Market concentration in the air freight forwarding industry

A rapid increase in the level of market concentration in the supply chain management industries has created firms that enjoy the economies of scale and scope necessary to offer multinational clients integrated services on a worldwide basis. This paper examines how changes in the structure of the freight forwarding industry have affected the nature of the services the industry offers across several Southeast Asian economies. The paper focuses on the role that large global forwarders have played in bringing advanced logistics services, especially those linked to the air freight industry, to this industrialising region. Data is used from interviews with over 100 freight forwarders in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines to examine both the geographic variation in the provision of air cargo services and the manner in which the types of services a forwarder offers vary with firm size.