Efficiency Analysis of the Australian Mining Firms

This study sheds light on efficiency, and its determinants, in the Australian mining sector. The research applies a two-stage bootstrap data envelopment analysis (DEA), using a panel of 34 companies over the period 2010 to 2014. It contributes to the literature through a firm-level examination of efficiency performance of the Australian mining sector, accounting for the effects of resource depletion in efficiency modeling and determining the driving factors of mining firms' efficiency using a robust second-stage bootstrapping technique. The findings of this study should be of value to both government and mining businesses, in assisting in the formulation and implementation of policies designed to achieve productivity improvement within the industry.