Factors Influencing the Competitiveness of Coffee Growers in Puebla, Mexico, to Export to the United States

Abstract

This research aims to examine whether price, productivity, quality, innovation and technology transfer (TT), exchange rate, and financing are key factors that influence the export competitiveness of the coffee industry in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Previous studies on competitiveness have explored classical and neoclassical theories and new theories of international trade. We collected information by conducting an online survey using Google Forms, which included indicators for each of the variables studied. The multivariate regression model was employed to analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables, and we used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to process the data. The results indicated that the studied variables significantly affected coffee producers’ export competitiveness in Puebla. Specifically, the model’s exchange rate, quality, and productivity variables demonstrated considerable explanatory power. This underscored the importance of product quality, production volume, and factors related to the producer’s income in the decision to export coffee rather than sell it in the domestic market. Despite the emphasis placed on variables such as innovation and TT in the literature, they had limited relevance in the used model. However, we discussed several potential explanations for this outcome.