Relationships between Logistics Performance and Aspects of Sustainability: A Cross-Country Analysis

The purpose of this study is to investigate relationships between national logistics performance and dimensions of sustainability. A series of hypotheses are developed and tested using regression analysis of secondary data. The sources of data are the Sustainable Society Index (SSI) and the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI). Fundamental aspects of social sustainability and well-being—a healthy, educated population, equality, good governance, and reasonable income distribution—are related to higher levels of logistics performance. In addition, while logistics performance is a driver of economic activity and success, it is also a contributor to environmental degradation in the form of harmful emissions. If economic growth is among a nation’s goals, its leaders are advised to support social well-being, along with technologies and practices for greater energy efficiency (and lower emissions) in transportation.

[1]  Paul D. Larson,et al.  Quality and logistics: A Framework for Strategic Integration , 1988 .

[2]  Zoltán Bokor,et al.  Assessing the logistics efficiency of European countries by using the DEA-PC methodology , 2014 .

[3]  C. Tang,et al.  The major determinants of logistic performance in a global perspective: evidence from panel data analysis , 2018 .

[4]  P. Larson,et al.  Corruption, gender inequality and logistics performance , 2019 .

[5]  Khalid Zaman,et al.  Green logistics and national scale economic indicators: Evidence from a panel of selected European countries , 2017 .

[6]  Saisana Michaela,et al.  Sustainable Society Index (SSI): Taking societies' pulse along social, environmental and economic issues. The Joint Research Centre audit on the SSI , 2012 .

[7]  Juan Carlos Martín,et al.  A Dea-Logistics Performance Index , 2017 .

[8]  K. Cullinane,et al.  Evaluating the sustainability of national logistics performance using Data Envelopment Analysis , 2019, Transport Policy.

[9]  Peter Oberhofer,et al.  Environmental Management in the Transport and Logistics Sector: Findings from a Qualitative Study , 2013 .

[10]  José Alcides Gobbo,et al.  CO2 emissions and logistics performance: a composite index proposal , 2017 .

[11]  H. Akbaş,et al.  The relationship between logistics performance and carbon emissions: an empirical investigation on Balkan countries , 2020 .

[12]  Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah,et al.  Green warehousing, logistics optimization, social values and ethics and economic performance: the role of supply chain sustainability , 2020 .

[13]  Hokey Min,et al.  Measuring supply chain efficiency from a green perspective , 2011 .

[14]  K. Mori,et al.  Review of sustainability indices and indicators: Towards a new City Sustainability Index (CSI) , 2012 .

[15]  Sini Laari,et al.  The effect of a competitive strategy and green supply chain management on the financial and environmental performance of logistics service providers , 2018 .

[16]  Ki-Hoon Lee,et al.  Carbon management in the logistics and transportation sector: an overview and new research directions , 2017 .

[17]  D. Štreimikienė,et al.  Measuring the impact of renewable energy, public health expenditure, logistics, and environmental performance on sustainable economic growth , 2020, Sustainable Development.

[18]  M. Srivastava,et al.  Modelling environmental and economic sustainability of logistics , 2019 .

[19]  C. Tang,et al.  The double-edge resource-based view of logistics performance and governance in Asian countries , 2018, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.

[20]  P. Evangelista,et al.  Environmental alignment between logistics service providers and shippers – a supply chain perspective , 2020 .

[21]  Anand Jaiswal,et al.  Pollution optimisation study of logistics in SMEs , 2019, Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal.

[22]  Chia-Nan Wang,et al.  A Grey Forecasting Approach for the Sustainability Performance of Logistics Companies , 2016 .

[23]  D. Rogers,et al.  A framework of sustainable supply chain management: moving toward new theory , 2008 .

[24]  Shashi,et al.  Evaluating environmental sustainability strategies in freight transport and logistics industry , 2020, Business Strategy and the Environment.

[25]  Jie Tang,et al.  Green Transportation and Logistics Performance: An Improved Composite Index , 2019, Sustainability.

[26]  E. Hämäläinen,et al.  Reviewing Truck Logistics: Solutions for Achieving Low Emission Road Freight Transport , 2020, Sustainability.

[27]  P. Shrout,et al.  Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: new procedures and recommendations. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[28]  J. Havenga.  Logistics and the future: The rise of macrologistics , 2018, Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management.

[29]  Benita M. Beamon,et al.  Designing the green supply chain , 1999 .

[30]  Q. Yuan,et al.  The relationship between environment and logistics performance: Evidence from Asian countries , 2018, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[31]  J U Sterling,et al.  ESTABLISHING CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGIES WITHIN THE MARKETING MIX , 1987 .

[32]  Anil Kumar,et al.  A green ideology in Asian emerging economies: From environmental policy and sustainable development , 2019, Sustainable Development.

[33]  J. Semeijn,et al.  Lean, Green and Clean? Sustainability Reporting in the Logistics Sector , 2019, Logistics.