Assessing the effect of internet indicators on agri-food export competitiveness

The agricultural sector contributes to the national economy by engaging in export activities within the global market. Conversely, the rapid development of the Internet has greatly impacted output production and has introduced heightened competitiveness among various countries. This study aims to examine the impact of Internet-related indicators on the competitive standing of agrifood industries on a global scope. These indicators are represented by user engagement, infrastructure availability, and security. The panel regression analysis focused on 126 countries from 2010 to 2020. The findings reveal that Internet infrastructure and security positively affect the competitiveness of agri-food exports. However, the indicator related to Internet users exhibits a negative impact. There is a change in competitiveness structure from enhancing the Internet indicator to 50%. After simulation, we found that 80 countries have a positive value of RSCA. It is lower than the actual value of RSCA in 89 countries. This study concluded that developing countries still have better opportunities to increase their agri-food export competitiveness than developed countries.