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E-commerce and rural women entrepreneurship ——Based on the quasi-natural experiment of “comprehensive demonstration policy” for E-commerce in rural areas

Author

Listed:
  • Dong, Siyuan
  • Wang, Na
  • Fan, Chengwei
  • Chen, Shi
  • Zhang, Lei

Abstract

The importance of information and communication technology in rural areas has gradually become prominent, and rural e-commerce has emerged as a crucial driver for promoting agricultural and rural development. This paper takes the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas as a quasi-natural experiment. It is based on five-period panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and employs the staggered difference-in-differences method to examine the impact of e-commerce on rural women entrepreneurship and its mechanisms. The research results indicate that the implementation of the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas significantly increases the probability of rural women engaging in entrepreneurship by 1.6 %. The entrepreneurial promotion effect of this demonstration policy is more pronounced for rural women in the central and western regions and those with lower educational levels, demonstrating the inclusiveness of e-commerce in rural development. Additionally, this promotion effect is also significantly influenced by marital heterogeneity. Mechanism analysis results suggest that the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas can stimulate the use of information and communication technology by rural women, leverage the crucial role of non-traditional education in skill development, alleviate financial and social capital constraints for rural women, and inspire a wave of rural women entrepreneurship. The paper argues that the construction of rural e-commerce has the potential to empower rural women entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong, Siyuan & Wang, Na & Fan, Chengwei & Chen, Shi & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "E-commerce and rural women entrepreneurship ——Based on the quasi-natural experiment of “comprehensive demonstration policy” for E-commerce in rural areas," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 749-765.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:83:y:2024:i:c:p:749-765
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2024.07.018
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    Cited by:

    1. Shanxin Tao & Qin Wang & Tingting Zhu, 2025. "The Role of E-Commerce in Promoting Sustainable Local Employment in Rural Areas: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Liu, Xinyu & Li, Songze & Huang, Jikun & Xiao, Han, 2025. "Transforming consumption: How E-commerce reshape online shopping behavior and household spending," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Emma Verónica Ramos Farroñán & Marco Agustín Arbulú Ballesteros & Francisco Segundo Mogollón García & Flor Delicia Heredia Llatas & Gary Christiam Farfán Chilicaus & María de los Ángeles Guzmán Valle , 2024. "Sustainability and Rural Empowerment: Developing Women’s Entrepreneurial Skills Through Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Komatsu, Sho & Nguyen-Phung, Hang Thu, 2025. "The effect of information communication technology on entrepreneurship: Evidence from rural China," AGI Working Paper Series 2025-02, Asian Growth Research Institute.

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    JEL classification:

    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Q16 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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