A New Method of Sensitivity Analysis of Returns to Scale in Two-Stage Network; A Case Study of the Insurance Industry in Iran

One important issue in data envelopment analysis (DEA) which has been studied by many researchers is returns to scale (RTS). The authors developed DEA models to evaluate the efficiency of two-stage networks in returns to scale variable and introduced a new definition to determine return to scale classification in two-stage networks. The current article proposed an approach for determining the stability region of returns to scale classification in two-stage network DEA. The data were collected from insurance companies in Iran in 2019. We consider the insurance industry process as a two-stage network; the stage of marketing and that of investment. The effectiveness of insurance companies was evaluated, and, after determining the classification of returns to scale, we found a sustainability interval to classify returns to their scale.