Performance evaluation of e-commerce firms in China: Using three-stage data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index

Sufang Zheng and Rabnawaz Khan

PLOS ONE, 2021, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-26

Abstract: As a new business form of international trade and electronic commerce, e-commerce has been a controversial topic that has attracted the attention of scholars and industry professionals. This study estimated the operating efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) of listed e-commerce firms in China from 2015 to 2019. Three related methodologies were applied: data envelopment analysis (DEA), the Malmquist TFP index, and stochastic frontier analysis. The DEA analysis results showed that environmental variables exerted a substantial effect on technical efficiency. Most firms demonstrated effective technical efficiency after adjustment for input variables. Business-to-business firms had the highest operating efficiency, followed by business-to-consumer and production-to-consumer firms. Technical progress and scale were identified as two major factors affecting improvement in TFP. Hence, e-commerce firms should make full use of advanced technology and aim to achieve economies of scale.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0255851

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255851

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