Global Research Trends in Data Envelopment Analysis for Evaluating Sustainability of Complex Socioeconomic Systems: A Systematic Bibliometric Perspective

This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) to the evaluation of sustainability and performance in complex socioeconomic systems between 2010 and mid-2025. DEA has become an increasingly valuable tool for measuring efficiency, benchmarking practices, and supporting decision-making in contexts where sustainability challenges intersect with economic, environmental, and governance dimensions. To capture global research dynamics, we extracted and merged bibliographic data from Web of Science and Scopus, analyzing publication trends, thematic clusters, co-authorship networks, citation structures, and keyword co-occurrences using bibliometric tools such as VOSviewer and Bibliometrix. Our findings reveal a consistent growth trajectory of the field, with research outputs peaking in 2020 and subsequently diversifying across multiple thematic areas. Conceptual mapping highlights two dominant domains: (i) policy, governance, and planning and (ii) environmental, ecological, and management applications, both linked through the overarching theme of sustainable development. The analysis further underscores the geographic diversity of contributions, the concentration of knowledge in key publication outlets, and the increasing connectivity of international collaboration networks. By identifying thematic gaps and underexplored intersections, this study emphasizes the need for more interdisciplinary approaches that integrate bibliometric insights with practical sustainability outcomes. The results provide a structured overview of the field’s evolution, offering researchers and policymakers a valuable reference point for advancing DEA applications in sustainability research.