Economic growth,telecommunications development and productivity growth of the telecommunications sector: Evidence around the world

This paper studies the relationships between economic growth, telecommunications development and productivity growth of the telecommunications sector in different countries and regions of the world. In particular, this study assesses the impact of mobile telecommunications on economic growth and telecommunications productivity. The results indicate that there is a bidirectional relationship between real gross domestic product (GDP) and telecommunications development (as measured by teledensity) for European and high-income countries. However, when the impact of mobile telecommunications development on economic growth is measured separately, the bi-directional relationship is no longer restricted to European and high-income countries. This study also finds that countries in the upper-middle income group have achieved a higher average total factor productivity (TFP) growth than other countries. Countries with competition and privatization in telecommunications have achieved a higher TFP growth than those without competition and privatization. The diffusion of mobile telecommunications services is found to be a significant factor that has improved the TFP growth of the telecommunications sector in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).     

Total factor productivity growth in Uganda’s telecommunications industry

The telecommunication sector is usually thought to be characterized by high productivity growth rates arising from increasing returns to scale. The actual productivity patterns in the sector, however, need to be empirically determined. A panel data set was assembled and a common set of input and output indicators was constructed to support the estimation of the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity index via input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis. A general specification encompassing all available input and output data was employed to obtain the average total factor productivity changes for the sector. Over the study period, there was total factor productivity growth in Uganda’s telecommunications industry, which was mainly due to technical or technological progress as opposed to technical efficiency. These results indicate the existence of a potential for tariff reduction via the X-factor in the price cap formula.     

Telecommunications reforms in China: towards an analytical framework

This paper reviews and analyzes changing telecommunications policies in China since the inception of the so-called “Open Policy”. It is argued that these changes should be understood as the results of a delicate balance between (1) government considerations (including the state's desire to provide universal coverage, control the telecommunications industry and, more recently, improve the efficiency of state-owned enterprises), (2) the call from foreigners (sometimes made through their governments) to open China's telecommunications industry and to seek profits, and (3) the overwhelming demand of the Chinese population and the business sector (including foreign firms operating in China) to have freer and more rapid movement of information. Over time, the interplay of these forces has led to the liberalization of China's telecommunications industry. These moves towards liberalization took place in four stages. During stages one (Pre-1994) and two (1994–1997), only half-hearted reforms were introduced to separate government administration from business enterprises and to foster very weak domestic competition. During stage three (1998–1999), there were reforms to the regulatory framework and measures towards liberalization. From 2000 onwards, a solid legal foundation was laid after nearly a decade of gradual reform. Moreover, there has been some remarkable organizational restructuring since June 2001.     

Competition and regulation in China's 3G/4G mobile communications industry—Institutions,governance, and telecom SOEs

When it comes to the analysis of the intrinsic mechanism of market behaviors and hence competition development and regulatory imperatives in the Chinese telecommunications industry, currently there is no consistent pattern offered in the literature. In China's emergent 3G/4G era, market behaviors can be affected by various institutional factors, along with various forms of informal forces, which may translate into different implications for competition regulation. Based on extensive archival research and interview, this current study aims to bridge the gap by following an interpretive approach. An input–output model was substantiated for pattern-matching in the Chinese context base on the postulation of a series of propositions and hence Industry-Gray-Box. Accordingly, two categories of market behaviors, that is, market-driven vs. institutions-driven, were arguably delineated as being underpinning the competition development. Policy implications and future reform imperatives were discussed. This study may advance knowledge in terms of: (1) the establishment of a relatively consistent pattern for mapping the landscape of China's communications industry; (2) the substantiation of the inner working mechanism of China's SOE system in the telecommunications sector; and (3) original first attempt in identifying different roles of telecom SOEs and the governing forces that affect them. The paper also offers extensive and cohesive insights on China's formal and informal institutional environment in general and for telecommunications in particular. Measurements developed in this study may serve as basis for future study.     

Are China’s regional agricultural productivities converging: How and why?

This article tests the hypotheses of convergence to a single level of total factor productivity (TFP), and a steady state of TFP growth rate in China’s agricultural sector. Based on multilateral TFP estimates we found that China’s agricultural sector has rebounded in recent years from a slower TFP growth in the 2005–2007 period. While convergence test results confirm a “catch-up” effect that provinces with lower TFP levels tend to grow faster than others, estimated rates of β convergence are conditional on how we capture the heterogeneity effect across regions. The rates of β convergence range from 0.016 to 0.039 under different model specifications. Estimates show that higher growth rates of educational attainment, R&D, and intermediate goods density (per unit of labor) can enhance TFP growth. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of an overall σ convergence, indicating that TFP levels are not converging except in the South region. It implies that to catch up with leading provinces, it would require extra efforts for those lagging behind by increasing their region-specific research investment, promoting rural educational attainment, and enhancing embodied technical change.     

China's information superhighway: What is it and who controls it?

This paper focuses on China's telecommunications sector from a national perspective, and summarizes the structure of the country's information superhighway. It then analyzes the changing regulatory and policy framework, and the competition among current and potential players in the market. This leads to a final discussion on the implications and likely outcome - who will control the superhighway in China.     

Assessing the WTO agreements on China's telecommunications regulatory reform and industrial liberalization

By drawing on new institutional economics, this paper contends that the “rules-of-law” specified by the World Trade Organization (WTO), as an exogenous institution for the member states, will theoretically influence its members’ domestic telecommunications regulatory institutions, but that the actual effects will be different and will depend on the institutional endowments of host countries and their institutional stances. Empirically, this paper examines the impact of China's prospective membership status in the WTO on its telecommunications regulatory reform and industrial liberalization and explores the institutional barriers preventing China from fully implementing the WTO Agreements in this sector.     

Efficiency and Productivity of China's Thermal Power Generation

In China, the State Power Corporation (SPC) dominated theelectric power sector. Our results from the data envelopmentanalysis (DEA) approach show that the total factor productivity(TFP) growth between 1995 and 2000 is 2.1 percent per yearon average. Technological change accounts for almost all theTFP growth. Municipalities and coastal provinces have achievedhigher technical efficiency and TFP growth during the periodunder study. Fuel efficiency and capacity utilization rate aresignificant factors affecting technical efficiency of powergeneration. Provinces and autonomous regions not dominated bySPC have achieved higher levels of technical efficiency.     

Human Resource Management’s Effects on Firm‐Level Relative Efficiency

Using stochastic frontier production functions methodology with data from 1579 private‐sector establishments, we demonstrate that HR practices are significantly associated with differences in relative firm‐level efficiency. Supplemental analysis implies that this efficiency analysis is substantively different than the common approach to evaluating HRM’s relationships with firm‐level labor productivity. The results suggest that HR practices’ contributions to relative firm‐level efficiency are an important but heretofore overlooked factor in the relationship between HRM and firm performance.     

Is telecommunications regulation efficient? An international perspective

This article addresses the efficiency of regulation policy in the telecommunications sector. First, the concepts of static and dynamic efficiency are reviewed, with the main policies used into achieve these goals identified, while distinguishing effective competition from industrial policy. Indicators are proposed that enable assessment of components of sector efficiency. These indicators are used to empirically investigate the link between regulation policy and economic performance for OECD Member Countries. The investigation is based on national differences in regulation policy and efficiency indicators. The results support the notion that asymmetrical ex ante regulation alone is not necessarily efficient, and that an ex ante policy, integrating an industrial policy, could favor dynamic efficiency.     

Statistical precision of productivity change: A bootstrap application to Taiwan’s telecommunications industry

This study investigates the impacts of telecommunications policy on productivity change of the Chunghwa Telecom Company (CHT) from pre- to post-privatization. A three-stage method is employed to measure the productivity scores of CHT during the period 1966–2008. The Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is used in the first stage to assess the productivity of CHT. In the second stage, the statistical confidence intervals of productivity scores of CHT were obtained using the bootstrapping algorithm. Finally, the Chow test and multiple regression models were also utilized to investigate the impact of telecommunications policy on productivity change of CHT. Results of empirical examination indicate that on average TFP scores obtained by the bootstrapping technique are smaller than those obtained by the MPI technique. In addition, there is no difference in productivity change of CHT between pre- and post-privatization according to the MPI and bootstrapping MPI. The results show that the effect of privatization on productivity change is insignificant. Instead, the operational efficiency of CHT is affected by the government involvement in decision-making under its private/public joint ownership, which causes CHT to be a firm with little managerial profit orientation.     

产权结构、技术差距与R＆D收益率

对2000～2003年中国各地区大中型企业的考察发现R＆D与生产率的相关性很弱,技术落后地区企业与技术先进地区企业的R＆D收益率没有显著差异。进一步回归分析表明,产权结构是影响R＆D收益率的一个重要因素：当控制了产权结构这个因素后,R＆D与生产率的关系变得显著,而且技术落后地区企业的R＆D收益率明显大于技术先进地区的企业。造成技术落后地区企业和技术先进地区企业的R＆D收益率无差异的原因在于技术落后地区企业的国有资本比重较高,R＆D使用效率比较低。因此形成合理的产权结构,提高R＆D的技术吸收能力对技术落后地区企业的生产率增长有重要的意义     

中国区域碳生产率与能源消耗、经济增长关系比较研究

本文对1995～2013年中国30个省市、自治区的碳生产率、人均能源消费与人均GDP进行单位根检验,并对30个省市、自治区的平稳面板数据进行Grange因果关系检验,研究结果表明：碳生产率与能源消费之间为双向Granger因果关系,能源消费与经济增长为双向Granger因果关系,经济增长是碳生产率的单向Granger原因。当每多消费一单位的能源,对非资源型省份 碳生产率的负向影响将比资源型省份大,即非资源型省份碳生产率下降的水平比资源型省份下降的要多,同时非资源型省份经济增长带来的碳生产率水平上升幅度要大于资源型省份。     

Decomposition analysis of the telecommunications sector in Indonesia: What does the cellular era shed light on?

Indonesia is currently enjoying rapid development in the telecommunications sector despite the economy having been heavily dependent for almost four decades on the two largest sectors: the manufacturing industry and trade. The telecommunications sector has played an important role in stimulating economic growth in the country during the last few years, with an annual growth rate higher than that of other sectors. This contribution is supported to a great extent by the rapid diffusion of telephony, in particular cellular telephony, as the number of subscribers increased from just 2.1 million in 1999 to 170 million in 2011. Previous studies investigating the impact of the telecommunications sector on the economy aggregate the impact of the sectors on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) without further scrutiny of what sources of growth telecommunications has contributed. Hence, an interesting question arises as to whether the achievement of cellular diffusion is also followed by structural change in the telecommunications sector. That said, this study aims to decompose the output of telecommunications into several sources of growth: domestic final demand, export effect, import substitution effect and technological coefficient effect. A particular interest in this study is to compare the source of growth concerning domestic final demand and the technological coefficient effect. The main tool for analysis in this study is the Input–Output (IO) method, while the time series of the investigation covers the period 1975–2008, allowing comparison of structural changes in the telecommunications sector between the pre- and post-cellular eras. The study found that the coefficient multiplier of the telecommunications sector, which was approximately 1.8 during the 1980s, had decreased to only 1.3 by the end of 2008. Consequently, the final demand from the telecommunications sector contributed less to economic output in the late 2000s compared to the impact in the 1980. Moreover, the cellular era that started in the early 2000s also brought about a trend of changes in telecommunications output. While final demand remains very dominant, the technological coefficient effect has diminished as the source of telecommunications output. This finding indicates a lower ability of the telecommunications sector to build an inter-industry relationship with other sectors. A possible explanation for this result is the cellular uses which are much less related to business activities than that of fixed telephony dating back to the 1970s in Indonesia.     

Dynamic performance analysis of U.S. wireline telecommunication companies

Assessing the changes over time in the efficiency of firms participating in competitive markets has always been a major concern to researchers and experts alike. With respect to the US wireline telecommunications sector, recent changes in unbundling regulations, as well as intermodal competition and mergers, have just increased uncertainty in a sector still marked by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Although Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has become a methodology commonly used in many efficiency assessment applications, in the telecommunications context there is a need to implement an approach that takes into account carry-over activities between consecutive years; because of a wide customer base, financial long-term planning and investments in network elements and facilities are crucial for Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) to succeed. To that end, a Dynamic DEA application is formulated in this paper to evaluate the Incumbent LECs' (ILECs) performance from 1997 to 2007. Finally, a regression analysis has been carried out to establish the impact of competition and regulatory schemes upon carriers' efficiency. The results show that local competition has worsened efficiency, whereas neither intermodal competition nor incentive regulation has such a clear influence.     

Profitability, productivity and price recovery patterns in the U.S. telecommunications industry

We undertake a study where we examine changes in the profitability, productivity and price recovery of firms in the U.S. telecommunications industry over a sixteen-year period. We assess the performance of thirty-three major companies in the local-exchange sector over six time periods 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1990, using a performance analysis model which disaggregates the profitability measure into two components: productivity and price recovery. We demonstrate the computation of performance using this technique. Our study indicates that the opening up of markets has had a significant impact on different dimensions of performance in the telecommunications industry, also validating a number of theoretical assumptions about the impact that industry changes are expected to have on firms.     

China's emerging role in the global semiconductor value chain

The global model of semiconductor development has resulted in an asymmetric and interdependent relationship between China's critical role in semiconductor production and those regions such as the US which control the key inputs into the value chain. While this unbalanced relationship has facilitated many of the companies involved in the value chain in exploiting the comparative advantage of different locations for different functions and has allowed a complex ecosystem of supplier networks to emerge over time, the increasing influence of geopolitical considerations associated with the growing tensions between the US and China has created considerable uncertainty about the future evolution of this value chain. It is within this uncertain context that China's efforts to achieve greater autonomy in the development of its own semiconductor sector will be examined in this paper.     

我国工业污染治理动态效率研究

全要素生产率是动态效率的一种度量。以我国30个省市的工业污染治理投入产出的统计数据为实例,运用基于DEA模型的Malmquist指数方法,测算了2000～2009年中国省际的工业污染治理全要素生产率的变化。结果显示:2000～2009年期间我国工业污染治理全要素生产率增加7.1%,主要来源于技术进步的贡献;省际间的全要素生产率的变动存在较大区域差异,河北省工业污染治理全要素生产率改善最多,而青海省下降最多;工业污染治理全要素生产率的变化和技术变化随时间都呈现U型曲线规律。最后基于实证分析的结果,给出了提升我国工业污染治理效率的政策建议。     

A DEA Approach to Understanding the Productivity Growth of Malaysia's Manufacturing Industries

This paper seeks to explain the productivity growth performance of Malaysia's manufacturing sector using a panel data of 28 industries from 1981–1996. Here, the data envelopment analysis technique is used to calculate and decompose the Malmquist index of total factor productivity (TFP) growth into technical change, change in technical efficiency and change in scale efficiency. This allows the identification of the sources of productivity growth which is crucial for policy formulation. It was found that the annual TFP growth of the Malaysian manufacturing sector was low at 0.8% and this was driven by small gains in both technical change and technical efficiency, with industries operating close to optimum scale.     

Competition and performance in the UK telecommunications industry

Judging by historical and crossnational experience, privatization of British Telecom promises to increase the rate of expansion of telecommunications usage, but also to redistribute services and charges. Public dissatisfaction with these reallocations could recreate the political discord that stunted the early growth of the British telecommunications manufacturing sector, unless the new technology and regulatory institutions substantially alter the economic environment. More intense competition. rather than prospective changes of network ownership, seem to have improved the seem to have improved the manufacturing industry's performance in recent years.