A Study on the Efficiency Analysis of Warehousing and Storage Firms in Korea

This study conducted a relative efficiency analysis using DEA on 20 warehousing and storage companies as of 2023. The analysis revealed that companies classified in the general warehousing sector operated more efficiently than those targeting niche markets like hazardous materials or cold chain logistics. Additionally, the Malmquist Productivity Analysis showed that external factors, including technological change, contributed more to overall productivity growth from 2021 to 2023 than changes in internal efficiency. This highlights the importance of companies adopting technology and responding quickly to external factors such as deregulation and market structure changes. The study diagnoses the current situation of logistics warehouse companies in 2023, amid oversupply in the logistics center and real estate market and the slowdown of the e-commerce market. The key finding of this study is that large-scale general warehousing companies tend to perform better in the market, but what brought the productivity changes are mainly due to technological adoption and application which can also be the driving force of growth for other warehousing companies. The equilibrium of warehousing facilities are going to be changed due to the market structure changes, but what remains as the most important factor for success is combining internal efficiency and more importantly, external factors that can shift the efficiency level to a new height.