Menú principal

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and other benchmarking methods

Background and objectives

The Project Group is aimed to offer workshops to learn more about the DEA method, share experience and gain practical knowledge. DEA is a quantitative method to empirically measure efficiency (best-practice) of decision-making units and a potential useful tool in performance audits. The workshops will also potentially cover other benchmarking methods such as Statistic Frontier Analysis (SFA), Free Disposal Hull (FDH), etc.

DEA is a method developed in the late 1970s to evaluate the efficiency of non-profit organizations, where the basic question is how to measure the relation between inputs and outputs. Efficiency is defined as a best practice. The method is ideal when you have many units doing the same thing and you have multiple inputs and/or multiple outputs (services).

The Swedish NAO has studied efficiency and productivity in several reports with the DEA method, in such areas as:

  • Universities and University colleges (RiR 2011:2)
  • Local employment offices (RiR 2012:9)
  • District courts (RiR 2017:6)
  • Universities in the Nordic countries (RiR 2019:21) Collaboration between the Nordic SAIs
  • Prisons (RiR 2020:16).

The method has also been used by a number of other EUROSAI members.

Contact

Christian Andersson, Auditor Director Swedish NAO

Documentation

Filters

Reset filters
Search filters
Apply filters
Close
Category
Category
Reset filters
Search filters
Apply filters
Reset filters
Search filters
Apply filters
Close
Reset filters
Search filters
Apply filters
Showing results 1 to 4 of 4.
  • Project Group Documents
    2025 September 01

    ToR EUROSAI Project Group "Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and other benchmarking methods"

    ToR EUROSAI Project Group "Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and other benchmarking methods" true

    Go to detail
  • Project Group Documents
    2025 July 08

    Efficiency and productivity of district courts - Summary and recommendations

    Central government has been working for a long time on reforming district courts. The reforms have included reducing the number of district courts from 96 to today’s 48. But despite the numerous years of work central government has devoted to improving the efficiency of district courts there are ind...

    Go to detail
  • Project Group Documents
    2025 July 08

    Resource efficiency and productivity of Swedish higher education institutions in the Nordic countries

    The Swedish National Audit Office has audited the resource efficiency and productivity of Nordic higher education institutions. The audit’s overall conclusion is that the Swedish higher education institutions studied compare well with other higher education institutions in the Nordic countries with ...

    Go to detail
  • Project Group Documents
    2025 July 08

    Efficiency at Swedish Prison and Probation Service prisons - Summary and recommendations

    The Swedish National Audit Office has audited efficiency at the prisons of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. The audit shows that efficiency could be improved in several areas. The majority of the prisons are of a size that does not provide conditions for achieving the lowest possible cost p...

    Go to detail
Showing results 1 to 4 of 4.