Segmenting manufacturers' investment incentive preferences for international logistics zones

Purpose - This study aims to empirically identify investment incentive preference segments for international logistics zones from the manufacturer's perspective. Design/methodology/approach - Eight critical investment incentives were identified, based on the following factors: cost, agglomeration, resource, port, policy, political stability, location and transport, and economic. Cluster analysis was subsequently performed to group respondents on the basis of their factor scores. Three groups or segments were identified: firms that preferred political stability and location factors; those which preferred low-cost and port-related factors; and those which preferred agglomeration effect and resource factors. Six factors, i.e. cost, agglomeration effect, resource, port, policy, and political stability, differed significantly across the three segments. Findings - Results suggest that political stability is the most important incentive, followed by corporate tax incentives, government administration efficiency, labor cost, and energy cost. Originality/value - This study is a first attempt to understand investment incentive preferences for an international logistics zone from the manufacturers' perspective and to segment investors into different groups.