Influence of the state of transport development of a territory on its productivity and efficiency

The aim of this research is to find a scientifically argued and terminologically correct empirical answer to the research question: does the state of transport development of a territory influence its productivity and efficiency? The scientific and practical significance of this research consists of investigating a territory from the point of view of its transport development and proving that in the modern world the transport ways’ density/1000 km2, which is traditionally considered one of the indicators of the economic development of a territory, is not a determinant of its efficiency. Nowadays it is much more important to integrate the territory into international transport networks and especially - to introduce new technologies and innovative solutions into its transport sector, which improve the quality of transport infrastructure and services. Methods of the empirical analysis. The authors conducted a linear regression analysis, in which the independent variables are the main categories of this research - productivity and efficiency of a territory. In turn, the dependent variables are three indicators of the state of transport development of a territory (the level of transportization of a territory, the level of transport internationalization of a territory and the quality of transport sector in a territory). Then, the relationship between productivity, efficiency, indicators of the state of transport development of a territory, and its environmental effectiveness was measured using correlation analysis. Sources of empirical information. The authors used empirical data from the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2018, as well as data from the International Union of Railways and the World Factbook for 137 countries. The results of the empirical analysis show that only the level of transportization of a territory is the engine of its productivity, but this factor does not influence the efficiency of a territory in the modern world. In turn, two other indicators of the state of transport development of a territory have a statistically significant effect on the efficiency of a territory. In addition, the level of transportization of the countries of the world, especially the density of railways and highways, strongly and in inverse proportion correlates with the ecological effectiveness of a territory, increasing the "environmental footprint" of a territory.