South East Europe Trade Logistics Impact Evaluation 2014
Serbia, 2014
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SRB_2014_TLIE-SFF_v01_M
South East Europe Trade Logistics Impact Evaluation 2014
Survey of Serbian Freight Forwarders
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Serbia | SRB |
Enterprise Survey [en/oth]
The objective of World Bank's South East Europe Trade Logistics Impact Evaluation is to assess the effect of risk based inspections implemented by customs and non-customs agencies on trade activities in Albania, Serbia, and Macedonia.
The research focuses on studying the impact of risk based inspections on time to trade, effectiveness to detect non-compliance, changes on firm's behavior related to compliance, trade flows, and changes in the distribution of trade across firms. Risk based inspections are a key component of trade facilitation reforms aimed to reduce costs and time to trade; and yet only few studies have explored the relevance of time on trade flows and firm's behavior.
The impact evaluation consists of three modules:
-
Module 1, conducted in Macedonia estimates the impact of improvements of risk management procedures in technical-control agencies on the compliance of imports to regulatory standards and on trade patterns in Macedonia. Impacts will be assessed using techniques such as difference in differences and propensity score matching models.
-
Module 2, conducted in Albania studies the impact of delays in customs on trade patterns using detailed transaction level data from Albanian customs and examining a substantial reform in customs experienced in the 2000s. This module will take advantage of risk management reforms that occurred in the past to study elements of the causal chain that are likely to develop only long after the reform takes place.
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Module 3, conducted in Serbia assesses the costs of delays in customs for the private sector in this country. This module has two components: an econometric study that relies on detailed transaction level data from Serbian Customs Administration, and a survey of freight forwarders, the firms that manage the logistics of cross-border trade. The data from the Survey of Serbian Freight Forwarders is documented here.
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.
The Survey of Serbian Freight Forwarders was conducted from August to November 2014 by a research team from the World Bank as part of South East Europe Trade Logistics Impact Evaluation. One hundred fifty three freight forwarding firms in Serbia were interviewed about firm characteristics, operational choices, and conditions at the border posts and terminals where imported goods are cleared for release. The main purpose of the study was to investigate operational trade-offs between time and cost that arise when import shipments are in transit.
Sample survey data [ssd]
- freight forwarder
Version
v01, edited anonymous dataset for public distribution
Scope
The scope of the study includes:
- freight forwarder characteristics
- operational practices with custom and non-customs agencies
Coverage
National
International freight forwarders in Serbia (firms that provide international freight forward services and assist with customs procedures)
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Alejandra Mendoza Alcantara | World Bank Group |
| Ana Margarida Fernandes | World Bank Group |
| Russell Hillberry | World Bank Group |
| Name |
|---|
| T&C Impact Program - World Bank |
| i2i Fund - World Bank |
Sampling
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.
The research team initially obtained a list of 36 firms that are members of the Serbian Freight Forwarder Association, and firms identified by logistics experts in the field as relevant in providing freight forwarder services. Additionally, 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 was received from the National Bank of Serbia. The team conducted a screening of the firms in both lists 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.
The final survey sample consisted of 92% small firms (with less than 50 employees) and 8% medium/large firms (with 50 or more employees). Based on the employment data from the Bank of Serbia, the typical (median) small freight forwarder in the final sample had five employees, while the typical (median) medium/large freight forwarder had 66 employees.
61% of firms that complied with the screening criteria
Survey instrument
The questionnaire included 54 questions focusing on the handling of import transactions.
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 Alcantara | World Bank Group |
Data Access
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
Example,
Alejandra Mendoza Alcantara, Ana Margarida Fernandes and Russell Hillberry, World Bank Group. South East Europe Trade Logistics Impact Evaluation 2014, Survey of Serbian Freight Forwarders (TLIE-SFF). Ref. SRB_2014_TLIE-SFF_v01_M. Dataset downloaded from [URL] on [date].
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Alejandra Mendoza Alcantara | World Bank Group | amendoza1@worldbank.org |
Metadata production
DDI_SRB_2014_TLIE-SFF_v01_M_WB
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | The World Bank | Documentation of the study |
2016-05-19
Metadata version
v01 (May 2016)