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integrated. Several examples of firms that have adopted this particular model of organizations
(DPWN, SNCF, DB) are presented. Finally I discuss if this model of organization is
sustainable. On one hand, the European firms of transport and logistics that have adopted this
model are comforted in their choice by the policy engaged by the European Union (notably by
advantaging multimodal transports). On the other hand, this form of organization seems to
have already reached its limits in the USA where companies as CSX or FedEx have
abandoned it.
The aim of the third chapter is to verify, econometrically, if the activity of firms belonging to
a logistic and transport group is in line with the activities of their groups. The precedent
chapter has stated that the business of the logistic and transport groups is significantly
oriented toward the international market and uses, intensively, internet and communication
technologies and multimodal equipment. In order to verify if affiliated firms share the same
characteristics of their parent groups, I have used two French firm level datasets; the “EAE”
transport survey which gathers information on the French transport firms, and the “LIFI”
survey which gathers information on the financial linkages between firms. I have selected
eight characteristics of the firms: amount of exports, expense in software, expense in
hardware, number of containers, number of trailers adapted to the transport by train and the
number of warehousemen. For each of these variables, I have tested if the affiliation to a
group modifies their value over a period of six years from 1997 to 2002. I have limited the
study to road haulage firms. First, I have distinguished between the firms affiliated to a
vertical group, the ones affiliated to a horizontal group and single firms. The affiliation to a
horizontal group is associated with a lower growth rate of exports in comparison to other
firms. The affiliation to a vertical group is associated with a higher growth of technology
expenses and of the use of multimodal equipments. Second, and in order to refine the results, I
have distinguished between firms entering a group (vertical or horizontal) and the one exiting
a group affiliation. I have applied a methodology similar to the one developed by Bernard and
Jensen (2004) about the behavior of exporting plants. Important differences emerge. Entrants
to a vertical group catch up with the level of expenses on technologies observed in firms that
have belonged to a group during the entire period. Moreover, firms that have always belonged
to a vertical group enjoy a higher growth rate of logistic activities in comparison to the other
groups.
The fourth and last chapter studies the decision of a firm belonging to a group to outsource its
logistics and transports activities. I have based this empirical work on the economic literature
dealing with the “make or buy” decision. According to the transaction cost theory, asset
specificity, uncertainty of transactions and their frequency tend to increase the probability that
a transaction takes place within the boundary of the firm. I have used the French survey on
inter-firm relationships (ERIE) to test the assumptions of the transaction cost theory on the
outsourcing decision. In this survey, French firms have been asked to describe the reasons that
have induced them to establish an intra-group or an extra-group relationship. Fear of delays,
shared expenses in ICT, risk taken by the partner and investment shared are considered as
factors increasing the asset specificity of transactions. Importance of price, presence of
contract and reputation are assumed to be factors increasing the inclination of a firm to
outsource its activities. In the case of logistics activities, outsourcing decision are linked to the
importance of price and the presence of contracts, on the contrary logistics activities stay
inbound if the partner has to take some risks. In the case of transport activities, outsourcing is
also favored by a particular attention to prices and the presence of contracts, but firms prefer
to outsource their transport because of the fear of delays. This last result may reflect the
growing quality of services provided by the third party logistics.
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