Abstract:
Distribution services play a vital role in establishing links between manufacturers and consumers. All goods produced domestically or imported have to go through distribution channels before reaching final consumers. This study attempts to identify the factors affecting the efficiency of distribution services in Egypt in order to offer some concrete proposals that could contribute to improving wholesale and retail trade services. It does so by first giving an overview of the development of wholesale and retail trade services in terms of their shares in GDP, employment, investment, exports and imports. It then discusses the challenges facing wholesale and retail trade services, followed by an estimation of the efficiency of wholesale and retail trade services over the past six years using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The paper also explains the main factors affecting efficiency in Egypt. Finally, the study offers some policy recommendations both in light of the analysis and country experiences to help raise the efficiency of these services in Egypt.
