A Data Envelopment Approach to Measuring Efficiency:Case Analysis of Highway Maintenace Patrols zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfe WADE D. COOK* Yo rk University A LEX KA ZA KO V Ministry of Transportation and Comomunications, Toronto YA A KO V RO LL Technion, Haifa, Israel LA WRENC E M. SEIFO RD University of Massachusetts zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS INTRODUCTION Efficiency measurement is the subject of renewed interest due, in large part, to the recent decline in productivity. (For a long-term perspective see Baumol, 1989.) Reasons for this focus were best stated over 30 years ago by M. J. Farrell (1957) in his classic paper on the measurement of productive efficiency. The problem of measuring the productive efficiency of an industry is important to both the economic theorist and the economic policy maker. If the theoretical arguments as to the relative efficiency of different economic systems are to be subjected to empirical testing, it is essential to be able to * Direct all correspondence to: Wade D. Cook, Faculty of Administrative Studies, York University, 4700 Keele Street, North York, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI The JoumaI of Sax&-Economics, Volume 20, Number 1, pages KS-103 CopyrIght @ 1991 by JAI Press Inc. AU rights of reprodurtion in any form reserved. ISSN: 10515357