Data Envelopment Analysis and Big Data: A Systematic Literature Review with Bibliometric Analysis

  • First Online: 17 December 2021

Cite this chapter

Book cover

  • Vincent Charles 6 ,
  • Tatiana Gherman 7 &
  • Joe Zhu 8  

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 312))

926 Accesses

7 Citations

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a powerful data-enabled, big data science tool for performance measurement and management, which over time has been applied across a myriad of domains. Over the past years, various advancements in big data have captured the attention of DEA scholars, which in turn, has translated into the emergence of new research strands. In the present work, we perform a systematic literature review with bibliometric analysis of studies integrating DEA with big data, in an attempt to answer the question: what are the current avenues of research for such studies? The results obtained are further complemented with a thematic analysis. Among others, findings indicate that big data is still a new entrant within the DEA literature, that most of the studies have focused on developing faster and more accurate computational techniques to handle problems with a large number of decision-making units (DMUs), and that most of the studies have been carried out in the area of environmental efficiency evaluation. This work should contribute to the construction of an overview of the existing literature on DEA-big data studies, as well as stimulate the interest in the topic.

  • Data envelopment analysis
  • Data-enabled analytics
  • Systematic literature review
  • Bibliometric analysis

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
  • Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

An, Q., Wen, Y., Xiong, B., Yang, M., & Chen, X. (2017). Allocation of carbon dioxide emission permits with the minimum cost for Chinese provinces in big data environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 , 886–893.

Article   Google Scholar  

Badiezadeh, T., Saen, R. F., & Samavati, T. (2018). Assessing sustainability of supply chains by double frontier network DEA: A big data approach. Computers and Operations Research, 98 , 284–290.

Banker, R. D., Charnes, A., & Cooper, W. W. (1984). Some models for estimating technical and scale inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis. Management Science, 30 , 1078–1092.

Bizer, C., Boncz, P., Brodie, M. L., & Erling, O. (2012). The meaningful use of big data: Four perspectives-four challenges. ACM SIGMOD Record, 40 (4), 56–60.

Brynjolfsson, E., Hitt, L. M., & Kim, H. H. (2011). Strength in numbers: How does data-driven decision making affect firm performance? Social Science Electronic Publishing.

Google Scholar  

Chang, Y. T., Zhang, N., Danao, D., & Zhang, N. (2013). Environmental efficiency analysis of transportation system in China: A non-radial DEA approach. Energy Policy, 58 , 277–283.

Charles, V., & Gherman, T. (2013). Achieving competitive advantage through big data. Strategic implications. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 16 (8), 1069–1074.

Charles, V., & Gherman, T. (2018). Big data and ethnography: Together for the greater good. In A. Emrouznejad & V. Charles (Eds.), Big data for the greater good (pp. 19–34). Springer.

Charles, V., Tavana, M., & Gherman, T. (2015). The right to be forgotten – Is privacy sold out in the big data age? International Journal of Society Systems Science, 7(4), 283-298.

Charles, V., Tsolas, I. E., & Gherman, T. (2018). Satisficing data envelopment analysis: A Bayesian approach for peer mining in the banking sector. Annals of Operations Research, 269 (1–2), 81–102.

Charnes, A., Cooper, W. W., & Rhodes, E. (1978). Measuring the efficiency of decision making units. European Journal of Operational Research, 2 (6), 429–444.

Chen, C., Achtari, G., Majkut, K., & Sheu, J.-B. (2017). Balancing equity and cost in rural transportation management with multi-objective utility analysis and data envelopment analysis: A case of Quinte West. Transportation Research Part A, 95 , 148–165.

Chen, C. P., & Zhang, C. Y. (2014). Data-intensive applications, challenges, techniques and technologies: A survey on Big Data. Information Sciences, 275 , 314–347.

Chen, L., & Jia, G. (2017). Environmental efficiency analysis of China’s regional industry: A data envelopment analysis (DEA) based approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 , 846–853.

Chen, W. C., & Cho, W. J. (2009). A procedure for large-scale DEA computations. Computers & Operations Research, 36 (6), 1813–1824.

Chen, W. C., & Lai, S. Y. (2015). Determining radial efficiency with a large data set by solving small-size linear programs. Annals of Operations Research, 250 , 147–166.

Chu, J.-F., Wu, J., & Song, M.-L. (2018). An SBM-DEA model with parallel computing design for environmental efficiency evaluation in the big data context: A transportation system application. Annals of Operations Research, 270 (1-2), 105–124.

Cook, W. D., Tone, K., & Zhu, J. (2014). Data envelopment analysis: Prior to choosing a model. Omega, 44 , 1–4.

Dulá, J. H. (2011). An algorithm for data envelopment analysis. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 23 (2), 284–296.

Dulá, J. H., & López, F. J. (2009). Preprocessing DEA. Computers & Operations Research, 36 (4), 1204–1220.

Fan, M.-W., Ao, C.-C., & Wang, X.-R. (2019). Comprehensive method of natural gas pipeline efficiency evaluation based on energy and big data analysis. Energy, 188 , 116069.

Farrell, M. J. (1957). The measurement of productive efficiency. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, 120 (3), 253–281.

Gong, B., Guo, D., Zhang, X., & Cheng, J. (2017). An approach for evaluating cleaner production performance in iron and steel enterprises involving competitive relationships. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 , 739–748.

He, Z., He, Y., Liu, F., & Zhao, Y. (2019). Big data-oriented product infant failure intelligent root cause identification using Associated tree and fuzzy DEA. IEEE Access, 7 (8667817), 34687–34698.

Herranz, R. E., Estévez, P. G., Oliva, M. A. D. V. Y., & Dé, R. (2017). Leveraging financial management performance of the Spanish aerospace manufacturing value chain. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 18 (5), 1005–1022.

Khezrimotlagh, D., Zhu, J., Cook, W. D., & Toloo, M. (2019). Data envelopment analysis and big data. European Journal of Operational Research, 274 (3), 1047–1054.

Kiani Mavi, R., & Kiani Mavi, N. (2021). National eco-innovation analysis with big data: A common-weights model for dynamic DEA. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 162 , 120369.

Kiani Mavi, R., Saen, R. F., & Goh, M. (2019). Joint analysis of eco-efficiency and eco-innovation with common weights in two-stage network DEA: A big data approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 144 , 553–562.

Laney, D. (2001). 3D data management: Controlling data volume, velocity and variety. Applications delivery strategies . META Group (now Gartner) [online] http://blogs.gartner.com/doug-laney/files/2012/01/ad949-3D-Data-Management-Controlling-Data-Volume-Velocity-and-Variety.pdf .

Li, L., Hao, T., & Chi, T. (2017). Evaluation on China’s forestry resources efficiency based on big data. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 , 513–523.

Liu, X., Chu, J., Yin, P., & Sun, J. (2017). DEA cross-efficiency evaluation considering undesirable output and ranking priority: A case study of eco-efficiency analysis of coal-fired power plants. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 , 877–885.

Manyika, J., Chui, M., Brown, B., Bughin, J., Dobbs, R., Roxburgh, C., & Hung Byers, A. (2011). Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity. McKinsey Quarterly . Retrieved on 13 January 2021 from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/McKinsey%20Digital/Our%20Insights/Big%20data%20The%20next%20frontier%20for%20innovation/MGI_big_data_exec_summary.pdf .

Michael, K., & Miller, K. W. (2013). Big data: New opportunities and new challenges [guest editors’ introduction]. Computer, 46 (6), 22–24.

Mubin, O., Arsalan, M., & Al Mahmud, A. (2018). Tracking the follow-up of work in progress papers. Scientometrics, 114 , 1159–1174.

Müller, O., Fay, M., & Vom Brocke, J. (2018). The effect of big data and analytics on firm performance: An econometric analysis considering industry characteristics. Journal of Management Information Systems, 35 (2), 488–509.

Provost, F., & Fawcett, T. (2013). Data science for business: What you need to know about data mining and data-analytic thinking . O’Reilly.

Song, M.-L., Fisher, R., Wang, J.-L., & Cui, L.-B. (2018). Environmental performance evaluation with big data: Theories and methods. Annals of Operations Research, 270 (1–2), 459–472.

Song, M., Du, Q., & Zhu, Q. (2017). A theoretical method of environmental performance evaluation in the context of big data. Production Planning and Control, 28 (11–12), 976–984.

Taboada, G. L., & Han, L. (2020). Exploratory data analysis and data envelopment analysis of urban rail transit. Electronics, 9 (8), 1–29.

Tayal, A., Solanki, A., & Singh, S. P. (2020). Integrated frame work for identifying sustainable manufacturing layouts based on big data, machine learning, meta-heuristic and data envelopment analysis. Sustainable Cities and Society, 62 , 102383.

Wu, X., Zhu, X., Wu, G. Q., & Ding, W. (2014). Data mining with big data. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 26 (1), 97–107.

Zelenyuk, V. (2020). Aggregation of inputs and outputs prior to Data Envelopment Analysis under big data. European Journal of Operational Research, 282 (1), 172–187.

Zhan, J., Zhang, F., Li, Z., Zhang, Y., & Qi, W. (2020). Evaluation of food security based on DEA method: A case study of Heihe River Basin. Annals of Operations Research, 290 (1–2), 697–706.

Zhang, Y., Huang, Y., Porter, A. L., Zhang, G., & Lu, J. (2019). Discovering and forecasting interactions in big data research: A learning-enhanced bibliometric study. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146 , 795–807.

Zhu, J. (2020). DEA under big data: Data enabled analytics and network data envelopment analysis. Annals of Operations Research , 1–23.

Zhu, Q., Li, X., Li, F., & Zhou, D. (2020). The potential for energy saving and carbon emission reduction in China’s regional industrial sectors. Science of the Total Environment, 716 , 135009.

Zhu, Q., Wu, J., Li, X., & Xiong, B. (2017). China’s regional natural resource allocation and utilization: A DEA-based approach in a big data environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 , 809–818.

Zhu, Q., Wu, J., & Song, M. (2018). Efficiency evaluation based on data envelopment analysis in the big data context. Computers and Operations Research, 98 , 291–300.

Download references

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to the reviewers for their valuable feedback on the previous version of this research.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Birmingham, UK

Vincent Charles

Faculty of Business and Law, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK

Tatiana Gherman

Business School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vincent Charles .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Foisie Business School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA

Buckingham Business School, University of Buckingham, Birmingham, UK

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Charles, V., Gherman, T., Zhu, J. (2021). Data Envelopment Analysis and Big Data: A Systematic Literature Review with Bibliometric Analysis. In: Zhu, J., Charles, V. (eds) Data-Enabled Analytics. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 312. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75162-3_1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75162-3_1

Published : 17 December 2021

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-75161-6

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-75162-3

eBook Packages : Business and Management Business and Management (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

  • Publish with us

Policies and ethics

  • Find a journal
  • Track your research

IMAGES

  1. (PDF) Data Envelopment Analysis

    thesis on data envelopment analysis

  2. Classifying with Uncertain Data Envelopment Analysis

    thesis on data envelopment analysis

  3. (PDF) Data Envelopment Analysis with Fixed Inputs, Undesirable Outputs

    thesis on data envelopment analysis

  4. (PDF) Research Fronts in data envelopment analysis

    thesis on data envelopment analysis

  5. (PDF) Data Envelopment Analysis: Theory and Application

    thesis on data envelopment analysis

  6. (PDF) DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS EXPLAINED

    thesis on data envelopment analysis

VIDEO

  1. Modelo CCR-DEA em GAMS.mp4

  2. NETWORK DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS

  3. Video 2 DEA Excel Large Data Set Using Index Command #DEA

  4. NETWORK DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS

  5. Week 9: Lecture 45: Measuring Efficiency of Manufacturing Facilities: A DEA Model (II)

  6. Seminario CIO. Dovilė Stumbrienė. Measuring the Performance of the Education Sector Using Data En

COMMENTS

  1. Data Envelopment Analysis and Big Data: A Systematic

    Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a powerful data-enabled, big data science tool for performance measurement and management, which over time has been applied across a myriad of domains. Over the past years, various advancements in big data have captured the attention of DEA scholars, which in turn, has translated into the emergence of new ...