The Role of Geographical Indication Products in Promoting Agricultural Development—A Meta-Analysis Based on Global Data

As an intellectual property product that is highly farmer-friendly, geographical indication (GI) products have always garnered significant attention. In recent years, research on how GI products promote agricultural development has been increasing, yet the academic community remains divided on this issue. On one hand, some studies point out that GI products can drive agricultural development; on the other hand, other studies suggest that the impact of GI products is not significant or varies. Meta-analysis is a method that leverages statistical techniques to integrate the findings of multiple studies with a common research objective, addressing controversial issues and arriving at generalizable conclusions. Therefore, to more precisely uncover the intrinsic relationship between GI products and agricultural development and to delve deeper into the root causes of the aforementioned discrepancies, this study employed a meta-analytic approach. We extracted 478 correlation coefficients (r) as effect sizes from 82 empirical articles worldwide. Using these coefficients, we calculated the overall effect size and moderating effects of GI products on promoting agricultural development. Research indicates that GI products exert a positive influence on agricultural development. There is a low positive correlation between the two (r = 0.197). Further analysis reveals that various factors at the sample, data, literature, and methodology levels all impact the outcomes of GI products’ promotion of agricultural development. Research has shown that, in pursuit of sustainable agricultural development goals, it is further recommended that governments should accord high priority to the cultivation and development of GI products. This is aimed at providing practical insights to facilitate the sustainable advancement of GI products and bolster agricultural competitiveness.