--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-40/productivity-measurement-with-data-envelopment-analysis-and-stochastic-frontier-analysis-a-review-article-on-measurement-of-productivity-and-efficiency-theory-and-practice/" title: "Productivity Measurement with Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Review Article on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T08:01:54+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T08:01:54+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2021" ipm_keyword: - "Balk" - "DEA" - "efficiency" - "Erasmus" - "index numbers" - "productivity measurement" - "review article" - "Sickles" - "stochastic frontier analysis" - "Zelenyuk" ipm_research_theme: - "Measurement and methodology" ipm_country_focus: - "International" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Productivity Measurement with Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Review Article on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-40/productivity-measurement-with-data-envelopment-analysis-and-stochastic-frontier-analysis-a-review-article-on-measurement-of-productivity-and-efficiency-theory-and-practice/ # Productivity Measurement with Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Review Article on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-40-7-Balk.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Balk, Bert. 2021. “Productivity Measurement with Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Review Article on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 40 (Spring 2021): 134–139. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-40/productivity-measurement-with-data-envelopment-analysis-and-stochastic-frontier-analysis-a-review-article-on-measurement-of-productivity-and-efficiency-theory-and-practice/ ## Author: - Bert Balk Erasmus University Rotterdam ## IPM Issue 40 Spring 2021 pp. 134–139 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? A Review Article on The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters Paul Schreyer Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 116–124](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/is-the-sna-still-useful-a-review-article-on-the-measure-of-progress-counting-what-really-matters/) [The Challenges of Productivity Measurement — Review Article on The Measure of Economies: Measuring Productivity in an Age of Technological Change Chad Syverson Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 139–143](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/the-challenges-of-productivity-measurement-review-article-on-the-measure-of-economies-measuring-productivity-in-an-age-of-technological-change/) [Reflections on Measuring and Improving Productivity When Subjective Well-being Is the Objective John Helliwell Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 81–85](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/reflections-on-measuring-and-improving-productivity-when-subjective-well-being-is-the-objective/) [Appendix: DEA Mathematical Formulation for Productive Well-Being Charles-Henri DiMaria, Chiara Peroni, Francesco Sarracino Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 29–32](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/appendix-dea-mathematical-formulation-for-productive-well-being/) [From Economic Productivity to Productive Well-Being: The Role of Life Satisfaction and Adjusted Net Savings Charles-Henri DiMaria, Chiara Peroni, Francesco Sarracino Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 62–80](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/from-economic-productivity-to-productive-well-being-the-role-of-life-satisfaction-and-adjusted-net-savings/) [Statistical Appendix: Well-being Efficiency Scores Francesco Sarracino, Kelsey O’Connor Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 1–3](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/statistical-appendix-well-being-efficiency-scores/) [Introduction to the Symposium on Productivity and Well-being, Part II Andrew Sharpe, Dan Sichel, Bart van Ark Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 3–9](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/introduction-to-the-symposium-on-productivity-and-well-being-part-ii/) [A Measure of Well-being Efficiency Based on the World Happiness Report Francesco Sarracino, Kelsey O’Connor Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 10–40](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/a-measure-of-well-being-efficiency-based-on-the-world-happiness-report/) [IPM Issue 43 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark Fall 2022 | IPM Issue 43 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-43/) [Response to Review Article by Bert Balk on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice Robin Sickles, Valentin Zelenyuk Fall 2021 | IPM Issue 41 | pp. 153–156](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-41/response-to-review-article-by-bert-balk-on-measurement-of-productivity-and-efficiency-theory-and-practice/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This review article evaluates Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice by Robin C. Sickles and Valentin Zelenyuk (Cambridge University Press, 2019, 600 pages). The book covers the full range of production theory and productivity measurement approaches — including DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) — and their empirical applications. The reviewer praises the comprehensiveness but notes that the dominant focus on non-parametric and parametric frontier methods contrasts with the index number approach preferred by national statistical offices, pointing to remaining gaps between academic and official productivity measurement practice. Cet article de recension évalue l’ouvrage Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice de Robin Sickles et Valentin Zelenyuk (Cambridge University Press, 2019, 600 pages). L’ouvrage couvre l’ensemble de la théorie de la production et des approches de mesure de la productivité — y compris l’AED (analyse par enveloppement des données) et l’AFStochastique — et leurs applications empiriques. Le recenceur salue l’exhaustivité mais note que la focalisation dominante sur les méthodes de frontière non paramétriques et paramétriques contraste avec l’approche par indices de prix préférée des offices statistiques nationaux, soulignant les lacunes persistantes entre la pratique académique et officielle de la mesure de la productivité. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-40-7-Balk.pdf)