Achieving resource efficiency by customs administrations in a constrained economic climate: A critical examination

Abstract

Handling Customs' ever-expanding portfolio of goals requires significant expenditure, for example, for trade security programs such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). Simultaneously, economic depression jeopardises resource allocation to Customs. Thus, a crucial question is 'How can Customs utilise its limited resources most efficiently to achieve its mandated goals?' This paper addresses this question by examining initiatives requiring Customs to collaborate with external organisations in order to reap resource efficiencies. Among the paper's central contributions are guidelines to maximise and assess the resource efficiency value of these collaborations. The paper draws on theories such as inter-organisational citizenship theory and research methods such as computer simulation.