Non-ferrous metals are widely used as basic materials in various industrial fields, and zinc is a metal that is produced and used next to iron, aluminum, and copper. In this study, DEA (data envelopment analysis) was applied to measure the efficiency of 43 zinc smelters in three countries in East Asia: Korea, China, and Japan. The constant returns to scale (CRS) and the variable returns to scale (VRS) models, and the slack-based measure (SBM) were used for the analysis. As a result of the efficiency analysis, there were three efficient zinc smelters in the CRS model, 14 in the VRS model and 14 in the SBM. The average efficiency was 0.458 based on the SBM, which indicates that there is room for improvement in efficiency. In addition, the average scale efficiency value was 0.689, showing the scale to be inefficient. Therefore, it can be seen that the labor cost and the energy cost must be brought to an appropriate level. The Tobit regression analysis was used to analyze the causes of efficiency. The greater the capacity and the larger amount of bonus Zn of the refinery, the higher the efficiency of the refinery.

Most global zinc firms consist of multiple refineries with various production capacities. However, it is known that efficiency and Bonus Zn are mostly dependent on a firm’s production capacity. Thus, it is important to examine whether there is knowledge transfer of efficiencies and Bonus Zn among refineries within the same company, even if their production capacities are quite different. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to measure efficiency scores of forty-two zinc refineries. To examine whether there is a knowledge transfer about efficiency and Bonus Zn within a firm, a propensity score model is newly applied. Additionally, a regression model is utilized to identify whether this propagation is more effective if refineries are in the same country. It is found that about 86% of the refineries are inefficient, which indicates that there is much room for refineries to improve their performance. From the result, it is identified that the knowledge of efficiency and Bonus Zn is transferred within the company. This transfer is particularly influential when both refineries are located in the same country. We also find that firm’s revenue can be maximized when efficiency is high and the production capacity and/or Bonus Zn are significant.