The efficiency of postal services in the age of market liberalization and the internet: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

Kiril Tochkov

Utilities Policy, 2015, vol. 36, issue C, 35-42

Abstract: The rise in electronic communications and the recent liberalization of the postal market in the European Union have put national postal-service providers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) under pressure to restructure and optimize their operations. The paper employs non-parametric methods to measure the relative technical and cost efficiency of CEE postal operators in terms of quantity-based and quality-based output indicators. The results indicate that inefficiency varies between 20% and 30%. Regression analysis attributes efficiency gains to increased competition, institutional reforms, less burdensome customs procedures, and population density, while use of electronic mail was negatively related to postal-service efficiency.

Keywords: Postal services; Efficiency; Competition; Internet; Transition economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juipol:v:36:y:2015:i:c:p:35-42

DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2015.09.004

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