examples demonstrating integer programming, non-linear programming, and make vs. buy models Revised proofs and a discussion on the relevance and solution of the dual problem A section on developing an example in Data Envelopment Analysis An outline of the proof of John Nash's theorem on the existence of equilibrium strategy pairs for non-cooperative, non-zero-sum games Providing a complete mathematical development of all presented concepts and examples, Introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory, Third Edition is an ideal text for linear programming and mathematical modeling courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable reference for professionals who use game theory in business, economics, and management science.

This book Algebraic Modeling Systems – Modeling and Solving Real World Optimization Problems – deals with the aspects of modeling and solving real-world optimization problems in a unique combination. It treats systematically the major algebraic modeling languages (AMLs) and modeling systems (AMLs) used to solve mathematical optimization problems. AMLs helped significantly to increase the usage of mathematical optimization in industry. Therefore it is logical consequence that the GOR (Gesellschaft für Operations Research) Working Group Mathematical Optimization in Real Life had a second meeting devoted to AMLs, which, after 7 years, followed the original 71st Meeting of the GOR (Gesellschaft für Operations Research) Working Group Mathematical Optimization in Real Life which was held under the title Modeling Languages in Mathematical Optimization during April 23–25, 2003 in the German Physics Society Conference Building in Bad Honnef, Germany. While the first meeting resulted in the book Modeling Languages in Mathematical Optimization, this book is an offspring of the 86th Meeting of the GOR working group which was again held in Bad Honnef under the title Modeling Languages in Mathematical Optimization.