The accessibility of the postal retail network and the objectives of social cohesion and economic development

The goal of the presentation is to set the basis for the analysis of the impact of public services on commercial behaviors and economic activity in order to improve the efficiency of regional and national planning policies.

Some conclusions are:

– In French rural areas, postal services are more accessible than any other services (except Primary education).
– By coordinating public services, public authorities not only act more efficiently on economic development, but they also reduce the net cost of postal presence.
– Indeed, in return, the presence of commercial services combined with public services creates demand for postal services, and increases the takings for retail outlets… and therefore reduces the net cost of the constraint.
– This is a special characteristic of postal outlets, they could be considered as a public and a commercial service.
– The understanding of demand created by proximity and co-location is then undoubtedly an efficient way to reduce the net cost of the postal accessibility.
– This need of coordination pleads in favour of a ‘location choice’ policy for public services.

Presented in the 15th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics, 31 May-2 June 2007, Semmering, Austria.