The Development of Efficiency Analysis in Transportation Systems: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review

Thiago Victorino () and Carlos Rosano Peña
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Thiago Victorino: Department of Administration, Faculty of Administration, Accounting, Economics and Public Policy Management, University of Brasilia, Brasília 70910900, Brazil
Carlos Rosano Peña: Department of Administration, Faculty of Administration, Accounting, Economics and Public Policy Management, University of Brasilia, Brasília 70910900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-32

Abstract: This paper presents a literature review of efficiency analysis in transportation systems (TS). It builds a bibliometric review of published data-envelopment analysis and, for the first time, stochastic frontier analysis publications in TS. The retrieved publications were separated into five groups: highway/road transportation, air transportation, maritime/port transportation, railway transportation, and urban/bus transportation. The 135 data-envelopment-analysis rail-related publications were surveyed to assess the model used, the second-stage analysis (if any), the input–output variables, the model orientation, return-to-scale assumptions, and their methodological classification. The results show that frontier methods in transportation systems have gained relevance since 2017. Also, gaps in the literature and future directions have been identified in empirical rail research, such as eco-efficiency and safety-related issues, as well as the need for a better investigation of variable choice and scale return assumptions. Finally, this paper proposes a step-by-step methodology for data envelopment analysis in rail systems.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis; stochastic frontier analysis; efficiency; literature review; rail; transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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