Efficiency analysis of the OECD countries' long-term productivity using DEA and TOPSIS approaches

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the performance of OECD countries' long-term productivity during the period of 1975–2018. Design/methodology/approach This study employed different approaches to evaluate how efficiency scores vary with changes in inputs and outputs: Data Envelopment Analysis (CRS, VRS and FDH), TOPSIS and TOPSIS of these scores. Findings The findings suggest that, during the period of this study, countries with higher freedom of religion and with Presidential democracy regimes are positively associated with higher productivity. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that uses efficiency models to assess the productivity levels of OECD countries based on several contextual variables that can potentially affect it.