Iryna Vakhovych 1,*, Myroslava Kupyra 2, Tetiana Iankovets 3, Andrian Ulinici 4 and Sviatoslav Khimich 5
1Lutsk National Technical University, Lutsk, Ukraine; 2Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Lutsk National Technical University, Lutsk, Ukraine; 3Department of Marketing, State University of Trade and Economics, Kyiv, Ukraine; 4Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of European Studies of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova; 5Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, Kyiv, Ukraine
*Corresponding author: irina-vaxovitch@lntu.edu.ua
The study assesses the impact of digitalization, agritech investments, and digital infrastructure development on labor productivity in the agricultural sector of Ukraine, Moldova, and Poland during 2015–2025. The research uses data from FAOSTAT, World Bank Data, Eurostat, OECD reports, and the national statistical services of Ukraine, Moldova, and Poland. The study employed comparative analysis, trend analysis, integral indexing, and multiple regression techniques. The Integral Innovation Activity Index (IAI) was constructed as a composite indicator based on four components: the level of agricultural digitalization, startup activity, agritech investments, and broadband Internet coverage in rural areas. The results demonstrate a substantial increase in agricultural digitalization, from 12 to 63% in Ukraine, from 8 to 53% in Moldova, and from 24 to 75% in Poland. Agritech investments and labor productivity also increased significantly over the study period. Regression analysis revealed a strong positive association between labor productivity and digitalization (β = 0.38–0.41), agritech investments (β = 0.29–0.45), and digital infrastructure (β = 0.22–0.31), with high model explanatory power (R² = 0.987–0.998). All regression coefficients were statistically significant at P<0.05. The calculated IAI increased from 18.2 to 61.9 in Ukraine, from 15.6 to 55.8 in Moldova, and from 39.4 to 86.7 in Poland, indicating a gradual transition toward an innovation-oriented agricultural development model. The findings confirm the positive role of digital transformation and investment support in improving agricultural productivity and may inform evidence-based policies to strengthen agritech ecosystems. However, the study is limited by the use of aggregated national-level data and the omission of several potentially influential factors, including climatic conditions and regional disparities.