The Impact of Multidimensional Distance on Agricultural Exports: Evidence from China Based on the Technological Added Value

Abstract

Agricultural exports are vulnerable to many distance factors such as geographical, cultural, economic and institutional distance. Panel data were collected from 63 countries (from 2002 to 2020), and fixed effects regression models were employed to estimate the impact of multidimensional distance on China’s agricultural exports. Results found that the institutional, geographical, and cultural distance negatively impacted China’s agricultural exports significantly. The economic distance significantly promoted exports due to the demand and complementarity of trade between countries. After the technological added value is considered, the cultural distance significantly promoted the export of high-tech agricultural products. It is confirmed that the institutional distance remained the greatest obstacle to agricultural exports, and economic distance promoted agricultural exports. It is imperative to focus on promoting mutual cultural understanding and communication of institutional policies to stimulate agricultural exports and improve the exports of agricultural products of high technological content.

The Impact of Multi-Dimensional Vectors on China’s Agricultural Products Export: Based on fsQCA

“…Because of the differences in national institutional environment and cultural background, single index measurement is one-sided. Therefore, multidimensional distance indices are employed to measure the impacts on trade [2]. Usually, bilateral trade shows greater sensitivity to institutional distance than cultural distance, especially with regard to agricultural products [2,7].…”

“…Therefore, multidimensional distance indices are employed to measure the impacts on trade [2]. Usually, bilateral trade shows greater sensitivity to institutional distance than cultural distance, especially with regard to agricultural products [2,7]. Hofstede's six-dimensional theory of culture includes power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, indulgence/restraint, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term/short-term orientation.…”

“…Table 1 indicates the serious imbalance of agricultural trade in China and the urgent need to promote agricultural exports. Previous literature focusing on the impact of distance factors on agricultural exports usually employs a gravity model [2,3]. However, in most cases, the analysis only contains one or two vectors in the gravity regression [4][5][6][7].…”

“…"Multi-dimensional vectors" indicate that there are at least three dimensions of vectors. The effects of multiple dimensions, such as politics, economics, and institutions, are examined, and institutional and cultural vectors are found to be the leading factors for the export through gravity model [2]. Based on gravity regression, the impact of three-dimensional vectors of culture, geography, and institutions on China's agricultural product imports and exports is discussed.…”

Exploring the Development of Agricultural Trade between China and ASEAN under the RCEP: A SWOT Analysis

“…The establishment of the largest, highest-standard free trade area in the Asia-Pacific 7 region through the signing of the RCEP is a significant step forward for regional economic integration in Asia. 8 In particular, the RCEP Agreement's adjustment of agricultural tariffs and elimination of agricultural export subsidies will aid the continued growth of agricultural trade between China and the RCEP partner countries as a comprehensive, 9 contemporary, high-quality, and mutually beneficial free trade agreement.…”