Assessing social performance of construction companies in public-works procurement: Data envelopment analysis based on the benefit of the doubt approach

There is an urgent need to improve the assessment of construction companies' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in public-works procurement. Current procurement procedures assign a high level of subjectivity to CSR assessment and lack transparency. Existing research basically highlights the need to define weighting systems in which the importance of each social criterion is objective and based on the social weaknesses in the context of a project. In order to fulfill this gap, this research proposes a composite indicator for assessing CSR in public construction procurement. A Data Envelopment Analysis based on the Benefit of Doubt Approach (DEA-BOD) was chosen to define the weighting system based on the main social weaknesses that exist in the country where the contract is procured. The research employs simulation to assess the validity of this indicator. The results highlight that the use of national indices as a proxy for CSR indicators can be helpful in determining the level of importance of CSR in public procurement. The simulation showed that the proposed approach allows the objective comparison of CSR performance of construction companies, regardless of their size. This research assists decision-makers in properly integrating social sustainability in procurement procedures.