Long-Term Economic Sustainability of Humanitarian Logistics—A Multi-Level and Time-Series Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

Although resources are scarce and outputs incorporate the potential to save human lives, efficiency measurement endeavors with data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods are not yet commonplace in the research and practice of non-government organizations (NGO) and states involved in humanitarian logistics. We present a boot-strapped DEA window analysis and Malmquist index application as a methodological state of the art for a multi-input and multi-output efficiency analysis and discuss specific adaptions to typical core challenges in humanitarian logistics. A characteristic feature of humanitarian operations is the fact that a multitude of organizations are involved on at least two levels, national and supra-national, as well as in two sectors, private NGO and government agencies. This is modeled and implemented in an international empirical analysis: First, a comprehensive dataset from the 34 least developed countries in Africa from 2002 to 2015 is applied for the first time in such a DEA Malmquist index efficiency analysis setting regarding the national state actor level. Second, an analysis of different sections in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh is analyzed based on a bootstrapped DEA with window analysis application for 2017, 2018, and 2019 quarter data regarding the private NGO level of operations in humanitarian logistics.