Determinants of scale efficiency in the Brazilian third-party logistics industry from 2001 to 2009

Abstract

This article investigates the Brazilian third-party logistics (3PL) sector which, increasingly competitive, offers clients a wide variety of services/information technologies in the quest to bolster efficiency. The main research objective is to determine which variables significantly impact 3PLs scale efficiency by applying two-stage DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis). Based on an unbalanced panel model, data from the annual study published by Revista Tecnologística (years 2001–2009) were analyzed. Results corroborate evidence in the literature that coordination mechanisms in the supply chain, supported by the availability of real time information and inventory synchronization, favor a more rational allocation of resources (inputs) to client demands (outputs).