The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China.E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China.Voluminous studies have...The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China.E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China.Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development,yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation.Since the year of 2014,in order to develop rural e-commerce,Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project.This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce.Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method,our study finds that rural e-commerce has a significantly positive effect on rural income.Moreover,the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages.The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust.The following policy recommendations are proposed:(1)policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the povertystricken villages.By doing so,the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized.(2)Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects,increasing rural income through the"digital dividend".展开更多
基金financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(71673274)the Outstanding Innovative Talents Cultivation Funded Programs 2019 of Renmin University of China。
文摘The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China.E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China.Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development,yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation.Since the year of 2014,in order to develop rural e-commerce,Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project.This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce.Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method,our study finds that rural e-commerce has a significantly positive effect on rural income.Moreover,the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages.The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust.The following policy recommendations are proposed:(1)policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the povertystricken villages.By doing so,the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized.(2)Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects,increasing rural income through the"digital dividend".
