The Role of Road Transport Infrastructure Investments on Logistics Performance: A Research Agenda

Abstract

Purpose: This research aims to highlight the impact of road transport infrastructure investments on logistics performance. Design/ methodology/ approach: A systematic review of 20 published research on the role of road transport infrastructure investments was conducted with the purpose of identifying the impacts of road infrastructure on logistics performance, the methods used in the previous studies, the lessons learned from investing in road transportation infrastructure, and the previous researchers’ recommendations for the further studies. Findings: It revealed that road transportation investments are essential for a country’s development from logistics, economic, and social perspectives. Road transport investments play a vital role in the efficiency of a country’s logistics performance and the economy as it facilitates connectivity and accessibility to all supply chain areas within a country. In addition, it reduces all the operational costs of road trips. Moreover, in previous research, almost all researchers used a single method to figure out these impacts and none of them used hybrid methods to get more accurate results. Research implications/ limitations : The paper provides a comprehensive view on the impact of road transport infrastructure investments on logistics performance. In addition, it identifies new research gaps as not all the factors of road transportation that affect logistics performance have been fully tackled in previous research, upon which a research agenda was developed. Originality: The paper introduces a comprehensive systematic literature review that highlights the relationship between road infrastructure investments and logistics performance to guide future research.