The Green Logistics Impact on International Trade: Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries

Economic globalization promotes industrial division and forms a large stream of products between countries all over the world, which leads to serious environmental problems. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between green logistics and international trade. Heckman’s two-stage procedure is employed to estimate an augmented gravity model that specifically includes green logistics variables with the data of 113 countries and regions over the period between 2007–2014. The findings show that the logistics performance index (LPI) of exporting and importing countries are positively correlated with trade volume, and that the LPI of exporting countries positively affects trade probability. Taking the entire sample into account, the green logistics performance of exporting countries positively affects export probability and volume. For trade flows between developing–developing countries, developed–developed countries, and developed–developing countries, the green logistics performance of importing countries has a negative impact on the export volume of exporting countries. In terms of trade flow between developing–developed countries, the green logistics performance of importing countries has a negative impact on export probability and a positive impact on export volume. The present research results will assist governments and exporters in understanding the relationship between green logistics and international trade, and help improve their policies and green operations toward sustainable development.