Assessing the potential of ICT to increase land and labour productivity in agriculture: Global and regional perspectives
利用86个国家2000-2019年数据，研究发现信息通信技术（ICT）在全球层面显著提升农业土地和劳动生产率，但效果小于人力资本等因素；区域上，ICT对非洲和亚洲的土地生产率影响不显著，对劳动生产率有显著影响，且未发现ICT扩大高收入与低收入国家间的生产率差距。
Abstract Increasing agricultural productivity in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) is an important channel for reducing poverty and food insecurity. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to boost agricultural productivity by lowering transaction costs and enhancing access to information. Even though there are several micro‐level studies analysing the effects of ICT on agricultural productivity, there is scant research addressing the role of ICT in agricultural productivity at the global and regional levels. Using data from 86 countries for the period 2000 to 2019 and utilising a fixed effect panel regression with a feasible generalised least square approach, we find that globally there is a positive and significant association between ICT uptake and both land and labour productivity in agriculture. In each case, however, the magnitude of the effect is much smaller than other important determinants, such as human capital, access to inputs or environmental factors. At the regional level, the relationship between ICT uptake and land productivity is not significant in Africa and Asia, while we find a significant effect on labour productivity. This finding indicates that while ICT can provide valuable information and tools for land management, the effect on land productivity might be less immediate in these regions. Finally, we revisit the question of whether ICT expansion increases agricultural productivity gaps between high‐income nations and LMICs. In contrast to previous research, this study does not find significant differences in the effects of ICT on land and labour productivity between higher‐income and lower‐income countries.