New book on postal economics
Will postal services be the infrastructure of the 21st century? This is the question asked in a new book published by the UPU, and presented to delegates at the 24th Universal Postal Congress.
This book, which is the work of economists Joëlle Toledano, Chair of the UPU’s Postal Economics Group, and a member of the French Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation Authority, and Jose Anson of the International Bureau, broadens the terms of an economic debate which has hitherto focused overwhelmingly on the Posts of industrialized countries. The five chapters of the book provide a global overview of the factors driving the growth of postal markets, and some possible positive developments in the future.
At a press conference held last week to review the state of the worldwide postal sector, Jose Anson identified four challenges facing the postal sector in developing countries:
First, the switch from fee-paying delivery to delivery entirely at the sender’s expense: in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, addressees’ mail is delivered not to their door, but to a rented post office box. Besides the fact that addressees should not have to pay to receive their post, this system tends to be detrimental to services like the water and electricity companies, as their bills cannot be delivered to all their customers by post. What is more, this system holds back the development of addressing systems which benefit not only Posts, but also other essential bodies, such as the emergency services.
Second, the move from an administrative to a commercial approach: postal operators should abandon the administrative principle in favour of a customer-focused approach.
Third, the physical infrastructure remains essential in the 21st century: as electronic services grow more and more important, one might think that postal services had become obsolete. However, it should not be forgotten that it is not physically possible to send parcels and money via the Internet. The postal infrastructure, with its 660,000 post offices, has a significant advantage in being able to use its network to implement a whole series of development policies, from offering financial services to people without access to banking services, to facilitating trade for micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
Finally, the importance of a regulatory framework: the presence of a very large number of players sharing in a market without clear regulation can be a significant brake on market development in a country, hence the importance of a regulatory framework that is sufficiently clear to make delivery economically viable.
The book is on sale from the International Bureau, priced at 50 CHF (35 CHF for postal administrations).
