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Monitoring the Performance of Government Trading Enterprises

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  • W.G. Waters II
  • John Street

Abstract

Total factor productivity (TFP) was used for some years as a single indicator for measuring performance of government trading enterprises in Australia. More recently there has been a shift in emphasis towards financial criteria, with little or no mention of TFP. But it is well known that financial measures can be inappropriate for enterprises with market power. We show that it is important to monitor both TFP and financial performance. TFP performance alone can be misleading and be achieved at the expense of financial performance—this is illustrated for Australian National Railways during the 1980s. TFP and financial performance can be directly linked, and this provides a better framework for performance assessment over time. We explore the relationship between productivity, price performance, and various financial measures.

Suggested Citation

  • W.G. Waters II & John Street, 1998. "Monitoring the Performance of Government Trading Enterprises," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 31(4), pages 357-371, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:31:y:1998:i:4:p:357-371
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.00079
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    Cited by:

    1. Productivity Commission, 2002. "International benchmarking of Australian telecommunications services," Microeconomics 0207009, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Joanne Loundes, 2001. "The Financial Performance of Australian Government Trading Enterprises Pre- and Post-Reform," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2001n05, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    3. Shuji Yao & Zhongwei Han & Dan Luo, 2010. "Performance of the Chinese Insurance Industry under Economic Reforms," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12788.
    4. Siew Hoon Lim & C.A. Knox Lovell, 2009. "Profit and productivity of US Class I railroads," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 423-442.
    5. Vergés, Joaquim, 2014. "Evaluación de la eficiencia comparativa de empresas y entidades productivas: Indicadores y técnicas de análisis [Evaluating comparative efficiency of companies and productive entities: Measures and," MPRA Paper 58329, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lovell, Knox, 2001. "Future Research Opportunities in Efficiency and Productivity Analysis," Efficiency Series Papers 2001/01, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).

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