Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Management

Committee Chair/Advisor

William J. Kettinger

Committee Member

He Li

Committee Member

Jiahui Mo

Committee Member

Yichen Christy Zhou

Abstract

This three-essay dissertation focuses on understanding the impacts of IT, or IT enabled business models, on transportation and supply chains. Specifically, it empirically examines the market and societal implications of digital freight platforms, third-party forecasting, and cyber-physical systems in the transportation and supply chain sectors. Leveraging the entry of the Amazon Freight platform into the trucking freight industry as an exogenous shock, the first essay finds that adding a digital platform-enabled spot marketplace addresses the prevalent problem of the performance (rejection) of nonbinding contracts in the trucking industry. Specifically, the platform’s effect manifests through two primary mechanisms: increasing suppliers’ transportation capacity and reducing spot market prices. The second essay examines how third-party forecasts affect the dynamics of spot prices and service refusals in uncertain supply chain markets. The empirical findings in the for-hire truckload industry demonstrate the heterogeneous market responses to a forecasted increase and decrease in spot market prices and the asymmetric moderating effects of forecast accuracy. Building upon the widespread application of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in vehicles, the third essay empirically studies the effective level of AI autonomy required for human-AI collaboration to improve transportation safety. The findings of this study demonstrate that while human-AI collaboration generally improves transportation safety, the effective level of AI autonomy is contingent upon time criticality and environmental uncertainty. Together, these three essays demonstrate the pivotal roles that IT plays in the safe and effective movement of people and goods.

Available for download on Sunday, August 31, 2025

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