عیسی ابراهیم زاده - Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
دیمن کاشفی دوست - Ph.D. student, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
جمیل قادرمرزی - Ph.D. student, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Yazd, Yazd, Iran.

Establishing service centers in counties is among the main elements in improving social welfare. Nowadays, the majority of counties not only face a shortage in service centers but also an unbalanced distribution of services. In turn, efficiency measurement of counties regarding establishing service centers is in great importance. Hence, it is essential to improve the efficiency of urban services, while distributing services in a way by which all counties are provided with balanced services. This study aims to evaluate the efficient counties in terms of having service centers. Descriptive-analytic method was applied to achieve the mentioned aim. Data was also collected using documentary and library methods. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is one of the effective ways to measure efficiency. The present study investigates the performance and efficiency of ۱۷ counties in West Azerbaijan province in terms of having service centers using CCR and BCC models in data envelopment analysis method. The results indicate only ۶ counties on CCR model and ۷ counties on BCC model are relatively efficient and the remaining ones are inefficient. Finally, inefficient counties are modeled and the improvements needed for them to meet the efficiency boundary are explained.

Service centers, efficiency evaluation, data envelopment analysis model, West Azerbaijan Province