Implications of Sectoral Logistical Capabilities for Export Competitiveness: A Public Policy Perspective for Interventions in the Logistics Sector

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This article takes a public policy perspective and captures the implications of sectoral logistical capabilities for export competitiveness to obtain directives for developmental interventions in the logistics sector. We specifically develop a logistical policy intervention framework that links trade logistics performance and exports at the country-level with the objective to identify strategies for a nation's logistics policy formulation. Theoretically, the framework relies on the “macro-institutional view of the logistics systems environment,” which is an emerging global value chain perspective to model global trade scenarios. This perspective accounts for the influence of diverse operational capabilities at a sectoral scale, multiple institutions, and socio-economic environments in governing the performance of a nation's logistics systems in global trade. Methodologically, a rigorous nonlinear regression modeling approach highlights nonlinear discontinuities associated with the impact of logistical policy interventions fostering sectoral logistical capabilities (for example, developing logistics infrastructure or improving the state of logistics service quality in the nation) to boost the export viability of a country in the global economy. The results also highlight critical environmental bottlenecks that govern the efficacy of such interventions. This article pioneers to mainstream the public policy underpinning of logistics systems, and via this contextualization, it contributes to the agenda of mastering policy challenges in engineering and technology management.