DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Economic impact of digitalization on agriculture: a Korean perspective

  • Jung-Won, Youm (Farmer Service Center for FTA Implementation, Korea Rural Economic Institute) ;
  • Su-Hwan, Myeong (Farmer Service Center for FTA Implementation, Korea Rural Economic Institute) ;
  • Jeong-Ho, Yoo (The Division of International Commerce, Pukyong National University)
  • 투고 : 2021.10.14
  • 심사 : 2022.01.26
  • 발행 : 2022.03.01

초록

The global trade environment is rapidly changing. The spread of COVID-19 promotes digitalization, and online transactions are becoming the new normal. Currently, Korea is actively introducing information and communication technology (ICT) that uses the internet of things (IoT) in relation to agriculture. However, few studies have analyzed the impact of digitalization on trade in the agricultural sector. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how the introduction of digital technology can affect the economy and trade of Korea. In this study, we estimate the impact of introducing digital technologies using the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The results of this analysis indicate that the GDP could increase by 3.82% to 10.53%. Also, agricultural production and trade according to the model will significantly increase to 8.67% and 5.72%, respectively, through a productivity increase from Blockchain, IoT, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, despite logistics inefficiencies. Although the effects of digitalization could be significant, farmers are still struggling to introduce digital technologies, stemming from the fact that government support systems are concentrated in only a few sub-sectors. In this regard, support in this area must be expanded and diversified according to the current environment of agriculture in Korea.

키워드

과제정보

This work was supported by the Pukyong National University Research Fund in 2021(CD20211005).

참고문헌

  1. ADB (Asian Development Bank). 2020. An updated assessment of the economic impact of COVID-19 (ADB briefs, No.133). ADB, Manila, Philippines.
  2. Adler-Milstein J. 2021. From digitization to digital transformation: Policy priorities for closing the gap. Journal of American Medical Association 325:717-718. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.27014
  3. Ahn BI, LEE HD, Hwang ES, Kim MB. 2016. An analysis of the effects of feedlot modernization policy suing efficiency measurement. Korean Journal of Food Marketing Economics 34:1-23. [in Korean]
  4. Akgul Z, Villoria NB, Hertel TW. 2016. GTAP-HET: Introducing firm heterogeneity into the GTAP model. Journal of Global Economic Analysis 1:111-180. https://doi.org/10.21642/JGEA.010102AF
  5. Balistreri EJ, Hillberry RH, Rutherford TF. 2011. Structural estimation and solution of international trade models with heterogeneous firms. Journal of International Economics 83:95-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2011.01.001
  6. Balistreri EJ, Rutherford TF. 2013. Computing general equilibrium theories of monopolistic competition and heterogeneous firms. In Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling 1:1513-1570. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-59568-3.00023-7
  7. Balistreri EJ, Tarr DG. 2020. Comparison of deep integration in the Melitz, Krugman and Armington models: The case of the Philippines in RCEP. Economic Modelling 85:255-271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.05.023
  8. Bekkers E, Francois J. 2018. A parsimonious approach to incorporate firm heterogeneity in cge-models. Journal of Global Economic Analysis 3:1-68. https://doi.org/10.21642/JGEA.030201AF
  9. Ben Hassen T, El Bilali H, Allahyari MS. 2020. Impact of COVID-19 on food behavior and consumption in qatar. Sustainability 12:6973. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176973
  10. Cette G, Nevoux S, Py L. 2021. The impact of ICTs and digitalization on productivity and labor share: Evidence from french firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology 2021:1-24.
  11. CSIRO (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). 2017. Study into potential uses of blockchain technology. CSIRO, Canberra, Australia.
  12. Demidova S, Rodriguez-Clare A. 2013. The simple analytics of the Melitz model in a small economy. Journal of International Economics 90:266-272.
  13. Dixon PB, Jerie M, Rimmer M. 2018. Trade theory in computable general equilibrium models. Springer, Berlin, Germany.
  14. Expanded Trade Strategy Adjustment Meeting. 2021. Expansion of future growth engines and innovation in trade structures. KITA (Korea International Trade Association), Seoul, Korea.
  15. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2019. Digital techonologies in agriculture and rural areas. Status Report. FAO, Rome, Italy.
  16. Feenstra RC. 2018. Restoring the product variety and pro-competitive gains from trade with heterogeneous firms and bounded productivity. Journal of International Economics 110:16-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2017.10.003
  17. Galanakis CM. 2020. The food systems in the era of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic crisis. Foods 9:523. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040523
  18. Glauber J, Laborde Debucquet D, Martin W, Vos R. 2020. COVID-19: Trade restrictions are worst possible response to safeguard food security. International Food Policy Research Institute Book Chapters 2020:66-68.
  19. Gustin G. 2020. Empty shelves and wasted vegetables: Two sides of a supply chain problem. Climate Diplomacy. Accessed in https://climate-diplomacy.org/magazine/environment/empty-shelves-and-wasted-vegetables-two-sides-supply-chain-problem on 7 May 2021.
  20. Hertel TW. 1997.Global trade analysis: Modeling and applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
  21. Hossain MM, Sultana A, Purohit N. 2020. Mental health outcomes of quarantine and isolation for infection prevention: A systematic umbrella review of the global evidence. Epidemiology and Health 42:e2020038. https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2020038
  22. IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). 2020. New IFAD fund launched to help prevent rural food crisis in wake of COVID-19. Accessed in https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/news-detail/asset/41877895 on 7 May 2021.
  23. Iida J. 2020. Digital transformation vs COVID-19: The case of Japan. Digital Law Journal 1:8-16. https://doi.org/10.38044/2686-9136-2020-1-2-8-16
  24. Jouanjean MA. 2019. Digital opportunities for trade in the agriculture and food sectors (No. 122). OECD Publishing, Paris, France.
  25. Kerr WA. 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and agriculture: Short-and long-run implications for international trade relations. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue Canadienne D'agroeconomie 68:225-229. https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12230
  26. Kim RY. 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers: Preparing for digital sales. IEEE Engineering Management Review 48:212-218.
  27. KREI (Korea Rural Economic Institute). 2014. FTA complementary measures performance evaluation report in 2013. KREI, Naju, Korea. [in Korean]
  28. Larue B. 2020. Labor issues and COVID-19. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue Canadienne D'agroeconomie 68:231-237. https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12233
  29. Lee JK, Seol BM. 2019. Intelligent smart farm a study on productivity: Focused on tomato farm households. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship 14:185-199. [in Korean] https://doi.org/10.16972/apjbve.14.3.201906.185
  30. Lee WS, Son KJ, Jun DH, Shin YT. 2020. Big data activation plan for digital transformation of agriculture and rural. KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering 9:235-242.
  31. Lim B, Yoo J, Hong K, Cheong I. 2021. Impacts of reverse global value chain (GVC) factors on global trade and energy market. Energies 14:3417. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123417
  32. Malgouyres C, Mayer T, Mazet-Sonilhac C. 2019. Technology-induced trade shocks? Evidence from broadband expansion in France. Journal of International Economics 133:103520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2021.103520
  33. Maloney WF, Molina C. 2016. Are automation and trade polarizing developing country labor markets, too? World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2016:7922.
  34. Marinchenko TE. 2021. Digital technology in agricultural sector. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science IOP Publishing 666:032024.
  35. Markets and Markets. 2020. Artificial intelligence in agriculture market worth $4.0 billion by 2026. Accessed in https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/ai-in-agriculture.asp on 8 May 2021.
  36. Melitz MJ. 2003. The impact of trade on intra-industry reallocations and aggregate industry productivity. Econometrica 71:1695-1725. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0262.00467
  37. Melitz MJ, Trefler D. 2012. Gains from trade when firms matter. Journal of Economic Perspectives 26:91-118. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.2.91
  38. NABO (National Assembly Budget Office). 2020. Public finances of the Republic of Korea 2020. Nabo, Seoul, Korea. [in Korean]
  39. Nicola M, Alsafi Z, Sohrabi C, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, Iosifidis C, Agha R. 2020. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic: A review. International Journal of Surgery 78:185-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018
  40. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2016. Internet of things: Seizing the benefits and addressing the challenges. OECD Publishing, Paris, France.
  41. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2017. The future of global value chains: Business as usual or 'a new normal'? OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Papers No. 41. ECD Publishing, Paris, France.
  42. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2018. How digital technologies are impacting the way we grow and distribute food. TAD/CA/GF(2018)1. OECD Publishing, Paris, France.
  43. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2020. The impact of big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the insurance sector. OECD Publishing, Paris, France.
  44. Oyamada K. 2015. Behavioral characteristics of applied general equilibrium models with an Armington-Krugman-Melitz encompassing module (No. 525). Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Tokyo, Japan.
  45. Quayson M, Bai C, Osei V. 2020. Digital inclusion for resilient post-COVID-19 supply chains: Smallholder farmer perspectives. IEEE Engineering Management Review 48:104-110. https://doi.org/10.1109/emr.2019.2952563
  46. Savic D. 2020. COVID-19 and work from home: Digital transformation of the workforce. Grey Journal 16:101-104.
  47. Tamegawa K, Ukai Y, Chida R. 2014. Macroeconomic contribution of the cloud computing system to the Japanese economy. The Review of Socionetwork Strategies 8:101-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12626-014-0047-7
  48. UN (The United Nations). 2020. COVID-19: The global food supply chain is holding up, for now. Accessed in https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1061032 on 7 May 2021.
  49. UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe). 2018. Simple, transparent and effective processes for global commerce. UNECE, Geneva, Switzerland.
  50. Vacar T. 2020. Dual supply chains: How the pandemic is creating an artificial food shortage. Fox 5 New York. Accessed in https://www.fox5ny.com/news/dual-supply-chains-how-the-pandemic-is-creating-an-artificial-food-shortage on 7 May 2021.
  51. Watanabe T, Omori Y. 2020. Online consumption during the covid-19 crisis: Evidence from Japan. Covid Economics 38:218-252.
  52. Workie E, Mackolil J, Nyika J, Ramadas S. 2020. Deciphering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security, agriculture, and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from developing countries. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 2:100014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2020.100014
  53. World Bank Group. 2019. Future of food: Harnessing digital technologies to improve food system outcomes. World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA.
  54. WTO (World Trade Organization). 2021. COVID-19: Measures affecting trade in goods. Accessed in https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_goods_measure_e.htm on 7 May 2021.
  55. Yoo JH, Park SK, Cheong IK. 2020. The Impact of COVID-19 and Korea's new southern policy on its global value chain. Journal of Korea Trade 24:19-38.
  56. Yusuf AA. 2021. The impact of Industry 4.0 on the Indonesian economy: A general equilibrium assessment. Regional Science Policy & Practice 13:1805-1824. https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12463