Int. J. Data Science, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2016 247 Copyright © 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Application of differential evolution for data envelopment analysis Sandeep Kumar Mogha* Department of Applied Sciences, The NorthCap University, Gurgaon 122017, India Email: moghadma@gmail.com *Corresponding author Shiv Prasad Yadav Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India Email: yadavfma@iitr.ernet.in Abstract: Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a well-known technique for measuring the performance of homogeneous decision-making units (DMUs). Performances of DMUs can also be calculated by using some different techniques. Differential evolution (DE) is a versatile technique used for solving a wide range of problems occurring in various fields. In the present study, we propose a novel application of simple differential evolution (SDE) for solving data envelopment analysis-based models. The mathematical model of the problem is constrained in nature for which Pareto ranking method is embedded in SDE. Keywords: DEA; data envelopment analysis; differential evolution; constrained optimisation problem; public hospitals; Uttarakhand. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Mogha, S.K. and Yadav, S.P. (2016) ‘Application of differential evolution for data envelopment analysis’, Int. J. Data Science, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp.247–258. Biographical notes: Sandeep Kumar Mogha received his MSc and MPhil in Mathematics from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from the Department of Mathematics at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. Currently, he is working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Sciences at The NorthCap University, Gurgaon, India. His current research areas include operations research and data envelopment analysis. Shiv Prasad Yadav is working as a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India. He holds his PhD degree in Optimal Control Theory from the Department of Applied Mathematics at Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. His current research areas include optimal control theory, operations research, data envelopment analysis, fuzzy optimisation, and fuzzy reliability studies.