Evaluating the efficiency of the country’s customs in the fight against smuggling of goods using data envelopment analysis method

Illegal international transactions result from high exchange rates, the imposition of trade taxes, and extensive quantitative restrictions on trade. When these types of transactions are large-scale, they will have many disruptive effects on the economic variables of countries. Illegal transactions, on the one hand, reduce the government’s customs and tax revenues and, on the other hand, eliminate the possibility of controlling the standards of production of goods. They also lead to exorbitant annual costs for the government to combat and prevent smuggling. At the same time, smuggling of goods and currency has adverse effects on legal producers and importers of goods in the country. In this study, using domestic and international studies, the position of goods smuggling in the international economy is explained and then using the data envelopment analysis method, the efficiency of the country’s customs in combating smuggling of goods is evaluated. Using the DEA method, efficient and inefficient customs can be identified and inefficient customs can be ranked and for them among efficient companies, a reference (model) can be determined to reach the efficiency limit. In this research, CCR and BCC patterns with the nature of output have been used. The results of using this method indicate that in Iran, the phenomenon of smuggling of goods occurs more due to weakness in the country’s management structures, lack of open economy and as a result, significant differences in price and quality of goods on both sides of the border than macroeconomic structures.