Commercialization of Postal and Delivery Services: National and International Perspectives

Commercialization of Postal and Delivery Services: National and International Perspectives
Author: Michael A. Crew
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461527848

xiii • We have almost the cheapest letter price in the OEeD. • We've quadrupled the retail outlets where you can buy stamps, but closed three quarters of our Post Offices. On time delivery is better than 97%. • The workforce has been reduced by 40%, with a 25% increase in volumes over the period. Real unit costs, measured by total real expenditure divided by total volumes, have been reduced by over 20%. What do these results and achievements mean for policy setters around the world? In particular, do these results for New Zealand Post prove that it is a commercial business, and what are the lessons for other postal businesses? Market Forces New Zealand Post presently has a limited letter monopoly, a 45 cent letter price against an 80 cent competitive floor price. The existence of this level of protection somehow negates the company's commercial achievements. The combination of high efficiency and low prices cannot persuade everyone that the results are not my view, are the only ones that can solely monopoly driven. Market forces, in answer my question: is New Zealand Post a commercial organization? We need the test offree and open competition to see whether we've got the business formula right. Before advancing this argument, which in essence is the case for deregulation, it may be useful to distinguish between market behavior and Post behavior.

Future Directions in Postal Reform

Future Directions in Postal Reform
Author: Michael A. Crew
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461516714

Future Directions in Postal Reform brings together leading practitioners, world-wide postal administrations, and the courier industry, as well as a number of regulators, academic economists, mailers, and lawyers, to examine some of the major policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industry. Issues addressed include international postal policy; the universal service obligation; regulation; competition, entry, and the role of scale and scope economies; the nature and role of cost analysis in postal service; productivity; interaction of law and economics; and future technologies and service standards.

Current Directions in Postal Reform

Current Directions in Postal Reform
Author: Michael A. Crew
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461544815

Current Directions in Postal Reform brings together leading practitioners, worldwide postal administrations, and the courier industry as well as a number of regulators, academic economists, mailers and lawyers, to examine some of the major policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industry. Issues addressed include international postal policy; the universal service obligation; regulation; competition, entry, and the role of scale and scope economies; the nature and role of cost analysis in the postal service; productivity; interaction of law and economics; and service standards.

Development Strategies for the Postal Sector

Development Strategies for the Postal Sector
Author:
Publisher: Universal Postal Union
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN: 9295025504

This book examines the economics of the postal sector through three lenses: snapshot and trends, models, and opportunities. In the years to come, the Universal Postal Union plans to develop its role as a knowledge centre for the postal sector from these perspectives. At this time of radical transformation of the postal sector, it is important to understand how the sector has evolved historically, how it is connected with the economic system, and where it is heading. This book thus first presents a long-run view, focusing on incumbent operators over the last three decades, and then describes their development in the last five to ten years. It also offers a real-time picture based on daily “big postal data”, revealing one of the greatest opportunities for the sector in terms of forecasting and product design.

Reinventing the Postal Sector in an Electronic Age

Reinventing the Postal Sector in an Electronic Age
Author: Michael A. Crew
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1849805962

This compilation of original essays by an international cast of economists, regulators and industry practitioners analyzes some of the major issues now facing postal and delivery services throughout the world as competition from information and communication technologies (ICT) has increased. Competition has become increasingly important in the postal sector for some time in the form of alternative entrants providing mail delivery. However, the competition from ICT in the form of email and instant messaging, the Internet, Facebook and other forms of social networking and portable wireless devices such as the iPad and Kindle may be even more significant. Mail volumes are falling and the economies of scale that have made possible daily deliveries to every address are being eroded. This book assesses volume these declines resulting from this so-called eSubstituion and looks at the ways the postal sector can adapt to the rapid changes resulting from ICT. The impact of electronic invoicing on transactions mail, and the impact on bulk mail of electronic forms of advertising are examined. Strategies, including pricing and access policies, are discussed in the context of the increasing impact of ICT. A rethinking of the role of mail in an electronic age is taking place and this book provides the cutting-edge of this rethinking and the attempts of POs to reinvent themselves while continuing to meet the public s expectation of continuing ubiquitous daily deliveries of traditional mail products. Undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in regulation, competition law, innovation and public sector economics along with institutional libraries and industry professionals will find this volume informative and useful.

Postal and Delivery Services

Postal and Delivery Services
Author: Michael A. Crew
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2013-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461302536

When Postmaster General Creswell penned his concern about the impact 2 of electronic diversion on his postal organization, the year was 1872. General Creswell, it turned out, fretted unnecessarily. Facsimile did not achieve commercial viability until roughly a century after his tenure as Postmaster General and today that technology is fading rapidly from the communication scene. Moreover, it never appears to have significantly affected physical letter volumes. However, if General Creswell were leading a major postal organization today, he likely would feel threatened by the potential of Internet communication to cause electronic diversion of physical mail. Should recent technology developments cause the oft-predicted (but so far incorrect) inflection point that would mark the beginning of declining mail volumes. the implications from a management standpoint will be profound. The relatively fixed nature of postal costs suggest that volume declines must be offset though improved productivity, reduced cost of inputs, revenue from new products that share common costs, or reduced level of universal service.

Deregulatory Takings and the Regulatory Contract

Deregulatory Takings and the Regulatory Contract
Author: J. Gregory Sidak
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 654
Release: 1997-11-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521591591

This 1998 book addresses deregulatory policies termed 'deregulatory takings' that threaten private property in network industries without compensation.

Competitive Transformation of the Postal and Delivery Sector

Competitive Transformation of the Postal and Delivery Sector
Author: Michael A. Crew
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1441989153

Competitive Transformation of the Postal and Delivery Sector is an indispensable source of information and analysis on the current state of the postal and delivery sector. It offers current insights of leading researchers and practitioners into strategy and regulation as well as the economics of this sector. Issues addressed include national and international perspectives, financial viability, the universal service obligation, regulation, competition, entry, the role of scale and scope economies, the nature and role of cost and demand analysis in postal service, productivity, interaction of law and economics, human resources, transition and reform issues. The papers in the book were selected from the papers presented at the 11th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics, Toledo, Spain, June 4-7, 2003.

The Contribution of the Postal and Delivery Sector

The Contribution of the Postal and Delivery Sector
Author: Pier Luigi Parcu
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2018-03-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319706721

This book addresses major issues facing postal and delivery services throughout the world. Worldwide, there is currently a considerable amount of interest in postal and delivery economics. The industry is in a state of near crisis and drastic change is needed. The European Commission and member States are still wrestling with the problem of how to implement entry liberalization into postal markets, how to address digital competition, and how to maintain the universal service obligation (USO). The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 in the U.S. has perhaps created and exacerbated the problems faced by USPS. Post Offices (POs) have been slow to address the threat of electronic competition. On the other hand, e-commerce presents opportunities for POs to expand their presence in parcel delivery and perhaps help finance or redefine the USO. A major aim of this book is to address strategies POs can use to reinvent themselves for the digital age.This book compiles original essays by prominent researchers in the field, which will be selected and edited from papers presented at the 25th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics held in Barcelona, Spain, May 24-27, 2017. That conference, and this volume, commemorates the memory of Michael Crew who organized twenty-four prior conferences and co-edited previous conference volumes. This book is a useful tool not only for graduate students and professors, but also for postal administrations, consulting firms, and Federal Government departments.

The Changing Postal and Delivery Sector

The Changing Postal and Delivery Sector
Author: Michael Crew
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2017-01-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319460463

This book addresses some of the major issues facing postal and delivery services throughout the world. Postal operators worldwide have been slow to address the threats from and opportunities created by electronic competition. The European Commission and member states are wrestling with these issues, while at the same time continuing to deal with the interrelated issues of implementing entry into postal markets and maintaining the universal service obligation. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 in the U.S. exacerbated financial and managerial problems faced by USPS that result in part from electronic substitution for letter delivery. Comprised of original essays by prominent researchers in the field, this book addresses the new reality of the postal industry and proposes ways in which postal operators might reinvent themselves. Issues discussed include cross-border parcel delivery, e-commerce, the transformation of postal networks, and the effects of postal liberalization. This book will be of interest to postal operators, regulatory commissions, consulting firms, competitors and customers, experts in the postal economics, law, and business, and those charged with the responsibility for designing and implementing postal sector policies. Researchers in regulatory economics, transportation technology, and industrial organization will also find useful information in this volume.