Performance evaluation of two-stage production systems with time-lag effects: An application in the horticulture industry

Abstract

In standard data envelopment analysis (DEA), it is assumed that inputs of a specific production period are used to generate outputs of the same period. However, in some practical examples, time-lag effects exist between inputs and outputs. The inputs of one period are used to generate outputs for several periods, or inputs of several periods are used to create outputs for one period. In this paper, we present some new DEA models for performance assessment of network production systems with time-lag effects. An empirical application in the horticulture sector in Iran shows the usefulness and capabilities of our proposed approach.