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The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 107 No. 3 2025

Technology Training, Buyer-Supplier Relationship, and Quality Upgrading in an Agricultural Supply Chain

Sangyoon Park; Zhaoneng Yuan; Hongsong Zhang

University of Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper examines the impacts of technology training and buyer-supplier relationship on technology adoption and quality upgrading. We randomly varied subjects of each training group across farmer-exporter clusters—farmers, exporters, both, or none—and provided training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). We find that training farmers enhances technology adoption and quality upgrading. Yet, the effects are much stronger when farmers and exporters are trained together. We document a plausible mechanism to explain this finding: joint training improves buyer-supplier relationship, which facilitates contract trade between farmers and exporters. We find no effect of GAP certification eligibility on technology adoption.

DOI
10.1162/rest_a_01341
Volume
107
Issue
3
Pages
711-727
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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