Operations of Freight Forwarders Impact Evaluation 2014
Serbia, 2014
Identification
SRB_2014_OFFIE_v01_M
Operations of Freight Forwarders Impact Evaluation 2014
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Serbia | SRB |
Enterprise Survey [en/oth]
Freight forwarders play a key role in moving goods across international borders. They arrange transport, oversee customs clearance on behalf of their clients, and more generally troubleshoot issues that arise while goods are in transit. This study reports the results from a survey of 153 freight forwarding firms in Serbia. Respondents report on firm characteristics, operational choices, and conditions at the border posts and terminals where imported goods are cleared for release. One key purpose of the study is to investigate operational trade-offs between time and cost that arise when import shipments are in transit. In three of four hypotheticals, respondents suggest that money savings dominate time savings. Responses regarding real operational decisions such as route choices reinforce this finding. Respondents also reported penalty rates for late delivery of import shipments as well as the value of a typical import shipment. From these responses, it is estimated that the contracted value of one additional (unexpected) day of delivery time in Serbia appears to be approximately 1 percent of the value of the underlying shipment.
This study provides evidence on operational behavior of freight forwarders and how it is affected by delays in border procedures based on a survey of 153 freight forwarders in Serbia conducted in 2014. This survey was conducted as a complement to a project estimating the value of time and uncertainty in the context of trade facilitation reforms in the Western Balkans in conjunction with the South East Europe Trade Logistics Project. An important purpose of the survey is to understand trade-offs between time and costs in trade. The survey is also used as an opportunity to learn more about logistical challenges in the region by the agents that know them best.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Firm level
Scope
The scope of the study includes: firm characteristics, operational choices, conditions at the border posts and terminals where imported goods are cleared for release.
Coverage
National
Subsample of international freight forwarders in Serbia (firms that provide international freight forward services and assist with customs procedures).
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Alejandra Mendoza | World Bank Group |
| Ana Fernandes | World Bank Group |
| Russell Hillberry | World Bank Group |
| Name |
|---|
| World Bank Group |
Sampling
The analysis in this study is based on survey data for a representative sample of international freight forwarders in Serbia, collected by the market research company Ipsos' Serbia branch between August 2014 and November 2014. One of the challenges faced in this data collection exercise was the identification of the universe of freight forwarding firms in Serbia from which a representative sample of firms could be drawn.
Initially a list of 36 firms that are members of the Serbian Freight Forwarder Association was obtained. Then the firms were identified by logistics experts in the field as relevant in providing freight forwarder services. Given their relevance, all firms in this list were screened and attempted to survey, and in the final survey sample 11% of firms are these 'relevant' freight forwarders. Additionally, National Bank of Serbia provided a list of 1,311 registered firms in transport and trade related activities (i.e., rail and road transport, cargo handling, etc.) with information on size measured by their number of employees. A screening of the firms in both lists was conducted to identify those that qualify as international freight forwarders and found that 31% of the firms complied with the screening criteria. Of those 61% were surveyed.
Based on the recent evidence that international trade is highly concentrated in the hands of a few very large firms, all medium-sized and large freight forwarders (with 50-250 employees and more than 250 employees) were screened and attempted to survey. With a response rate of 77%, these freight forwarders account for 7% of our final sample. A random sample of small freight forwarders was screened and 61% of those identified as international freight forwarders were successfully interviewed.
Serbian Freight Forwarding Association & relevant freight forwarders (small and large firms): 61%
National Bank of Serbia (medium firms with 50-250 employees and large firms with more than 50 employees): 77%
National Bank of Serbia (small firms with less than 50 employees): 61%
Survey instrument
The questionnaire included 54 questions focusing on the handling of import transactions, and the data was collected for 153 freight forwarding firms.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2014-08-01 | 2014-11-30 |
| Name |
|---|
| IPSOS Serbia |
World Bank Group staff accompanied 10% of the interviews for quality control and monitoring and conducted telephone control for 20% of the interviews.
Depositor information
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Alejandra Mendoza | World Bank Group |
Data Access
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Alejandra Mendoza | World Bank Group | amendoza1@worldbank.org |
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download
Mendoza Alcantara, A., Fernandes, A.M. and Hillberry, R.H., 2015. Understanding the operations of freight forwarders: evidence from Serbia. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (7311).
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Ana Fernandes | World Bank Group | afernandes@worldbank.org |
| Alejandra Mendoza | World Bank Group | amendoza1@worldbank.org |
| Russell Hillberry | World Bank Group | rhillberry@worldbank.org |
Metadata production
DDI_SRB_2014_OFFIE_v01_M
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | The World Bank | Documentation of the DDI |
2016-02-01
Metadata version
Version 01 (Febrary 2016)