As a vital guarantee of food security for many countries, international food trade has been threatened by volatile international political ties in recent years. However, the existing literature lacks empirical evidence on the relationship between political ties and food export stability. Therefore, this article examines the impact of political ties on food export stability using United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voting data and export data on food products from 2010 to 2018. The chosen timeframe ensures the exclusion of potential influences from both the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, enhancing the robustness of the findings. The test results show that the deterioration of political ties can reduce food export stability: the higher the voting dissimilarity of the trading partners in the UNGA, the less stable food exports. Mechanism analysis suggests that political ties can impede food export stability by increasing tariff and non-tariff barriers. The analysis of heterogeneity indicates that the advancement of urbanization in importing countries intensifies the adverse effects of political ties on food export stability. However, this negative impact is less pronounced when importing countries have more allocation and higher productivity regarding land resources such as cultivated land and forests. This article adds to the literature on the relationship between political ties, trade, land resource optimization, and food security. The findings of this study highlight the importance of land resources with respect to reducing the risk of food trade instability in the context of volatile international politics.

This paper examines whether the widespread adoption of digital technologies in cities has increased attractiveness. Based on China’s smart-city construction (SCC), a pilot program aimed at promoting applications of digital technologies in cities, this paper finds that SCC has led to a higher urban population growth in smart cities in China. Two potential channels are suggested by mechanism analysis: improved ecological environment resulting from digital governance with respect to pollution and green production; essential digital information provided by internet users. Specifically, relying on difference-in-differences analysis, the results reveal that, from 2005 to 2017, SCC in China led to approximately 4.4% higher urban population growth in smart cities relative to non-smart cities. In particular, evidence from migrant survey data suggests that smart cities are more favorable destinations for distant migrants, and migrants with higher educational attainment and income. Our findings highlight the importance of digitalization in urban development.