Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries

The monopoly-supported universal service obligation (USO) is usually defended on the grounds that the monopoly allows for cross-subsidy in letter services that in turn allows universal access to a service of great importance to all. The author argues that letter delivery (as opposed to other service...

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Main Author:	Kenny, Charles
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING AVERAGE PERFORMANCE CITIZEN CITIZENS CIVIL WAR CONSUMER SATISFACTION CONSUMERS CORPORATIZATION COST SAVINGS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DISECONOMIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRICITY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPLOYMENT EXPENDITURES FIXED COSTS GDP GDP PER CAPITA INCOME INEFFICIENCY INSTITUTIONAL REFORM LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LDCS LETTER MAIL LOW INCOME COUNTRIES MAIL DELIVERY MAIL VOLUME MARGINAL COST MARKETING MONEY ORDERS MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLIES NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORK EXTERNALITIES OPERATING EXPENSES PACKAGES PARCELS PARLIAMENT POST POST OFFICES POSTAL ADMINISTRATION POSTAL EMPLOYEES POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES POSTAL MARKETS POSTAL MONOPOLIES POSTAL NETWORKS POSTAL OPERATIONS POSTAL OPERATORS POSTAL REFORM POSTAL SERVICE POSTAL SERVICES PRIMARY EDUCATION PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC SERVICE SAVINGS SCALE EFFECTS SERVICE DELIVERY TAX TELEPHONES TOTAL COSTS TRANSACTIONS COSTS UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION UPU URBANIZATION
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/06/5849238/reforming-posts-abandoning-monopoly-supported-postal-universal-service-obligation-developing-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8225

id	okr-10986-8225
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-82252021-04-23T14:02:42Z Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries Kenny, Charles ACCOUNTING AVERAGE PERFORMANCE CITIZEN CITIZENS CIVIL WAR CONSUMER SATISFACTION CONSUMERS CORPORATIZATION COST SAVINGS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DISECONOMIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRICITY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPLOYMENT EXPENDITURES FIXED COSTS GDP GDP PER CAPITA INCOME INEFFICIENCY INSTITUTIONAL REFORM LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LDCS LETTER MAIL LOW INCOME COUNTRIES MAIL DELIVERY MAIL VOLUME MARGINAL COST MARKETING MONEY ORDERS MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLIES NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORK EXTERNALITIES OPERATING EXPENSES PACKAGES PARCELS PARLIAMENT POST POST OFFICES POSTAL ADMINISTRATION POSTAL EMPLOYEES POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES POSTAL MARKETS POSTAL MONOPOLIES POSTAL NETWORKS POSTAL OPERATIONS POSTAL OPERATORS POSTAL REFORM POSTAL SERVICE POSTAL SERVICES PRIMARY EDUCATION PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC SERVICE SAVINGS SCALE EFFECTS SERVICE DELIVERY TAX TELEPHONES TOTAL COSTS TRANSACTIONS COSTS UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION UPU URBANIZATION The monopoly-supported universal service obligation (USO) is usually defended on the grounds that the monopoly allows for cross-subsidy in letter services that in turn allows universal access to a service of great importance to all. The author argues that letter delivery (as opposed to other services that may be provided by post offices) is not in universal demand in poor countries, that the size of the market in developing countries is such that USOs could not be met under the monopoly model, and that the monopoly carries heavy costs for sector development and consumer welfare. He proposes in the place of the postal USO a competitive approach involving universal access to a range of services that poor people have a need to access. Regarding reform of the incumbent, the author takes a preliminary first cut at examining the statistical relationship between postal performance (as measured by letters per capita allowing for income per capita), trust in the postal service, and postal efficiency, and finds a significant link between the three. The results suggest that reforms that improve postal efficiency and trust in the postal network will improve the performance of the postal network. The author suggests that there may be better uses of cross-subsidy from within the sector and government subsidy from without than supporting the inefficient delivery of a service rarely used by poor people. 2012-06-15T21:43:20Z 2012-06-15T21:43:20Z 2005-06 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/06/5849238/reforming-posts-abandoning-monopoly-supported-postal-universal-service-obligation-developing-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8225 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3627 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	ACCOUNTING AVERAGE PERFORMANCE CITIZEN CITIZENS CIVIL WAR CONSUMER SATISFACTION CONSUMERS CORPORATIZATION COST SAVINGS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DISECONOMIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRICITY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPLOYMENT EXPENDITURES FIXED COSTS GDP GDP PER CAPITA INCOME INEFFICIENCY INSTITUTIONAL REFORM LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LDCS LETTER MAIL LOW INCOME COUNTRIES MAIL DELIVERY MAIL VOLUME MARGINAL COST MARKETING MONEY ORDERS MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLIES NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORK EXTERNALITIES OPERATING EXPENSES PACKAGES PARCELS PARLIAMENT POST POST OFFICES POSTAL ADMINISTRATION POSTAL EMPLOYEES POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES POSTAL MARKETS POSTAL MONOPOLIES POSTAL NETWORKS POSTAL OPERATIONS POSTAL OPERATORS POSTAL REFORM POSTAL SERVICE POSTAL SERVICES PRIMARY EDUCATION PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC SERVICE SAVINGS SCALE EFFECTS SERVICE DELIVERY TAX TELEPHONES TOTAL COSTS TRANSACTIONS COSTS UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION UPU URBANIZATION
spellingShingle	ACCOUNTING AVERAGE PERFORMANCE CITIZEN CITIZENS CIVIL WAR CONSUMER SATISFACTION CONSUMERS CORPORATIZATION COST SAVINGS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DISECONOMIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRICITY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPLOYMENT EXPENDITURES FIXED COSTS GDP GDP PER CAPITA INCOME INEFFICIENCY INSTITUTIONAL REFORM LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LDCS LETTER MAIL LOW INCOME COUNTRIES MAIL DELIVERY MAIL VOLUME MARGINAL COST MARKETING MONEY ORDERS MONOPOLY NATURAL MONOPOLIES NATURAL MONOPOLY NETWORK EXTERNALITIES OPERATING EXPENSES PACKAGES PARCELS PARLIAMENT POST POST OFFICES POSTAL ADMINISTRATION POSTAL EMPLOYEES POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES POSTAL MARKETS POSTAL MONOPOLIES POSTAL NETWORKS POSTAL OPERATIONS POSTAL OPERATORS POSTAL REFORM POSTAL SERVICE POSTAL SERVICES PRIMARY EDUCATION PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC SERVICE SAVINGS SCALE EFFECTS SERVICE DELIVERY TAX TELEPHONES TOTAL COSTS TRANSACTIONS COSTS UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION UPU URBANIZATION Kenny, Charles Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries
relation	Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3627
description	The monopoly-supported universal service obligation (USO) is usually defended on the grounds that the monopoly allows for cross-subsidy in letter services that in turn allows universal access to a service of great importance to all. The author argues that letter delivery (as opposed to other services that may be provided by post offices) is not in universal demand in poor countries, that the size of the market in developing countries is such that USOs could not be met under the monopoly model, and that the monopoly carries heavy costs for sector development and consumer welfare. He proposes in the place of the postal USO a competitive approach involving universal access to a range of services that poor people have a need to access. Regarding reform of the incumbent, the author takes a preliminary first cut at examining the statistical relationship between postal performance (as measured by letters per capita allowing for income per capita), trust in the postal service, and postal efficiency, and finds a significant link between the three. The results suggest that reforms that improve postal efficiency and trust in the postal network will improve the performance of the postal network. The author suggests that there may be better uses of cross-subsidy from within the sector and government subsidy from without than supporting the inefficient delivery of a service rarely used by poor people.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Kenny, Charles
author_facet	Kenny, Charles
author_sort	Kenny, Charles
title	Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries
title_short	Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries
title_full	Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries
title_fullStr	Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries
title_full_unstemmed	Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries
title_sort	reforming the posts : abandoning the monopoly-supported postal universal service obligation in developing countries
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/06/5849238/reforming-posts-abandoning-monopoly-supported-postal-universal-service-obligation-developing-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8225
_version_	1764407361054703616

Reforming the Posts : Abandoning the Monopoly-Supported Postal Universal Service Obligation in Developing Countries

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