Mobile Internet adoption and technology adoption extensity: evidence from litchi growers in southern China
China Agricultural Economic Review
ISSN: 1756-137X
Article publication date: 31 August 2021
Issue publication date: 17 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of mobile Internet adoption on technology adoption extensity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses cross-sectional data collected in 2018 from 932 smallholder litchi farmers in Guangdong Province and Guangxi Province in southern China. A Poisson regression with endogenous treatment effects (ETPR) model is applied to estimate the effects of mobile Internet adoption on technology adoption extensity.
Findings
The ETPR model results indicate that mobile Internet adoption can significantly enhance technology adoption extensity. In addition, the extensity of technology adoption is also determined by education level, training, share of litchi farming income, guidebook use and cooperative membership. Disaggregated analyses further confirm the positive impact of mobile Internet adoption on the number of capital- and labor-intensive technologies adopted.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on agricultural technology adoption. The findings highlight the need to facilitate modern agricultural technology penetration by promoting the use of mobile Internet technologies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-34-17), the special funds for the development of high level universities (4700-220140), the Youth Project of Guangdong Provincial Department of Education (Research on the formation and cultivation mechanism of farmers' digital capital), and the National SocialScience Fund of China (19BGL256).
Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable
Consent for publication: Not applicable
Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Citation
Cai, Y., Qi, W. and Yi, F. (2022), "Mobile Internet adoption and technology adoption extensity: evidence from litchi growers in southern China", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 106-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-11-2020-0260
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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