In recent years there has occurred a rapid increase in the volume of published research devoted to the analysis of efficiency in production. A small amount of this research has explored the theoretical foundations of efficiency measurement, but the vast majority of it has been empirical. The empirical research has investigated the nature and magnitude of, and occasionally the influences on, productive efficiency in a wide variety of industries, across a multitude of countries, and over a span of time stretching from Domesday England c. 1086 to the present. Some of the empirical research has been of primarily academic interest, some of it has had considerable public policy relevance, and some of it has been directed to managerial decision making. The research is interdisciplinary, having spread from economics to operations research and to the fields of management science, public administration, and a host of others. It seems to be having an impact in each of these fields.

Our primary motive for writing this book is to provide, in a single source, the theoretical foundations for the measurement of productive efficiency. Most of these foundations have appeared before, over a period of time and in a variety of sources, and we think it worthwhile to bring them together in one accessible source.