Organizational Dynamics of the U.S. Logistics Industry: The Impacts of Inter-Firm Networks, Technologies, and Globalization

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Although the logistics industry provides critical services to all sectors of the economy, few studies exist in Economic Geography that attempt to understand the organizational dynamics of this industry. The aim of this research is to understand the organizational dynamics of the logistics industry. We will focus on the following dimensions that are identified as particularly important: use of information technologies, intensifying global trade, and changing geographic requirements. We combine an in-depth empirical survey, comprised of a nationwide mail-in survey and semi-structured interviews of logistics users and providers in the Boston-Washington corridor, with an exploratory use of agent-based modeling. The model is designed to push the research beyond collection of anecdotal evidence and offer a structured and systematic understanding of organizational dynamics of the logistics industry. The study will enrich understanding of the interaction between technology and space through examining the evolution of an industry that plays a central role in the contemporary economy. Research results will provide little known aspects of the logistics industry's emerging organizational dynamics and inform academics and policy makers on the theoretical and practical understandings of the long-distance coordination of production.