A two-stage DEA approach to analyse the efficiency of the hospitality sector

This article explores the performance of the hospitality sector in Sardinia (Italy) using empirical
data collected from company balance sheets (from 2004 to 2013). A standard data envelopment
analysis (DEA) is run using sales revenue as an output and the monetary value of all tangible and
intangible assets as well as labour costs as inputs. Following the Simar–Wilson approach, a postDEA
is also carried out to investigate the factors that influence hotels’ economic efficiency. The
empirical results show that business default and the cost of money negatively influence hotels’
performance and that firms located in highly specialized areas with a strong seasonality are relatively
inefficient. Furthermore, the short-run debt index and the long-term debt index positively
impact efficiency.