Origin and Evolution of Malmquist Productivity Index: Review of the Literature

Abstract The aim of this review was to present research work on the development of the Malmquist index (MI) in various aspects based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The MI is one of the three methods of dynamic analysis and also the main one, as it is the most commonly used to measure productivity changes. However, over the years, from being a simple productivity index like the models within the DEA method, it has become a more complex and useful index as it has seen many developments and extensions. Modifications and developments of the MI have taken place in many directions. A review of MI studies from 1990 to 2025 shows that the authors considered various aspects of the MI: Alternative ways of decomposing, different ways of measuring, different types of efficiency, different nature of data and variables and network structure or combined dynamic analysis methods into a single framework. The direction of changes and modifications of the MI can be divided into three groups: Adapting DEA solutions within the MI, presenting new MI solutions without being inspired by the DEA method and combining two methods of dynamic analysis into one framework.