Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is traditionally based on the axiom of convex production possibility sets. In many research situations this axiom is considered overly restrictive, and recent research has focused on finding suitable ways of relaxing it. Unfortunately, there currently is no consensus in the DEA field on why and how to account for non-convexities. This paper explores empirical evi...

In a relatively short period of time Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has grown into a powerful quantitative, analytical tool for measuring and evaluating performance. DEA has been successfully applied to a host of different types of entities engaged in a wide variety of activities in many contexts worldwide. This chapter discusses the fundamental DEA models and some of their extensions.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric method from the area of operations research that measures the relationship of produced outputs to assigned inputs and determines an efficiency score. This efficiency score can be interpreted as a performance measure in investment analysis. Recent literature contains intensive discussion of using DEA to measure the performance of hedge funds, as...

In this paper, we address several issues related to the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA). These issues include model orientation, input and output selection/definition, the use of mixed and raw data, and the number of inputs and outputs to use versus the number of decision making units (DMUs). We believe that within the DEA community, researchers, practitioners, and reviewers may have con...

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the methodology for evaluating the relative productive efficiency of decision making units (DMUs) that produce multiple-outputs using multiple-inputs. DEA was proposed for the first time in 1957 by Farrell; nonetheless, the wide usage of this method begun with its generalization and the linear programming formulation which is due to Charnes et al. (1978) (for ...

The inherent elasticity of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) gives this technology great potential in energy efficient locomotion applications. In this work, a modular double cone DEA is developed with reduced manufacturing and maintenance time costs. This actuator can lift 45 g of mass (5 times its own weight) while producing a stroke of 10.4 mm (23.6% its height). The contribution of the ...