Transport and logistics in the function of incorporating firms into regional production networks and international trade flows

 

Project leader: Prof. Helga Pavlić Skender, PhD - EFRI
 
Members of the project team
Prof. Alen Host, PhD - EFRI

Transport development has enabled the growth and development of international trade. Modern transport technologies, modernization and improvement of transport and logistics processes, logistics development and the inclusion of logistics operators in the flows of goods, services and information, enabled reducing the time needed to transport the goods from the place of production to the place of sale or consumption which is of particular importance for the development of international trade. Authors such as Jones and Kierzkowski (1990), Arndt (1997), Arndt and Kierzkowski (2001), and Grossman and Helpman (2002) believe that splitting the supply/value chains (outsourcing, offshoring) and production networks was made possible due to the development of transport services, particularly since the 1970s. The production network represents a set of all activities carried out by different firms with the aim of producing the final product (Sturgeon, 2000 and 2013). The production network consists of at least two supply chains. The purpose and objectives of the research are to quantify the effects of transport development and transport and logistics infrastructure on international trade as well as on the development of regional production networks in order to suggest measures and policies to direct limited public funding to the development of transport and related transport infrastructure, which would lead to increased international trade, and thus economic growth. Also, the aim of the research is to analyze the importance of logistic operators in the supply chain and to define the degree of development of regional production networks involving Croatian firms and sectors (NKD), to identify development trends of regional production networks and to establish the position of Croatian firms in them. In this way, the importance of empirical results will be expanded. Apart from the role of transport and logistics for the development of international trade, it will be possible to quantify the effect of transport and logistics on production networks, which are the cornerstone of the development of national economies in the 21st century. A significant part of the research will be to analyze the role of the development of transport and logistics infrastructure as an important factor for the development of production networks