PurposeThe improvement in the efficiency of public management leads to an increase in the quality of services, boosting confidence in institutions and thus generating a multiplier effect. This paper aims to update the literature on the data envelopment analysis (DEA), which uses a frontier methodology, for measuring the efficiency applied to the defence sector.Design/methodology/approachTwo main research areas are related through this study: Defence Economics and Efficiency and Productivity Analysis. The frontier methods for measuring technical efficiency are grouped into parametric, non-parametric and semi-parametric. The DEA literature review in the selected sector allows to identify three main fields of work that are discussed in detail.FindingsExisting empirical research has hardly applied bootstrapping methods to remove bias from the estimates. No empirical work has applied an analysis of efficiency determinants by the inclusion of exogenous variables.Originality/valueThe managerial implications of efficiency are numerous. A line of research is proposed to examine the extent to which efficiency improvements have an impact on reputation and, therefore, on the image of and confidence in institutions. The link between Defence Economics and Corruption Economics is also considered.

Tourism Attraction can increase the sources of revenue and subsequently improve a destination's performance, but the statistical significance of the potential attractors need additional research and Tourism discipline can offer the necessary tools for these strategic decisions. To this end and in contrast with monitoring reports based on descriptive methods, in this paper we use the two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyze the performance of Spanish tourism regions for the period 2008-2011. We apply the Wilson (2007, 2011) double bootstrap procedure in order to investigate to what extent the efficiency of a destination is determined by a group of contextual variables. This two-stage procedure has supposed a turning point in the methodology and there are only a handful of very recent studies of this type in the literature on destination competitiveness. Policy makers should act in consequence with the results derived from the proposed methodology. Spain is the first country in the 2015 WEF competitiveness index and following UNWTO recommendations, it is essential to move towards responsible tourism in all aspects. We address some final considerations about the link between competitiveness and sustainability of the Spanish touristic model.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the performance of Spanish tourism regions for the 2008-2011 period, to obtain a ranking of efficiency and to examine the hypothesis that the efficiency of these regions is determined by a group of contextual variables. Design/methodology/approach In contrast with monitoring reports based on descriptive methods, this paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology and bootstrap semiparametric procedures to correct inherent bias. The significance of a group of exogenous factors is investigated and the importance of each determinant is ordered by its elasticity. Findings The ranking obtained by radial DEA models and by bias-corrected ones describes two remarkably different settings. The exogenous variables influence hypothesis and confirmed: that estimated coefficients are of the correct sign and statistically significant at 5 per cent. Originality/value The statistical significance of the potential attractors can offer an interesting tool for strategic decisions. The two-stage procedure employed has supposed a turning point in the methodology and there are only a handful of very recent studies of this type in the literature on tourism destination performance. In this sense, no previous work has considered the returns to scale test or the separability assumption. Following United Nations of World Tourism Organization recommendations, it is essential to move towards responsible tourism in all aspects. Some final considerations about the link between performance and sustainability of the Spanish tourist model are addressed in this study.