Mobile Phone as a Technological Driver of Labor Productivity for Coffee Farmers in Vietnam and Thailand for the 2010–2022 Period

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of mobile phone adoption on labor productivity among smallholder coffee farmers in Vietnam and Thailand over time. Despite the documented benefits of information and communication technologies in the broader agricultural sector, empirical evidence linking mobile phone adoption specifically to labor productivity in the Southeast Asian coffee industry remains limited. Using panel data from the Thailand Vietnam Socio Economic Panel TVSEP for the period 2007 to 2022, the study employs ordinary least squares, random effects, and fixed effects regression models, validated through the Hausman test, to control for time invariant household heterogeneity.

The findings reveal that mobile phone adoption significantly increases real net income per capita by approximately 10.4%. Furthermore, after controlling for asset intensity and technological factors, no statistically significant differences in productivity were observed between Thai and Vietnamese farmers. Temporal analysis highlights a notable increase in productivity during 2016 to 2017. These results suggest that while digital tools, particularly mobile technology, play a vital role in improving efficiency, they should be integrated with broader agricultural support policies to ensure sustained productivity and resilience against volatile global market conditions.