Operational and investment efficiency of investment trust companies:Do foreign firms outperform domestic firms?

This study examines the efficiency of investment trust companies(ITCs)from 2011 to 2020 using a meta-frontier two-stage network data envelopment analysis(DEA)based on the directional distance function(DDF).We improved the accuracy of the efficiency measurement and added a network-based ranking component to rank the topperforming entities.In the group-specific technology assessment,foreign ITCs excel in investment efficiency.Meanwhile,in the meta-technology assessment,domestic ITCs outperform foreign ITCs in terms of both investment and operational efficiencies.Group-specific technology efficiency scores were found to be lower than or equal to the meta-technology efficiency scores for both the operational and investment stages.Based on the network-based ranking approach,Yuan Ta,a domestic ITC that ranked fourth in the operational stage and first in the investment stage,can be used as a reliable benchmark.This study will enable practitioners to gain a better understanding of the performance of ITCs operating under heterogeneous technologies.