A Systematic Literature Review of Green and Sustainable Logistics: Bibliometric Analysis, Research Trend and Knowledge Taxonomy.

Rui Ren,Bo Sun,Zhilong Chen,Yicun Chen,Jianjun Dong,Wanjie Hu

doi:10.3390/ijerph17010261

Abstract

Ever-growing globalization and industrialization put forward impending requirements for green and sustainable logistics (G&SL). Over the past decades, G&SL initiatives triggered worldwide deliberations, aiming at easing negative transport externalities and improving supply chain performance. This review-based paper attempts to offer a joint quantitative and qualitative understanding for the overall evolutionary trend, knowledge structure, and literature gaps of the G&SL research field. Employing the science mapping approach, a total of 306 major paper published from 1999 to 2019 were retrieved, elaborated on, and synthesized. Visualized statistics regarding publication years, journal allocation/co-citation, inter-country/institution collaboration, influential articles, co-occurred keywords, and time view clusters of research themes were analyzed bibliographically. On this basis, a total of 50 sub-branches of G&SL knowledge were classified and thematically discussed based on five alignments, namely (i) social-environmental-economic research, (ii) planning, policy and management, (iii) application and practice, (iv) technology, and (v) operations research. Finally, the current knowledge obstacles and the future research opportunities were suggested. The findings contribute to portray a systematic intellectual prospect for the state quo, hotspots, and academic frontiers of G&SL research. Moreover, it provides researchers and practitioners with heuristic thoughts to govern transportation ecology and logistics service quality.

Highlights

Sustainable development has inspired many green and sustainable logistics (G&SL) activities to reduce the negative effects of freight transportation [1] and improve positive environmental and social feedbacks
This study aims to conduct a comprehensive review of the global G&SL literature, so as to explore the state-of-the-art, hotspots and research trend, as well as to build the G&SL knowledge classification system
Science mapping approach is composed of data mining and bibliographic analysis, which can minimize subjective arbitrariness and grasp useful information to facilitate in-depth thematic analysis. Another is that this study further extends the bibliography to illuminate the emerging knowledge branches, gaps, and agendas in G&SL research, which will contribute to the improvement of G&SL practice and research innovation

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable development has inspired many green and sustainable logistics (G&SL) activities to reduce the negative effects of freight transportation [1] and improve positive environmental and social feedbacks. From long-haul heavy-duty logistics to intra-city distribution, road-based freight transportation systems generate tremendous negative externalities in daily operations [2], including pollutant emissions, congestion, traffic accidents, noise, visual interference, infrastructure failure and resource waste [3]. These negative externalities, together with the disadvantages of logistics system itself (e.g., limited intelligentization, personnel dependence and vulnerability [4]), further lead to the downgrade of supply chain performance at both enterprise level and regional level. Public Health 2020, 17, 261; doi:10.3390/ijerph17010261 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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