Evaluation of the Efficiency and Corporate Social Responsibility of the Transport Industry using the Data Envelopment Analysis Method

Engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is of increasing importance across different economic sectors, including transportation industry. This study examines the relationship between CSR and efficiency of companies in the transport industry. This research belongs to the type of quantitative research and extends the scope of research related to the subject of CSR and efficiency of companies in the transport industry. The previous literature lacks empirical research analyzing the relation between CSR and efficiency in this industry and this study aims to fill in this gap of research.Methods: The study focuses on data for 2013-2015 period for the major transportation companies in the USA, in particular representing the air and road transportation sectors. This paper is based on Data Envelopment Analysis method which is used to measure efficiency, while the Pearson correlation coefficient is used to detect the relationship between CSR and efficiency. In this study, the analysis of the efficiency of enterprises is carried out using the input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis model with the assumption of the variable returns to scale.Results: The results confirm the positive relationship between CSR and efficiency in the transportation companies. The paper contains further evidence on the relationship between individual CSR areas (social, environmental and governance CSR) and efficiency, bringing interesting insights in a given thematic area.Conclusions: This study can help not only as a recommendation for transportation firms, but also as an introduction to further more detailed research of the relation between CSR and efficiency