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.
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