Relationship between Logistics Firm Size and Business Diversification: An Empirical Study of Chongqing, Area in China

This paper aims to explore the relationship between logistics firm size and business diversification, especially in micro- and small-sized enterprises, and assess the diversification process of Chongqing logistics enterprises using new data source. It is intended to contribute to theoretical research on diversification in the emerging logistics industry based on resource-based view (RBV) and factor production theory. We innovatively establish the logistics business classification system, then measure the degree and direction of diversification of logistics enterprises based on mean narrow-spectrum diversification-based product count methods. The empirically shows that there are a growing number of highly-diversified logistics enterprises in general, with an average annual increase of 14.23%. Especially after 2008, small and medium-sized enterprises developed towards related diversification while micro-sized enterprises came to the opposite conclusion. For them, creating unrelated diversified business is a crucial way to generate a competitive advantage. Unlike the conclusions derived from other industries, small-sized logistics enterprises are prone to try a new business, both related and unrelated, for better survival and performance. And changes in the firm size of medium and large-sized enterprises have little impact on the development of the business diversification.

Survival Analysis of Logistics Service Providers: An Empirical Study of Chengdu, Area in China

This paper worked on a sample of 6791 logistics establishments registered in Chengdu, China over the period 1984-2016 to understand the survival status of logistics service providers (LSPs) by non-parametric Kaplan-Meier estimation, together with Cox proportional hazard regression model, to identify factors affecting the failure of LSPs. In particular, it studies the interaction effect between LSPs’ size and entry timing and location. The empirical results show that: 1) Regarding the survival time, 1365 of the 6791 sample LSPs exited from the market by 2017. The exit rate is 20.1%, and the average life of the 6791 LSPs is about 6 years. 2) The survival of LSPs depends on their typology, ownership structure. And there is no significant difference in the probability of survival for both independent LSPs and logistics branches after controlling the effects of other variables. 3) Location and entry timing also play an important role in the survival of small-scale LSPs, but these factors cannot explain large-scale LSPs’ failure.