Open AccessPerformance evaluation of e-commerce firms in China: Using three-stage data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index
Author(s) -
Shao-Hui Zheng,
Rabnawaz Khan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0255851
Subject(s) - data envelopment analysis , total factor productivity , malmquist index , productivity , index (typography) , stochastic frontier analysis , production–possibility frontier , industrial organization , production (economics) , china , economics , frontier , business , technical progress , microeconomics , computer science , statistics , macroeconomics , mathematics , history , archaeology , world wide web , political science , law
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.