Does the digital economy influence rural migrant workers’ urban settlement intentions? Evidence from social networks

The digital economy has emerged as an important driver of high-quality economic development, creating substantial non-agricultural employment opportunities for rural labour. Using data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), this paper examines how the digital economy affects rural migrant workers' urban settlement intentions from a social network perspective. We employ Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjusted (IPWRA) and Augmented Inverse Probability Weighting (AIPW) estimators to address selection concerns. The results show that the digital economy significantly increases rural migrant workers’ intentions to settle in cities, with both informal and formal social networks acting as mediating channels. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that informal networks play a stronger role in small cities, whereas formal networks are more influential in larger cities. In addition, land endowments strengthen the positive effect of the digital economy on settlement intentions through social networks, with the moderating role of land operating only in the latter stage of the mediation process.