IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/wtowps/ersd200610.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Telecommunications services in Africa: The impact of multilateral commitments and unilateral reform on sector performance and economic growth

Author

Listed:
  • Keck, Alexander
  • Djiofack-Zebaze, Calvin

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of telecommunications liberalization in Africa on both sectoral performance and economic growth. Besides unilateral measures, we account for WTO commitments fostering the credibility of reforms. Actual regulatory quality plays a major role in bringing down prices and in improving access to telecommunication services in Africa. Competition, notably in the mobile telephony segment, also improves sector performance. Increasing access to mobile networks by 1 per cent translates into a 0.5 per cent increase in real GDP per capita. In Africa, multilateral commitments do not reflect recent reforms. However, at the global level, adherence to the WTO Reference Paper entails lower prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Keck, Alexander & Djiofack-Zebaze, Calvin, 2006. "Telecommunications services in Africa: The impact of multilateral commitments and unilateral reform on sector performance and economic growth," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2006-10, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd200610
    DOI: 10.30875/61840682-en
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/72054/1/521039665.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.30875/61840682-en?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrei Shleifer, 1998. "State versus Private Ownership," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 133-150, Fall.
    2. Hausman, Jerry A & Taylor, William E, 1981. "Panel Data and Unobservable Individual Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1377-1398, November.
    3. Fink, Carsten & Mattoo, Aaditya & Rathindran, Randeep, 2001. "Liberalizing basic telecommunications : the Asian experience," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2718, The World Bank.
    4. William Easterly & Ross Levine, 1997. "Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1203-1250.
    5. Olivier Boylaud & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2003. "Regulation, market structure and performance in telecommunications," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2001(1), pages 99-142.
    6. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    7. Baltagi, Badi H. & Bresson, Georges & Pirotte, Alain, 2003. "Fixed effects, random effects or Hausman-Taylor?: A pretest estimator," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 361-369, June.
    8. World Bank, 2006. "World Development Indicators 2006," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 8151.
    9. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    10. Robert J. Barro, 1999. "Determinants of Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages 158-183, December.
    11. Rauf Gönenç & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2003. "Regulation, market structure and performance in air passenger transportation," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2001(1), pages 183-227.
    12. Norton, Seth W, 1992. "Transaction Costs, Telecommunications, and the Microeconomics of Macroeconomic Growth," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 175-196, October.
    13. Francisco Rodríguez & Dani Rodrik, 2001. "Trade Policy and Economic Growth: A Skeptic's Guide to the Cross-National Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000, Volume 15, pages 261-338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Marchetti, Juan A., 2004. "Developing countries in the WTO services negotiations," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2004-06, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    15. Mattoo, Aaditya & Rathindran, Randeep, 2006. "Measuring Services Trade Liberalization and Its Impact on Economic Growth: An Illustration," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 21, pages 64-98.
    16. Robert J. Barro, 1998. "Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262522543, April.
    17. repec:wbk:wbpubs:12425 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Fink, Carsten & Mattoo, Aaditya & Rathindran, Randeep, 2003. "An assessment of telecommunications reform in developing countries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 443-466, December.
    19. David Dollar & Aart Kraay, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and Poverty," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages 22-49, February.
    20. Sachs, Jeffrey D & Warner, Andrew M, 1997. "Sources of Slow Growth in African Economies," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 6(3), pages 335-376, October.
    21. Lars-Hendrik Roller & Leonard Waverman, 2001. "Telecommunications Infrastructure and Economic Development: A Simultaneous Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 909-923, September.
    22. World Bank, 2006. "2006 Information and Communications for Development : Global Trends and Policies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6967.
    23. Julia Nielson & Daria Taglioni, 2004. "Services Trade Liberalisation: Identifying Opportunities and Gains," OECD Trade Policy Papers 1, OECD Publishing.
    24. Carsten Fink & Aaditya Mattoo & Ileana Cristina Neagu, 2002. "Trade in International Maritime Services: How Much Does Policy Matter?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 16(1), pages 81-108, June.
    25. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    26. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2005. "Governance matters IV : governance indicators for 1996-2004," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3630, The World Bank.
    27. Low, Patrick & Mattoo, Aaditya, 1998. "Reform in basic telecommunications and the WTO negotiations: The Asian experience," WTO Staff Working Papers ERAD-98-01, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    28. World Bank, 2005. "World Development Indicators 2005," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 12426.
    29. Xavier Sala-I-Martin & Gernot Doppelhofer & Ronald I. Miller, 2004. "Determinants of Long-Term Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 813-835, September.
    30. Li, Wei & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2002. "The Political Economy of Privatization and Competition: Cross-Country Evidence from the Telecommunications Sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 439-462, September.
    31. Scott J. Wallsten, 2001. "An Econometric Analysis of Telecom Competition, Privatization, and Regulation in Africa and Latin America," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 1-19, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. World Bank, 2008. "Tunisia's Global Integration : Second Generation of Reforms to Boost Growth and Employment," World Bank Publications - Reports 7893, The World Bank Group.
    2. Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos & Araar, Abdelkrim & Malásquez, Eduardo A. & Granguillhome Ochoa, Rogelio, 2022. "Competition reform and household welfare: A microsimulation analysis of the telecommunication sector in Ethiopia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Djiofack-Zebaze, Calvin & Keck, Alexander, 2009. "Telecommunications Services in Africa: The Impact of WTO Commitments and Unilateral Reform on Sector Performance and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 919-940, May.
    2. Fink, Carsten & Mattoo, Aaditya & Rathindran, Randeep, 2003. "An assessment of telecommunications reform in developing countries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 443-466, December.
    3. Yan Li & Bruce Lyons, 2011. "Three Private Firms and an Independent Regulator are Sufficient for Rapid Mobile Network Penetration," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2011-01, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    4. repec:idb:brikps:358 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    6. Castelnovo, Paolo & Del Bo, Chiara F. & Florio, Massimo, 2019. "Quality of institutions and productivity of State-Invested Enterprises: International evidence from major telecom companies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 102-117.
    7. EZZAT Riham Ahmed, 2015. "Paving the Way for Better Telecom Performance: Evidence from the Telecommunication Sector in MENA Countries," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 157-199, September.
    8. Mohamad, Noorihsan, 2014. "Telecommunications reform and efficiency performance: Do good institutions matter?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 49-65.
    9. Calzada, Joan & Diaz-Serrano, Luis, 2023. "Conflicting national policies: The creation of the euro and the rebalancing of telecommunications prices," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).
    10. Johannes W. Fedderke, 2005. "Technology, Human Capital and Growth," Working Papers 027, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    11. Yan Li, 2008. "Econometric Evidence on the Impacts of Privatization, New Entry, and Independent Industry Regulator on Mobile Network Penetration and Expansion," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2008-35, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    12. Gutierrez, Luis H., 2003. "Regulatory governance in the Latin American telecommunications sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 225-240, December.
    13. Yan Li & Bruce Lyons, 2012. "Market Structure, Regulation and the Speed of Mobile Network Penetration," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2012-03, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    14. Li, Yan & Lyons, Bruce, 2012. "Market structure, regulation and the speed of mobile network penetration," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 697-707.
    15. Iimi, Atsushi, 2007. "Price structure and network externalities in the telecommunications industry : evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4200, The World Bank.
    16. Francisco Rodríguez, 2006. "Openness and Growth: What Have We Learned?," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2006-011, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    17. Riham Ahmed Ezzat, 2015. "Paving the way for better telecom performance: Evidence from the telecommunication sector in MENA countries," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01164199, HAL.
    18. Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Kotschy, Rainer & Prettner, Klaus & Schünemann, Johannes, 2024. "Health and economic growth: Reconciling the micro and macro evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    19. Aiyar, Shekhar & Duval, Romain & Puy, Damien & Wu, Yiqun & Zhang, Longmei, 2018. "Growth slowdowns and the middle-income trap," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 22-37.
    20. Olivier Parent & Abdallah Zouache, 2009. "Geographical Features vs. Institutional Factors: New Perspectives on The Growth of Africa and Middle-East," Working Papers 490, Economic Research Forum, revised Jun 2009.
    21. Paleologos, John M. & Polemis, Michael L., 2013. "What drives investment in the telecommunications sector? Some lessons from the OECD countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 49-57.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Telecommunications services; liberalization; Africa; WTO; GATS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd200610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wtoerch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.