Logistics Services and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

This paper examines whether logistics upgrading activities undertaken by firms can compensate for the poor quality of logistics infrastructure at the national level. To do so, the study makes use of the World Bank's Enterprises Surveys (ESs) of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand for the 2015-16 period. This is the first study to analyse the logistics upgrading efforts of firms across multiple Southeast Asian countries. The key finding is that, while Indonesia lags behind the other two ASEAN members in terms of physical infrastructure investment, cumbersome regulatory procedures are the common challenge in all three countries. The inter-country, firm-level cross-sectional econometric analysis suggests that there is ample room for firms to improve their logistics capabilities to mitigate related bottlenecks at the national level. Moreover, certain forms of subsidies or tax incentives might be needed to offset the additional costs incurred by the firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]