| Article ID: | iaor20073363 |
| Country: | Germany |
| Volume: | 15 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page Number: | 21 |
| End Page Number: | 45 |
| Publication Date: | Mar 2007 |
| Journal: | Central European Journal of Operations Research |
| Authors: | Garca-Snchez I. M. |
| Keywords: | statistics: data envelopment analysis |
In this paper, we apply a three-stage DEA model to the Spanish Professional Football League, which means separating the teams' economic behaviour into three components: operating efficiency – of the offence and defence – athletic or operating effectiveness, and social effectiveness. The results showed that the technical inefficiency of the defence is greater than that of the offence, both being caused by aspects linked to the poor management of players' abilities and by the football team's size. Teams showed a favourable evolution of their offensive and defensive efficiency during the 2004/2005 season and to a lesser extent in the season before. The point system assigned by the professional football league regulations evaluates the teams' athletic effectiveness, but we detected that the teams with the most experience perform athletically in a more effective manner. Their social effectiveness is strongly related to the level of play in itself and to factors linked to their PFL ranking: participation in international competitions for important football teams; or the struggle of minor football teams to stay in the first division.