The Impact Of Multidimensional Distance On China’s Agricultural Exports

In the context of an open economy,China’s agricultural exports are influenced by multiple factors.Based on relevant data from 63 countries from 2002 to 2020,the CAGE distance theoretical framework is introduced to explore the impact of multidimensional distance,that is,institutional distance,geographical distance,economic distance and cultural distance,on China’s agricultural exports and make an empirical analysis.Further,a qualitative comparative analysis(QCA)was conducted to identify the pathways of multidimensional distance factors on China’s agricultural exports in recent years.The results show that(1)geographical distance,institutional distance and cultural distance all significantly inhibit China’s agricultural exports;economic distance significantly promotes China’s agricultural exports due to the complementarity of inter-country trade.The degree of influence is institutional distance > geographic distance > economic distance > cultural distance.After considering the value-added factor of agricultural products there are differences in the influence of distance variables for different technological value-added agricultural products,among which the influence of cultural distance and economic distance has significant differentiation,mainly reflected in the cultural distance significantly promotes the export of high technical value-added agricultural products.(2)Based on the qualitative comparative analysis(QCA)comparing China’s high-level and non-high-level agricultural exports,there are differences in the grouping paths of geographic distance,economic distance,cultural distance and institutional distance,but the core condition variables in the antecedent grouping paths of the two outcome variables are consistent in the overall structure,that is,geographic distance,economic distance,cultural distance and institutional distance all act as core conditions play an important influence in different or the same histogram paths,which further proves that economic distance,cultural distance,geographical distance and institutional distance all have an important influence on China’s agricultural exports,and it is of theoretical and practical significance to explore the impact of multidimensional distance on China’s agricultural exports from a histological perspective;at the time level,the distance histogram paths over time 2016 to 2020 have some similarity,and the influence of multidimensional distance on China’s agricultural exports paths have some stability.Therefore,it is suggested that,firstly,the differences between countries in terms of institutions,economies,cultures and geography should be fully understood,and trade policies between countries should be optimized based on a group perspective.Secondly,in the short term,a more complete logistics network should be built to improve the efficiency of agricultural products transportation and reduce the influence of geographical distance;in the long term,the exchange and communication of institutional policies and cultural information should be vigorously promoted to reduce the influence of institutional and cultural distance and promote agricultural exports.Thirdly,gradually promote the progress of agricultural technology and change the way China’s agricultural exports grow.Fourth,speed up the process of negotiating FTAs with neighboring countries and strengthen international agricultural cooperation.Fifth,gradually increase the technological added value of China’s agricultural exports,optimize the structure of agricultural export trade and improve the international competitiveness of agricultural products.