Exploring the Relative Efficiency of Sustainable Industry Leaders: A DEA Approach

Abstract

We examine the relative efficiency of organizations named as sustainability industry leaders in the 2017 DJSI index. Our study uses the overall sustainability as well as dimensional -- economic, social and environmental -- scores to examine the extent to which these dimensional scores were instrumental in producing overall scores. We also examine what improvements in dimensional scores would be necessary for better sustainability reputations. We use data envelope (DEA) to examine our questions. Our research has implications for both academic research and practice. Our main contribution is the application of DEA for benchmarking and improving organizations’ sustainability reputations.