Can digital infrastructure increase the technical complexity of agricultural product exports?

This article employs a bidirectional fixed-effect model and, based on panel data from 47 countries along the Belt and Road Initiative from 2006 to 2023, examines the impact of digital infrastructure development on the technical complexity of agricultural product exports and analyzes the moderating role of institutional quality. The results show that, first, the development of digital infrastructure can significantly enhance the technical complexity of agricultural product exports through three transmission mechanisms: improving human capital, promoting technological innovation, and increasing labor productivity. Second, national heterogeneity indicates that digital infrastructure has a significant positive impact on the technical complexity of agricultural product exports in both developed and developing countries. Product heterogeneity indicates that digital infrastructure significantly promotes the technical complexity of non-fresh agricultural product exports, but has no significant impact on fresh agricultural products. Third, the quality of the system plays a positive moderating role in the process of the impact of digital infrastructure construction on the technical complexity of agricultural product exports.