We have the great pleasure of inviting you to participate in the DEA40: International Conference on Data Envelopment Analysis to be held April 16-18, 2018 at Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

DEA: 40 years on

Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (European Journal of Operational Research 2, 429-444, 1978) introduced DEA as a linear programming based method for measuring the comparative efficiency of decision making units (DMUs). Since then DEA has seen exponential growth in both theoretical development and applications. Thousands of theoretical papers have been published extending the methodology to address numerous aspects of real life problems. Applications though lagging behind theory are nevertheless well established, ranging from the regulation of utilities to the delivery of financial, health, education and other public and private sector services. To celebrate the success of DEA we are organizing a conference on the 40^th Anniversary of the publication of the seminal paper on DEA, the first of a number of highly influential papers in the field.

Aston Business School and Aston University

Aston Business School is one of the largest and most successful Business Schools in Europe. It is among the elite 1% of Business Schools worldwide who have achieved triple accreditation from AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB, the standard accrediting bodies of the UK, Europe and the US. The Aston Group on Efficiency and Productivity (AGEP), whose members we are, is an internationally recognized group researching and teaching in the broad area of performance measurement and management, including DEA and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The School is within Aston University, located in the center of the second largest city of England, Birmingham.

Outline of the Conference

The conference will feature:

–          Papers on the latest research in the field;

–          Applications focused tracks including on Regulation, Education, Financial and Health Services;

–          Round table discussions aimed at early career researchers where Editors of Journals in the field, including the European Journal of Operational Research and the Journal of Productivity Analysis will offer advice on getting published;

–          A special issue of  Annals of Operations Research.

We look forward to seeing you at the DEA40 Conference in Birmingham, UK!!

Emmanuel Thanassoulis and Ali Emrouznejad
Aston Business School, Aston, University, Birmingham, UK.