Returns to scale and scale elasticity in the presence of weight restrictions and alternative solutions

In this paper some new results about two important topics in performance analysis. including scale elasticity (SE) and returns to scale (RTS), in the presence of weight restrictions and alternative solutions are proved. Since SE and RTS help managers to make decisions about the expansion or contraction of the operation of decision making units under assessment, the established results can be useful from both theoretical and applied points of view. The provided implications are devoted to some mathematical characterizations and properties of SE and RTS as well as their relationships. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.