The Correlation between Logistics Industry and Other Industries: An Evaluation of the Empirical Evidence from China

As an emerging producer services industry, the logistics industry is the third-largest industry in China. The rapid development of the logistics industry accelerates the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure, advances the transformation of economic growth, and thus promotes a rapid economic development. It is essential to understand the correlation between the logistics industry and other industries, for the purpose of facilitating other industries by logistics industry. Based on the current status of the logistics industry and the general industrial structure, several concerns about the development of the logistics industry and other industries have been addressed in this paper. A qualitative analysis between the logistics industry and industrial structure has been presented. Furthermore, the development of the logistics industry was quantified with the regional entropy coefficient. A linear regression model of the regional entropy coefficient and other industries data was established to analyze the correlation between logistics and the industrial structure. Then, the gray correlation was analyzed to further verify the correlation degree. The correlation degrees between logistics and industries in Pizhou were (sorted from high to low): primary industry, tertiary industry, and secondary industry. Combining development issues and the obtained correlation, several feasible suggestions are presented that promote the logistics industry on a county scale.