Financial efficiency of companies operating in the Kosovo food sector: DEA and DEAHP

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) evaluates a large number of input and output variables using mathematical programming techniques and analyzes the effectiveness of similar decision making units (DMU). Unlike traditional methods, the most important advantage of DEA is that the weights of input and output variables can be defined by the analyzer. In this study, the limitations of the DEA weights were determined using the AHP, which considers expert opinion. In addition, an alternative judgment scale was used for the Saaty judgment scale, which is used as a standard in the AHP method, and thus a more sensitive analysis was performed. There have been studies dealing with the comparison of judgment scales, but few studies on consistency sensitivity are needed. This point has also been addressed in this study. Subsequently, the financial efficiency of 27 companies operating in the food sector in Kosovo was evaluated with the weight-restricted DEA model, first created using the unweighted DEA model and then the AHP model, and the two models were compared. This paper is the first one of its kind since there are no previous studies regarding the examination of the financial efficiency of companies operating in the Kosovo food sector based on the DEAHP method.