Measuring and ranking structural economic efficiency: exploring the case of Spain compared to Germany

This paper uses the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique tool to explore the efficiency of various sectors in the Spanish economy. The findings demonstrate that Spain's public sector is inefficient in using capital and labour. By contrast, however, the country's finance sector is the most efficient of all of its main sectors. A comparison of various sectors in Spain and Germany reveals that the German manufacturing sector is more efficient than that of Spain, but Spain's tourism sector is much more efficient than that in Germany.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, DEA, Spain, Germany, structural efficiency, economic efficiency, public sector, finance sector, manufacturing sector, tourism sector