IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/chinae/v33y2025i5p78-112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Digital Economy and Rural Household Consumption: A Quasi‐natural Experiment Based on the National Rural E‐commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project

Author

Listed:
  • Zishuo Wu
  • Zhichao Yin
  • Yu Yan

Abstract

E‐commerce has become a driver of economic development in China. Drawing on China Household Finance Survey data from 2013 to 2023, this study examined the impact of the National Rural E‐commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project (NRECDP) on rural household consumption using a staggered difference‐in‐differences model. The results indicated that the NRECDP increased per capita consumption of rural households by RMB 321. Mechanism analysis revealed two main channels: First, the NRECDP promoted rural household participation in online sales, encouraged changes in planting structures, and raised income from agricultural sales, thereby easing liquidity constraints and stimulating consumption. Second, the project boosted online shopping, particularly in regions with limited market access and small market size, suggesting that it reduced transaction costs and geographic barriers, thereby unlocking latent consumption potential. Heterogeneity analysis showed that the digital economy had a stronger positive effect on households with lower education levels, those without formal loans, and the elderly. Further analysis demonstrated a synergistic effect between digital finance and the project in promoting rural consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Zishuo Wu & Zhichao Yin & Yu Yan, 2025. "The Digital Economy and Rural Household Consumption: A Quasi‐natural Experiment Based on the National Rural E‐commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 33(5), pages 78-112, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:33:y:2025:i:5:p:78-112
    DOI: 10.1111/cwe.12608
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12608
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/cwe.12608?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:33:y:2025:i:5:p:78-112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwepacn.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.