IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v97y2023ics0739885922000762.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this article

China-Europe freight transportation under the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic and government restriction measures

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Yang
  • Liu, Qing
  • Chang, Chia-Hsun

Abstract

International freight transportation experienced significant disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the pandemic and related government restriction measures on international freight transportation is worth analysing for the development of transportation policies and practices in the post-pandemic period, but has received limited attention. To fill the gap, this study applies structural equation models to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international transportation market and the relationships among the pandemic, government restriction measures, and international transportation market. The impact is also differentiated for different modes of transportation. Results confirm that both demand and supply of international transportation services have been negatively affected by the first wave of the pandemic, with sea transportation being more affected by the reduction of demand and air transportation more by the supply volatility. The government restriction measures are found to play a mediation role, in the way that the impact of the pandemic on the supply of transportation service is suppressed through the government restriction measures. Our findings provide important guidance for transportation industry players and governments in their decision-making process facing with global market shocks such as a pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Yang & Liu, Qing & Chang, Chia-Hsun, 2023. "China-Europe freight transportation under the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic and government restriction measures," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:97:y:2023:i:c:s0739885922000762
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2022.101251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885922000762
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2022.101251?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fang, Da & Guo, Yan, 2022. "Flow of goods to the shock of COVID-19 and toll-free highway policy: Evidence from logistics data in China," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    3. Caldeirinha, Vítor & Felício, J. Augusto & Salvador, Antónia Sena & Nabais, João & Pinho, Tiago, 2020. "The impact of port community systems (PCS) characteristics on performance," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Xiwen Bai & Jasmine Siu Lee Lam, 2019. "An integrated analysis of interrelationships within the very large gas carrier (VLGC) shipping market," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 21(3), pages 372-389, September.
    5. Francois, Joseph & Manchin, Miriam, 2013. "Institutions, Infrastructure, and Trade," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 165-175.
    6. Jiang, Xiushan & He, Xiang & Zhang, Lei & Qin, Huanhuan & Shao, Fengru, 2017. "Multimodal transportation infrastructure investment and regional economic development: A structural equation modeling empirical analysis in China from 1986 to 2011," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 43-52.
    7. Chia-Hsun Chang & Vinh V. Thai, 2016. "Do port security quality and service quality influence customer satisfaction and loyalty?," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(6), pages 720-736, August.
    8. Bombelli, Alessandro, 2020. "Integrators' global networks: A topology analysis with insights into the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Theo Notteboom & Thanos Pallis & Jean-Paul Rodrigue, 2021. "Disruptions and resilience in global container shipping and ports: the COVID-19 pandemic versus the 2008–2009 financial crisis," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 23(2), pages 179-210, June.
    10. Liu, Xiaoyun & Xin, Xian, 2011. "Transportation uncertainty and international trade," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 156-162, January.
    11. Kao, Li-Hua & Stewart, Margaret & Lee, Kai-Hui, 2009. "Using structural equation modeling to predict cabin safety outcomes among Taiwanese airlines," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 357-365, March.
    12. Zhao, Hong-Mei & He, Hong-Di & Lu, Kai-Fa & Han, Xiao-Long & Ding, Yi & Peng, Zhong-Ren, 2022. "Measuring the impact of an exogenous factor: An exponential smoothing model of the response of shipping to COVID-19," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 91-100.
    13. Theo E. Notteboom & Hercules E. Haralambides, 2020. "Port management and governance in a post-COVID-19 era: quo vadis?," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(3), pages 329-352, September.
    14. Warwick McKibbin & Roshen Fernando, 2021. "The Global Macroeconomic Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 1-30, Summer.
    15. Shiftan, Yoram & Outwater, Maren L. & Zhou, Yushuang, 2008. "Transit market research using structural equation modeling and attitudinal market segmentation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 186-195, May.
    16. Portugal-Perez, Alberto & Wilson, John S., 2012. "Export Performance and Trade Facilitation Reform: Hard and Soft Infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1295-1307.
    17. Sami Bensassi & Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso & Celestino Suárez, 2014. "The effect of maritime transport costs on the extensive and intensive margins: Evidence from the Europe–Asia trade," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 16(3), pages 276-297, September.
    18. Wessel, Jan, 2019. "Evaluating the transport-mode-specific trade effects of different transport infrastructure types," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 42-57.
    19. Barua, Suborna, 2020. "COVID-19 pandemic and world trade: Some analytical notes," MPRA Paper 99761, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Kevin Cullinane & Hercules Haralambides, 2021. "Global trends in maritime and port economics: the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-04046225, HAL.
    21. Weis, Claude & Axhausen, Kay W., 2009. "Induced travel demand: Evidence from a pseudo panel data based structural equations model," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 8-18.
    22. Zeileis, Achim & Leisch, Friedrich & Hornik, Kurt & Kleiber, Christian, 2002. "strucchange: An R Package for Testing for Structural Change in Linear Regression Models," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 7(i02).
    23. Zhang, Yahua & Zhang, Anming & Wang, Jiaoe, 2020. "Exploring the roles of high-speed train, air and coach services in the spread of COVID-19 in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 34-42.
    24. Albert Satorra & Peter Bentler, 2001. "A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 66(4), pages 507-514, December.
    25. Rivera, Alejandra, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on transport and logistics connectivity in the landlocked countries of South America," Documentos de Proyectos 46528, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    26. Nakamura, Hiroki & Managi, Shunsuke, 2020. "Airport risk of importation and exportation of the COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-47.
    27. Deng, Ping & Lu, Shiqing & Xiao, Hanbin, 2013. "Evaluation of the relevance measure between ports and regional economy using structural equation modeling," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 123-133.
    28. Li, Tao, 2020. "A SWOT analysis of China's air cargo sector in the context of COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    29. Gudmundsson, S.V. & Cattaneo, M. & Redondi, R., 2021. "Forecasting temporal world recovery in air transport markets in the presence of large economic shocks: The case of COVID-19," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    30. Cui, Qi & He, Ling & Liu, Yu & Zheng, Yanting & Wei, Wei & Yang, Bo & Zhou, Meifang, 2021. "The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on China’s transport sectors based on the CGE model coupled with a decomposition analysis approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 103-115.
    31. Ülengin, Füsun & Kabak, Özgür & Önsel, Sule & Ülengin, Burç & Aktas, Emel, 2010. "A problem-structuring model for analyzing transportation-environment relationships," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(3), pages 844-859, February.
    32. Kaan Koyuncu & Leyla Tavacioğlu & Neslihan Gökmen & Umut Çelen Arican, 2021. "Forecasting COVID-19 impact on RWI/ISL container throughput index by using SARIMA models," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1096-1108, November.
    33. Dabo Guan & Daoping Wang & Stephane Hallegatte & Steven J. Davis & Jingwen Huo & Shuping Li & Yangchun Bai & Tianyang Lei & Qianyu Xue & D’Maris Coffman & Danyang Cheng & Peipei Chen & Xi Liang & Bing, 2020. "Global supply-chain effects of COVID-19 control measures," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(6), pages 577-587, June.
    34. Dube, Kaitano & Nhamo, Godwell & Chikodzi, David, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemic and prospects for recovery of the global aviation industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    35. Xiao, Zengqi & Lam, Jasmine Siu Lee, 2020. "The impact of institutional conditions on willingness to take contractual risk in port public-private partnerships of developing countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 12-26.
    36. Setthasuravich, Prasongchai & Kato, Hironori, 2020. "The mediating role of the digital divide in outcomes of short-term transportation policy in Thailand," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 161-171.
    37. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
    38. Ivanov, Dmitry, 2020. "Predicting the impacts of epidemic outbreaks on global supply chains: A simulation-based analysis on the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2) case," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    39. Jun Cai & Bo Xu & Karen Kie Yan Chan & Xueying Zhang & Bing Zhang & Ziyue Chen & Bing Xu, 2019. "Roles of Different Transport Modes in the Spatial Spread of the 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic in Mainland China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-15, January.
    40. Gaskin, Darrell J. & Zare, Hossein & Delarmente, Benjo A., 2021. "Geographic disparities in COVID-19 infections and deaths: The role of transportation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 35-46.
    41. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Mukunoki, Hiroshi, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on international trade: Evidence from the first shock," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    42. Li, Hongbo & Liu, Yali & Peng, Kaili, 2018. "Characterizing the relationship between road infrastructure and local economy using structural equation modeling," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 17-25.
    43. Suau-Sanchez, Pere & Voltes-Dorta, Augusto & Cugueró-Escofet, Natàlia, 2020. "An early assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on air transport: Just another crisis or the end of aviation as we know it?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    44. Kevin Cullinane & Hercules Haralambides, 2021. "Global trends in maritime and port economics: the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 23(3), pages 369-380, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gorzelanczyk Piotr & Szubert Paweł & Olechnowicz Jolanta & Jurkovič Martin, 2023. "Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Changing Communication Behavior of Students," LOGI – Scientific Journal on Transport and Logistics, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 89-97, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Yuting & Fuellhart, Kurt & Grubesic, Tony H. & Zhang, Shengrun & Witlox, Frank, 2024. "An analysis of the context factors influencing the diverse response of airports to COVID-19 using panel and group regression," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. Sun, Xiaoqian & Wandelt, Sebastian & Zheng, Changhong & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemic and air transportation: Successfully navigating the paper hurricane," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Ahmed Karam & Abdelrahman E. E. Eltoukhy & Ibrahim Abdelfadeel Shaban & El-Awady Attia, 2022. "A Review of COVID-19-Related Literature on Freight Transport: Impacts, Mitigation Strategies, Recovery Measures, and Future Research Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-27, September.
    4. Cui, Qi & He, Ling & Liu, Yu & Zheng, Yanting & Wei, Wei & Yang, Bo & Zhou, Meifang, 2021. "The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on China’s transport sectors based on the CGE model coupled with a decomposition analysis approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 103-115.
    5. Chen, Yuting & Fuellhart, Kurt & Grubesic, Tony H. & Zhang, Shengrun & Witlox, Frank, 2023. "Diverging spatiotemporal responses to COVID-19Â by airports: Evidence from China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    6. Li, Siping & Zhou, Yaoming & Kundu, Tanmoy & Sheu, Jiuh-Biing, 2021. "Spatiotemporal variation of the worldwide air transportation network induced by COVID-19 pandemic in 2020," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 168-184.
    7. Yang, Senyan & Ning, Lianju & Jiang, Tingfeng & He, Yingqi, 2021. "Dynamic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the regional express logistics: Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 111-124.
    8. Li, Tao & Rong, Lili & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "Assessing regional risk of COVID-19 infection from Wuhan via high-speed rail," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 226-238.
    9. Sun, Xiaoqian & Wandelt, Sebastian & Zhang, Anming, 2022. "STARTUPS: Founding airlines during COVID-19 - A hopeless endeavor or an ample opportunity for a better aviation system?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 10-19.
    10. Budd, Thomas & Suau-Sanchez, Pere & Halpern, Nigel & Mwesiumo, Deodat & Bråthen, Svein, 2021. "An assessment of air passenger confidence a year into the COVID-19 crisis: A segmentation analysis of passengers in Norway," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Zhang, Qiang & Tong, Qiong, 2021. "The economic impacts of traffic consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A CGE analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 330-337.
    12. Dirzka, Christopher & Acciaro, Michele, 2022. "Global shipping network dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic's initial phases," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Gualini, Andrea & Zou, Li & Dresner, Martin, 2023. "Airline strategies during the pandemic: What worked?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    14. Saeed, Naima & Nguyen, Su & Cullinane, Kevin & Gekara, Victor & Chhetri, Prem, 2023. "Forecasting container freight rates using the Prophet forecasting method," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 86-107.
    15. Su, Junbiao & Wu, Hanjun & Tsui, Kan Wai Hong & Fu, Xiaowen & Lei, Zheng, 2023. "Aviation resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study of the European aviation market," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    16. Marta Mańkowska & Michał Pluciński & Izabela Kotowska & Ludmiła Filina-Dawidowicz, 2021. "Seaports during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Terminal Operators’ Tactical Responses to Disruptions in Maritime Supply Chains," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    17. Fang, Da & Guo, Yan, 2022. "Flow of goods to the shock of COVID-19 and toll-free highway policy: Evidence from logistics data in China," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    18. Bokyung Kim & Geunsub Kim & Moohong Kang, 2022. "Study on Comparing the Performance of Fully Automated Container Terminals during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-13, August.
    19. Kamalbek Karymshakov & Burulcha Sulaimanova, 2021. "The impact of infrastructure on trade in Central Asia," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 5-20, December.
    20. Hong, Seock-Jin & Savoie, Michael & Joiner, Steve & Kincaid, Timothy, 2022. "Analysis of airline employees’ perceptions of corporate preparedness for COVID-19 disruptions to airline operations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 45-55.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; First wave of pandemic; International freight transportation; Government measures; SEM; Mediation effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:97:y:2023:i:c:s0739885922000762. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.