So researching the specific tec does give the player a bonus - Silk Road is still utter shite. First of all, unlike all other team bonuses the player does not profit from it themself; second, the bonus from the spec tec is so minuscule that the game would need to last for hours to pay off.
The "20% bonus" is a bonus only of the bonus. So I paid 1,000 res for - in this case - 2 extra res per trip. Who would argue that that's a good deal?
(And I don't care about neutral competitors; don't know if anybody does.)