Footnote:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments September 9, 2022 erstellt
Description:
Problem definition: Last-mile delivery is one of the most challenging and costly facets of the supply chain. We examine whether and the extent to which a technological innovation--delivery drones--leapfrogs traditional remedies that increase geographical connectivity--specifically, paving roads. Using data from Rwandan public hospitals that transfuse blood (i.e., transfusing facilities), we examine the impact of adopting drone delivery for blood transport on the inventory management of blood products and on health outcomes. We compare these effects to the impact of paving roads.Methodology/results: Exploiting the staggered rollout of drone delivery to transfusing facilities and of paving roads, we use a generalized difference-in-differences framework to estimate the causal effect of adopting drone delivery and paving roads, respectively, on inventory management and health outcomes. We find that transfusing facilities dramatically decrease their on-hand inventory and wastage as a result of adopting drone delivery, but do not find any change in the management of blood inventory after paving roads. For health outcomes, both after adopting drone delivery and paving roads, transfusing facilities see large improvements in in-hospital mortality in conditions where blood is required for treatment. Compared to transfusing facilities that only adopt drone delivery, those that experienced improvements in road infrastructure prior to adopting drone delivery saw a quarter of the decline in in-hospital mortality from post-partum hemorrhage, suggesting a leapfrogging effect. This shows that paving roads meaningfully improves health outcomes, yet the adoption of drone delivery is able to yield further improvements beyond what can be attained by paving roads.Managerial implications: Our results highlight key considerations for decision makers allocating scarce resources to improve hospital operations and health outcomes. While adopting drone delivery implies large inventory cost savings and improvements in health outcomes above and beyond what is offered by paved roads, its benefits should be critically weighted against its costs and the objective of investments