Evaluation of the Logistics Efficiency of World Major Nations with DEA

[[abstract]]物流費用是影響物流效率的重要因素之一，過去對於物流效率的研究不多且著重於單一指標（物流費用占GDP之比率）的比較，忽略了其他因素（例如：國土面積、基礎建設）的重要性，較缺乏全面性的效率衡量。本研究使用資料包絡分析法（DEA）中的三種模式（CCR、BCC、簡單交叉效率）分別針對全球主要國家與歐洲主要國家進行物流效率評估，並利用效率值將二十一個國家做分群的比較，希望能透過DEA效率分析發展出一套有效且客觀的物流效率評估模型。此外研究中也提出三個影響物流效率的研究假設（國土大小、國民所得、國家所在區域），探討這些因素對於物流效率的影響，期望藉由這樣的綜合分析提供國與國在物流效率比較上的一個參考。[[abstract]]The logistics expenditure is one of the important factors to measure the logistics efficiency. Previous research was mainly on some single indexes such as the ratio between national logistics expenditures and the GDP, while neglecting other factors such as the geography or the infrastructure of a country for a comprehensive evaluation. This research is to develop an effective and objective model to evaluate the logistics performance through data envelopment analysis (DEA). We consider 12 national variables as input and 3 national variables as output to the DEA model to compare and evaluate the logistics efficiency of 21 major nations. Three different DEA models, which are the CCR, BCC and simple cross-efficiency models are adopted to produce multiple efficiency values for operational performance comparison. Furthermore, these nations are classified into three groups by the multiple efficiency values. Finally, of the 15 variables included in the DEA models, three variables, the geographic size, the geographic location and the GDP, are proposed to experiment their significance on the logistics operational performances