Sustainability measurement of seaports by data envelopment analysis (DEA)

Seaport authorities have increasingly been under pressure to improve the seaport efficiency by ensuring that seaport services are provided on an internationally competitive basis. Seaports form a vital link in the supply chain, and consequently, seaport sustainability is an important contributor to a nation?s international competitiveness. Thus, monitoring and comparing one seaport with other seaports in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects (sustainability) is an essential part of Oman vision. The globalization of the world economy has led to an increasingly important role for the seaport industry. Seaport authorities have increasingly been under pressure to improve seaport sustainability by ensuring that seaport services are provided on an internationally competitive basis. Oman seaports represent an important role in the Middle East. Evaluating the sustainability score is important because it helps managers to identify areas requiring improvement. The objective of this research is to evaluate the seaports? sustainability of Oman and identify the best performers. We will compare the sustainability of Omani seaports with international seaports and will recommend how to improve the sustainability of Omani seaports. The present study aims to evaluate the sustainability of Oman seaports by data envelopment analysis (DEA), which will identify the reasons of sustainability or unsustainability of the seaports. DEA is a mathematical programming based method that converts multiple inputs and outputs into a single summary measure of sustainability.