Infrastructure, capital, and labor: understanding agribusiness competitiveness in Chocó, Colombia

Introduction This study examines conditional associations between firm characteristics and constructed monthly monetary operating surplus among agribusinesses in Chocó, Colombia. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 328 agribusiness owners was conducted in October 2024 using non-probability snowball sampling across five subregions. The reported ordinary least squares (OLS) model included 301 complete observations. The outcome was the natural logarithm of monthly revenue less reported labor, transportation, and raw-material costs. Heteroskedasticity-robust HC0 standard errors were used. Results Higher employee education showed a positive conditional association with operating surplus. The technology-investment coefficient was not statistically significant based on the reported coefficient and standard error (z = 0.20; two-sided p ≈ 0.841). Cost-ratio regressors overlap mechanically with the constructed outcome, so their coefficients do not establish independent causal effects. Discussion The findings provide exploratory evidence limited to the analyzed sample. The non-probability sampling design, missing observations, and possible endogeneity preclude causal conclusions and population-representative generalizations. Further research is needed to assess these relationships using more comprehensive data and appropriate research designs.