Permanent deformation in bituminous concrete mixtures initiates with the densification of the material. But the majority of the permanent deformation is due to the shear flow of the material. The latter is significantly influenced by the behavior of bitumen, and this has prompted many investigations to characterize the resistance to permanent deformation offered by different binders and mixtures. Various characterization tests have been proposed for both binders and mixtures, and through each test, a different parameter has been suggested to characterize the resistance to permanent deformation. In this study, various binder and mixture characterization tests are compared to determine the parameters from tests on binders that compare well with the permanent deformation characteristics of mixtures. Dry wheel tracking test, repeated creep, and recovery test, and flow time test were conducted on mixtures to determine the permanent deformation resistance of various mixtures. |G*| /sinδ from the Superpave high-temperature performance test, non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr) from multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR) test and the apparent viscosity from steady shear test were the parameters considered for characterizing the binders. |G*| /sinδ and Jnr did not relate well with the mixture results while the apparent viscosity at 0.1 s-1 shear rate showed good agreement. However, the ordering of the apparent viscosity of binders could change with the stress level and shear rate level, due to the nonlinear mechanical behavior of bitumen. Considering this, an investigation was conducted to determine the range of shear-rate levels and stress levels over which the apparent viscosity of binders correlates well with the permanent deformation of mixtures. A power-law relationship was assumed between the apparent viscosity of bitumen and the rate of deformation of mixtures. The goodness of fit was determined over a wide range of stress levels and shear rate levels to identify the range of shear rate levels and stress levels of strong correlation. Following these investigations of the relationship between the mechanical behavior of the binder and the permanent deformation of the mixture, the relationship between the permanent deformation characteristics of the aggregates and the permanent deformation of mixtures was also investigated. Among the constituents of bituminous concrete mixtures, binder exhibits viscoelastic behavior and granular materials exhibit plastic deformation and strain hardening behavior. Thus, the mixture may also exhibit plastic deformation and strain hardening behavior in addition to viscoelastic behavior as observed in many investigations. Creep and recovery experiments were conducted at different stress levels and the data was fit with different linear viscoelastic models and a visco-elasto-plastic model to determine the extent of plastic deformation shown by the material. The permanent strain was split into viscous and plastic strains, and it was found that the plastic strain was considerably larger than the viscous strain.