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Can the Internet improve agricultural production? Evidence from Viet Nam
Author(s) -
Kaila Heidi,
Tarp Finn
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.29
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1574-0862
pISSN - 0169-5150
DOI - 10.1111/agec.12517
Subject(s) - the internet , agriculture , production (economics) , livelihood , government (linguistics) , business , viet nam , agricultural economics , internet access , agricultural productivity , economic growth , economics , marketing , geography , economy , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , world wide web , computer science , macroeconomics
This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on the potential benefits of the Internet on rural livelihoods. We estimate the relationship between Internet access and agricultural production in rural Viet Nam using a panel dataset from 2008–2012. This is a time span during which Internet access increased substantially and government‐run and private online outlets providing information about agriculture started to operate. Our findings suggest that Internet access is associated with a 6.8% higher volume of total agricultural output. We find that this result is manifested through more efficient use of fertilizer. Our findings are stronger for younger households. The less developed northern provinces have benefited the most from the arrival of the Internet. The results are weaker in the case of rice, which is related to strong government involvement in rice production and prices.