Domestic and foreign logistics firms. How heterogeneity affects firm performance

Foreign multinational enterprises (FMNEs) perform better than domestic uni-national (DOM) firms for a number of performance indicators and international firms tend to be larger, more likely to adopt new technologies, achieve higher productivity, and pay higher wages than domestic firms. Studies on firm heterogeneity by ownership mainly refer to the manufacturing sector, while little evidence is provided for other sectors, and specifically transport and logistics. After a literature review on the studies on manufacturing, the present chapter focuses on the transport and logistics industry, investigating whether and to what extent firm heterogeneity by ownership affects firm performance in Italy in 2002-2005. The results show that FMNEs are larger-sized, show a higher returns on capital, are more efficient, and, therefore, are more profitable than their domestic (DOM) counterparts. Besides, they are less willing to invest in premises than DOM firms because they may be ‘footloose’, thus investing in the short run. © The Author(s) 2015.