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Open research questions in Efficiency Analysis Using DEA

208 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,777 Efficiency Analysis Using DEA papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Community health service centers (CHSCs) anchor China's tiered healthcare system, yet efficiency in rural/peri-urban CHSCs facing depopulation and aging remains unclear once environment is accounted for.

    Efficiency and Its Determinants in Community Health Service Centers in a Deeply Aging Peri-Urban District: A Three-Stage DEA-Tobit Analysis of Chongming District, Shanghai (2016-2025) · 2026 · DOI

  • Existing national sustainability indices often fail to account for how effectively a nation translates its economic resources into ESG outcomes. There is a lack of empirical evidence regarding sovereign ESG efficiency. The need for a scientific and comprehensive ESG evaluation system.

    Win-Win or Laissez-Faire? Benchmarking Sovereign ESG Efficiency in OECD Countries Using Two-Stage DEA · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could address this spatial interdependence by incorporating spatial econometric or network-based frontier approaches that allow for indi- rect linkages and multi-node trade pathways (Fackler, Goodwin, 2001).

    Measuring and Benchmarking Time-Varying Market Efficiency · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper suggests that future research can apply the proposed approach to other datasets and contexts. The paper suggests that future research can explore the relationship between efficiency and profitability in more detail.

    DEA-Inspired Constrained Log-Log Quantile Frontier: Smooth Bench-marking, Calibration, and Dynamic Interpretation · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the development of a smooth, probabilistic benchmarking frontier that is economically shape-consistent with DEA while remaining statistically tractable. The paper identifies a need for a approach that can handle heterogeneous production behavior and account for stochastic noise without imposing rigid parametric structures.

    DEA-Inspired Constrained Log-Log Quantile Frontier: Smooth Bench-marking, Calibration, and Dynamic Interpretation · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a unified standard for defining the digital economy. The difficulty in capturing digital-specific dimensions, such as R&D, patents, or data assets. The challenge of handling multi-indicator inputs and multi-indicator outputs in efficiency measurement.

    The Operational Efficiency Measurement of China’s Top 100 Digital Economy Firms: An Approach Based on DEA and Kernel Density Estimation · 2026 · DOI

  • The study does not capture digital-specific dimensions, such as R&D, patents, or data assets, - The sample data are limited to 99 enterprises from the top 100 digital economy enterprises, - The study uses a specific model (BCC-DEA) and method (kernel density estimation) which may have limitations

    The Operational Efficiency Measurement of China’s Top 100 Digital Economy Firms: An Approach Based on DEA and Kernel Density Estimation · 2026 · DOI

  • Conventional evaluation methods often fail to account for spatial heterogeneity and data uncertainty. There is a need for a novel approach to evaluate district hospital system performance and project yield improvements.

    A Bayesian Hierarchical Modelling Approach to Evaluating District Hospital System Performance and Yield Improvement in Uganda, 2000–2026 · 2026 · DOI

  • Inefficiencies in public healthcare spending in EU countries. Limited data availability. Complexity of hospital operations and variable returns to scale.

    DETERMINANTS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN CROATIAN HOSPITALS · 2026 · DOI

  • The study only covers 26 Croatian hospitals. The analysis is limited to the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. The study relies on available data from the State Audit Office's Financial Audit Reports and the Ministry of Finance's Financial Reports.

    DETERMINANTS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN CROATIAN HOSPITALS · 2026 · DOI

  • One specific technical challenge identified is the difficulty in interpreting DEA results, particularly when extended model specifications are used. Another challenge is the need to carefully classify inputs and outputs. The study also highlights the challenge of accounting for environmental operating conditions and environmental externalities in DEA models.

    Understanding DEA Efficiency Results in Energy Technologies: The Role of Non-Discretionary Inputs and Undesirable Outputs · 2026 · DOI

  • The gap in the current literature is the lack of understanding of how alternative treatments of environmental conditions and undesirable outputs influence efficiency measurement in energy technologies. The study identifies the need to investigate the effects of environmental variables on the interpretation of efficiency results.

    Understanding DEA Efficiency Results in Energy Technologies: The Role of Non-Discretionary Inputs and Undesirable Outputs · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the literature regarding the factors influencing agricultural energy effectiveness in the Netherlands. The study highlights the need for further research on the dynamics of energy effectiveness and its critical role in achieving sustainable agricultural development.

    Drivers of Agricultural Energy Efficiency in the Netherlands: Raw Material Imports, Land Use, and Fossil Fuel Consumption · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the development of strategies to address the specific constraints faced by farmers in different districts. Further study could examine the impact of policy interventions on technical efficiency and maize output among maize farmers in Himachal Pradesh.

    A Cluster-Analytic Approach to Constraint Typologies and Technical Efficiency among Maize Farmers in Himachal Pradesh · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a research gap in understanding the relationship between constraint typologies and technical efficiency among maize farmers in Himachal Pradesh. Prior work has highlighted the importance of understanding production constraints, but there is a need for more targeted research on the specific constraints faced by farmers in different districts.

    A Cluster-Analytic Approach to Constraint Typologies and Technical Efficiency among Maize Farmers in Himachal Pradesh · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to evaluate the efficiency of hospitals in the Slovak Republic. The current methods for evaluating hospital efficiency may not be effective.

    Evaluation of hospital efficiency · 2026 · DOI

  • Traditional ratio approaches have limitations in measuring efficiency. The need for a dynamic two-stage network DEA approach to assess revenue efficiency of banks.

    Revenue efficiency of banks: a dynamic two-stage network DEA approach · 2026 · DOI

  • The utilization of resource scale has not been fully optimized, leaving significant room for further improvement. The contribution of technological progress continued to decrease, leading to a sustained negative growth in total factor productivity.

    Education and Innovation: The Input-Output Efficiency of Research in Chinese Universities · 2026 · DOI

  • Limitations and suggestions for future studies While this study investigated the evolutionary trends of research efficiency in Chinese universities using national macro-level data, future research could explore efficiency disparities across different types of higher education institutions and incorporate multi-dimensional qualitative metrics.

    Education and Innovation: The Input-Output Efficiency of Research in Chinese Universities · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to examine the efficiency and productivity of the Croatian pharmaceutical sector. The lack of understanding of the factors associated with inefficiency in the sector.

    EFFICIENCY IN THE CROATIAN PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR: A DECOMPOSITION APPROACH USING WDEA AND MPI · 2026 · DOI

  • Traditional methods often fail to capture the full complexity of modern operations. There is a need for a more comprehensive and reliable decision-making framework.

    Assessing Financial Performance Disparities in the Vietnam Logistics Sector Amidst COVID-19: A Hybrid MCDM Evaluation Approach Using MEREC-COBRA · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of research on the resource allocation efficiency in forest-based wellness services. The study identifies a gap in the literature on the relationship between supply-capacity and demand-potential alignment and operational efficiency.

    Resource allocation efficiency in forest-based wellness services: a 22-year analysis of supply-capacity and demand-potential alignment in Henan Province, China · 2026 · DOI

  • constraints can impose recurring rather than once-off productivity costs on the sector. system electricity inefficiency 5.1 Summary of Findings This study set out to examine the relationship between and agricultural productivity in Nigeria over the period 1999 to 2023, using transmission and distribution losses as the primary indicator of electricity supply deficits. The empirical evidence from the ARDL bounds testing framework can be summarised in three main findings. First, a statistically robust long-run cointegrating relationship exists among agricultural value added, capital formation, agricultural labour, and electricity transmission and distribution losses. This confirms that electricity system conditions and agricultural productivity are structurally linked over time rather than simply co-moving by coincidence or short-run circumstance. The long-run coefficient on TDL carries the theoretically expected negative sign; persistent delivery inefficiency is associated with lower agricultural output, even if the estimate lacks statistical precision within the present sample. short-run significant Second, electricity system conditions exert a statistically influence on agricultural value added, but through mechanisms that reflect producer adaptation rather than any direct productivity benefit from system deterioration. The positive short-run coefficient on transmission and distribution losses reflects the co-movement of losses with generation throughput and the tendency of agricultural producers to sustain output through captive generation when grid supply deteriorates. The economic cost of this adaptation, expressed through higher operating expenditure and reduced long-run productivity, is the relevant policy concern. Third, the error correction mechanism operates at a speed of approximately 63 percent per year, indicating that deviations from long-run equilibrium are corrected relatively rapidly within agricultural production systems. This adjustment speed reflects the flexibility of labour reallocation and operational intensity adjustments within annual crop cycles; it that persistent electricity supply also implies the primary 5.2 Policy Recommendations The findings carry several implications for electricity sector policy and agricultural development strategy in Nigeria. The most direct implication concerns the composition of electricity sector reform.

    Electricity System Inefficiency and Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: Empirical Evidence from Transmission and Distribution Losses, 1999 to 2023 · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a framework for evaluating the efficiency of two-stage network decision-making units. The need for a more granular understanding of system performance.

    Hyperbolic efficiency evaluation in two-stage network structures using conic DEA models · 2026 · DOI

  • Further characterization of the retry branch and its functional form. Investigation of the effects of different network parameters on the distortion factor Φ. Application of the decomposition to other types of networks and scenarios.

    Decomposing the Distortion Factor Φ: Myopic and Retry Branches of DTN Routing Efficiency · 2026 · DOI

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208 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,777 Efficiency Analysis Using DEA papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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