International Logistics: Does It Matter in the Foreign Trade?

Economic globalization provides a good channel for the development of foreign trade around the world. Due to this background, this paper sets OECD countries as a sample to explore the importance of international logistics to foreign trade. An annual panel data from 2000 to 2017 will be used to conduct an empirical estimation under some related econometric approached such as panel unit root test and fixed effect model. The foreign trade (export trade) is treated a explained variable. The international logistics and the speed of international logistics development are treated as explanatory variables. The findings show that the international logistics has a positive spillover effect on export trade and the speed of international logistics development has a regulatory effect on the relationship between both of them, which presents a U-shaped curve. When the speed of international logistics development is slow, an increase of it restrains the positive spillover effect of international logistics on export trade. However, when it rises to a certain extent, the further improvement of it releases the positive spillover effect of international logistics on export trade. As the evidences this paper provided, the impact of international logistics on foreign trade is dynamic. Moreover, this paper also puts forward some corresponding measures about the relationship between both of them.