Blockchain Technologies in Logistics and Supply Chain Management: A Bibliometric Review

Abderahman Rejeb, Karim Rejeb, Steve Simske and Horst Treiblmaier
Additional contact information
Abderahman Rejeb: Doctoral School of Regional Sciences and Business Administration‚ Széchenyi István University‚ 9026 Győr, Hungary
Karim Rejeb: Higher Institute of Computer Science El Manar, 2, Rue Abou Raïhan El Bayrouni, Ariana 2080, Tunisia
Steve Simske: Systems Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Horst Treiblmaier: Department of International Management, Modul University Vienna, 1190 Vienna, Austria

Logistics, 2021, vol. 5, issue 4, 1-28

Abstract: The emergence of blockchain technology has sparked significant attention from the supply chain management (SCM) and logistics communities. In this paper, we present the results from a thorough bibliometric review that analytically and objectively identifies the intellectual structure of this field, the seminal papers, and the most influential scholars. We employ a knowledge domain visualization technique to generate insights that go beyond other review studies on blockchain research within logistics and SCM. The analysis starts with selecting a total of 628 papers from Scopus and the Web of Science that were published during 2016–2020. The bibliometric analysis output demonstrates that the number of blockchain papers has rapidly increased since 2017. The most productive researchers are from the USA, China, and India. The top academic institutions contributing to the literature are also identified. Based on network analyses, we found that the literature concentrates mainly on the conceptualization of blockchain; its potentials for supply chain sustainability; its adoption triggers and barriers; and its role in supporting supply chain agility, trust, protection of intellectual property, and food/perishable supply chains. Besides systematically mapping the literature, we identify several research gaps and propose numerous actionable research directions for the future. This study enriches the extant blockchain literature, provides a timely snapshot of the current state of research, and examines the knowledge structure of blockchain research in logistics and SCM with the help of evidence-based scientometric methods.

Keywords: blockchain; supply chain management; logistics; bibliometrics; network analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/4/72/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/4/72/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlogis:v:5:y:2021:i:4:p:72-:d:651171

Access Statistics for this article

Logistics is currently edited by Ms. Mavis Li

More articles in Logistics from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().