Measuring efficiency of the Greek flourmill firms using data envelopment analysis

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to measure the efficiency of Greek flourmills firms, using the DEA methodology. The CRS and the VRS technical efficiency is measured as well as a return to scale estimation, the context dependent DEA is calculated and finally, the evolution of the Malmquist productivity index, the efficiency change and the frontier shift was computed for a five-year period. This implementation provided helpful information regarding the efficiency ranking of the firms operating in it. Proofs that inefficient firms are over-invested and over-exposed to high risk operation practices provide suggestions for future reparative actions in order for efficiency to be improved. This goal does not require radical effort from firms to achieve intermediate targets. Finally, stagnated mean efficiency change does not denote stagnated efficiency change for individual firms, but it is the outcome of a large variance of efficiency change scores being achieved by flour mills firms from period to period. This is the first attempt to assess the level of competitiveness and benchmark the firms operating in the Greek flourmill industry. © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.