A study by Professor Hiroshi Mukunoki of the Faculty of Economics at Gakushuin University found that the development of electronic commerce in importing countries in international trade would mitigate the negative effects of the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
According to Gakuin University, in January-August 2019 and 2020, Professor Ryo et al. Investigated the international trade of 1 exporting countries and 8 partner countries, the degree of damage to the new corona such as the number of infected people and the number of deaths. It was estimated using two indicators that multiplied the degree of damage and the degree of development of electronic commerce.
As a result, it became clear that the greater the damage to the new corona in the importing and exporting countries, the lower the bilateral trade, and the more developed electronic commerce, the less adverse effects on the importing countries' trade. rice field.
However, the development of e-commerce did not mitigate the negative effects of exporting countries.Professor Ryo and his colleagues cite that the reason for this is that exporters are not advancing the adoption of electronic commerce, and it will take time to use it for international transactions.
In recent years, while the digitalization of the economy has progressed rapidly, digital protectionism such as cross-border data regulations and domestic storage obligations for important data has been adopted in each country.However, digital protectionism can impede free data transactions between nations and slow the development of e-commerce.
Professor Ryo and his colleagues need to establish a free and open digital environment in order to further develop e-commerce and mitigate the effects of the new corona.
Paper information:[Japanese Economic Review] Can E-commerce Mitigate the Negative Impact of COVID-19 on International Trade?
