Do Geographical Indication Products Promote the Growth of the Agricultural Economy? An Empirical Study Based on Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Do geographical indication products help facilitate the development of the agricultural economy? This problem is a point of controversy in the field of global agricultural intellectual property. For a long time, there have been different viewpoints on this problem; that is, there is a positive correlation, negative correlation, U-shape correlation, or no correlation between the geographical indication products and the development of the agricultural economy in the context of different studies. To clarify the influence mechanism between the two and explain why there are these disputes, this study used the meta-analysis method to statistically reanalyze 405 observation values provided in 64 independent research samples from the context of different regions around the world. The study results show that geographical indications not only generate more economic benefits than ordinary products but also contribute to the growth of the agricultural economy by effectively promoting the development of agricultural product trade and the enhancement of agricultural product price. There exists a low positive correlation between the geographical indication products and the agricultural economy (r = 0.176, 95% CI = [0.126, 0.225]). In addition, the promotion effect of geographical indication products on the agricultural economy is regulated by the country of origin of the samples, sample level, publication journal, data type, data acquisition approach, and research method. Our research findings further revealed the internal relationship mechanism between the geographical indication products and the agricultural economy and lay a foundation for better protecting and developing geographical indication products.