Competition and production efficiency - Telecommunications in OECD countries

This paper applies nonparametric methods to examine the production efficien cy of telecommunications in 24 OECD countries. Three alternative DEA (data Envelopment Analysis) measures are adopted. Using the country data from 198 0 to 1995, we found that, although the list of countries allowing for telec ommunications competition varies over time, on average these countries are always more efficient by any of the three measures. Similar conclusions wer e derived from the company data during the 1992-1995 period. We concluded t hat competition in telecommunications tends to be associated with enhanced production efficiency. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.