Evaluating telecommunications efficiency in China with data envelopment analysis

Abstract

Telephone communications, mobile services, and internet traffic continue to grow in China. As more people in China become telecommunications customers, China must find effective and efficient ways to provide these services in order to compete in the global market. This research examines the efficiency of telecommunications services for 31 Chinese provinces by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. The results show that 81% and 71% of the Chinese provinces were operating efficiently according to the variable and constant returns to scale DEA model respectively. Additionally, super efficiency scores were computed in order to differentiate and rank the efficient Chinese provinces.