رشد بهره وری کل عوامل در صنعت ارتباطات از راه دور اوگاندا

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.

The pattern of total factor productivity in the telecommunications industry has attracted considerable attention in the literature following the practice of liberalisation and privatisation in many parts of the world. Productivity patterns provide a critical input in computation of the X-factor, which can be used to correct market failures in the industry. Market failures in the telecommunications sector largely arise from increasing returns. The ensuing productivity increases should ideally, at least in part, be passed on to the consumers. However, due to imperfections in the market, firms will not have sufficient incentives on their own to pass on the gains in productivity to final consumers. It is the need to curb these incentives that brings telecommunication regulation into the picture.

This study employed input and output data to empirically measure total factor productivity (TFP) of the telecommunications industry in Uganda. An input oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) estimation technique was employed to measure the Malmquist total factor productivity indices for the telecommunication industry. 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 2001–2006 period. The results show that the telecommunications sector posted impressive total factor productivity growth rates over the study sample. The average total factor productivity growth in the general model specification is 4.6%. These patterns are largely on the account of technological change as opposed to technical efficiency. The results indicate the existence of potential for tariff reduction via the X-factor in the price cap formula. This will ensure that consumers share in the productivity gains in the sector. However, this figure needs to be constantly monitored during the life span of the price cap.