Development of a Bounded Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Model in the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Environment

Data Envelopment Analysis is a powerful tool for evaluating the efficiency of decision-making units for the purpose of ranking, comparing, and differentiating efficient and inefficient units. Classical Data Envelopment Analysis methods operate by measuring the efficiency of each DMU compared to similar units without considering their internal workings and structures, which make them unsuitable for cases where DMUs are multistaged processes with intermediate products or when inputs and outputs are ambiguous or nonconfigurable. In problems that involve uncertainty, intuitionistic fuzzy sets can offer a better representation and interpretation of information than classic sets. In this paper, the noncooperative network data envelopment analysis model of Liang et al. (2008), which is based on Stackelberg game theory and efficiency decomposition, is expanded using the concepts of best and worst relative returns Data Envelopment Analysis model of Azizi et al. (2013) into an interval efficiency estimation model with α-β cuts for two-stage DMUs with trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy data. Furthermore, the method of Yue (2011) is used to rank these DMUs in terms of their intuitionistic fuzzy interval efficiency. A numerical example is also provided to illustrate the application of the proposed bounded two-stage intuitionistic Data Envelopment Analysis model.