Global logistics priorities before and after COVID-19: A multi-criteria assessment of logistics performance index dimensions across income groups

This study examines changes in global logistics priorities by comparing the relative importance of the six Logistics Performance Index (LPI) dimensions across income groups in the 2018 and 2023 evaluation periods. A fixed common panel of 134 countries is classified into high-, upper-middle-, lower-middle-, and low-income groups to ensure comparability between the two periods. Criterion weights are determined using three objective weighting methods, LODECI, LOPCOW, and SITDE, and integrated through arithmetic averaging. Countries are then ranked using the ALPAS method. The findings reveal different weighting patterns across income groups and periods. International shipments remain the highest-weighted dimension in the high-income group, while customs retain the highest weight in the lower-middle-income group. In the upper-middle-income group, tracking and tracing remains the highest-weighted dimension in both 2018 and 2023, although its weight decreases from 0.201 to 0.184. The most notable change is observed in the low-income group, where the weight of timeliness decreases from 0.160 to 0.112, while international shipments gain relative importance and tracking and tracing retains the highest weight despite declining from 0.213 to 0.191. Country rankings also show both stability and substantial movements within each income group. Comparisons with AROMAN, CRADIS, MABAC, and MAIRCA, together with scenario-based sensitivity analysis, indicate that the main ranking structure is highly stable. The integrated-ALPAS rankings also show strong agreement with the official World Bank LPI rankings. Overall, the findings indicate that the relative importance of LPI dimensions varies across income groups and evaluation periods, supporting a more context-sensitive interpretation of logistics performance and providing a basis for income-group-specific policy and managerial priorities.