Research On The Impact Of Agricultural Digitalization On The Export Competitiveness Of Agricultural Products In China

Under the background of deepening economic globalization,the international competitiveness of agricultural products has become an important index to measure the degree of agricultural modernization.However,our traditional agricultural production and operation mode,which relies on labor force and land possession,begins to become the hindrance on the road of agricultural modernization.Moreover,our agricultural production efficiency and production cost are difficult to compete with other developed countries’ large-scale agriculture.For 19 consecutive years,the No.1 Central document has focused on the topic of "digitalization of agriculture",focusing on the transformation and upgrading of agriculture enabled by digital technology.Accelerating digitization of agriculture is of great significance to ensuring food security and stable supply of important agricultural products and seizing new heights in the development of world agricultural trade.At present,the driving force of China’s agricultural export growth is in the transition period from "quantity driven" to "quality driven".The development of China’s agricultural trade is hindered because agricultural production is affected by factors such as low elasticity of agricultural demand,regionalism,seasonality and high risk of quality upgrading.The digital economy is not only inclusive,renewable,non-competitive and non-exclusive,but also has the advantages of increasing marginal revenue,high permeability and externality.It can be seen that the digital economy is accelerating the efficiency and empowerment of the development of agricultural trade in the form of integration.It has played a role in activating the labor and capital factor markets,accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the traditional trade mode of agricultural products and promoting new industries,new business forms and new models.Many scholars have made a rich study on the factors affecting the international competitiveness of agricultural products.This thesis explores the influence of digitization of agriculture on the export competitiveness of agricultural products,and explores the new path of improving agricultural quality and efficiency and the ability to compete in international markets.Based on the above background,this thesis firstly reviewed the literature from three aspects: the economic effect of agricultural digitalization,the influencing factors of agricultural export competitiveness and the influence of agricultural digitalization on agricultural export competitiveness,and drew on the theories of comparative advantage and international competitive advantage,industry correlation theory and economies of scale,etc.,to provide the basis for the mechanism analysis below.Then,this thesis analyzes the current situation of agricultural digitalization and agricultural export competitiveness in our country.Select five indicators from two dimensions of agricultural digitalization access and application,measure the development level of agricultural digitalization in our provinces by using the entropy method,and compare the export competitiveness of agricultural products in various provinces after measuring and calculating the display comparative advantage index.Analysis of the realistic characteristics of our agricultural product export trade.Furthermore,this thesis explores the influence mechanism of agricultural digitalization to improve the export competitiveness of agricultural products,and analyzes three main influence paths,that is,relying on export price advantage,quality improvement mechanism and channel expansion mechanism to influence the export competitiveness of agricultural products.Further using the econometric method and using the panel data of 31 provinces from 2011 to 2020,the two-way fixed effect model was established to empirically test the effect of the difference of agricultural digitalization level on the export competitiveness of agricultural products in each province.Finally,based on the results of the research,this thesis provides corresponding policy suggestions for cultivating and strengthening the competitive advantage of our agricultural export in the digital era.The results show that:(1)agricultural digitization plays a strong role in improving the competitiveness of agricultural products in the export market.After a series of robustness tests,the basic conclusion is still robust;(2)Mechanism test shows that product price level,export quality level and channel expansion are the key transmission mechanisms for the improvement of export competitiveness of agricultural products caused by the development of agricultural digitalization.Heterogeneity analysis showed that the promotion effect of agricultural digitalization was affected by government investment level,human capital level and geographical location.In provinces with low government subsidy level and rural areas with high education level,the positive effect of agricultural digitalization on the export competitiveness of agricultural products was more significant.In the trade developed regions,the use of digital technology to enhance the competitiveness of agricultural exports is more obvious.As agricultural capital factors,technical factors and talent factors are growing rapidly in most provinces,there is great potential in promoting agricultural digitalization to improve the export competitiveness of agricultural products.This thesis puts forward some suggestions: First,expand circulation channels of agricultural products by means of digital trading platforms;Second,improve the digital agriculture subsidy policy,increase investment in agricultural science and technology;Third,strengthen the training of agricultural digital technical personnel and digital trade personnel.