IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v47y2023i9s0308596123001271.html

Digital dividend or digital divide? Digital economy and urban-rural income inequality in China

Author

Listed:
  • Peng, Zhuangzhuang
  • Dan, Ting

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the digital economy on income inequality between urban and rural areas. Panel data covering 194 cities in China from 2011 to 2018 are employed to construct a digital economy development index using the entropy value method. Nonlinear and threshold models are executed to ascertain how digital economy development influences the urban-rural income gap in China. The results reveal a U-shaped relationship between the digital economy and the urban-rural income gap. Furthermore, the threshold effect analysis demonstrates a digital divide in diverse regions due to different urbanization stages. This study furnishes empirical evidence for attaining balanced urban-rural development in the digital economy in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng, Zhuangzhuang & Dan, Ting, 2023. "Digital dividend or digital divide? Digital economy and urban-rural income inequality in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:47:y:2023:i:9:s0308596123001271
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2023.102616
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596123001271
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2023.102616?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olena Ivus & Matthew Boland, 2015. "The employment and wage impact of broadband deployment in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(5), pages 1803-1830, December.
    2. Wang, Xiang & Shao, Shuai & Li, Ling, 2019. "Agricultural inputs, urbanization, and urban-rural income disparity: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 67-84.
    3. Pan, Wenrong & Xie, Tao & Wang, Zhuwang & Ma, Lisha, 2022. "Digital economy: An innovation driver for total factor productivity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 303-311.
    4. Jenny C. Aker, 2011. "Dial “A” for agriculture: a review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(6), pages 631-647, November.
    5. David Lagakos, 2020. "Urban-Rural Gaps in the Developing World: Does Internal Migration Offer Opportunities?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 174-192, Summer.
    6. Wang, Siliang & Tan, Shukui & Yang, Shengfu & Lin, Qiaowen & Zhang, Lu, 2019. "Urban-biased land development policy and the urban-rural income gap: Evidence from Hubei Province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Ogutu, Sylvester Ochieng & Okello, Julius Juma & Otieno, David Jakinda, 2014. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology-Based Market Information Services on Smallholder Farm Input Use and Productivity: The Case of Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 311-321.
    8. Ferreira, João J.M. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Ferreira, Fernando A.F., 2019. "To be or not to be digital, that is the question: Firm innovation and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 583-590.
    9. Xiaolan Fu & Shaheen Akter, 2016. "The Impact of Mobile Phone Technology on Agricultural Extension Services Delivery: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(11), pages 1561-1576, November.
    10. Ofori, Isaac K. & Osei, Dennis B. & Alagidede, Imhotep P., 2022. "Inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the interaction between ICT diffusion and financial development," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46(7).
    11. Mehmet Güney Celbis & Denis de Crombrugghe, 2018. "Internet infrastructure and regional convergence: Evidence from Turkey," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(2), pages 387-409, June.
    12. Anders Akerman & Edwin Leuven & Magne Mogstad, 2022. "Information Frictions, Internet, and the Relationship between Distance and Trade," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 133-163, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wantchekon, Leonard & Riaz, Zara, 2019. "Mobile technology and food access," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 344-356.
    2. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J., 2023. "Accelerating technical change through ICT: Evidence from a video-mediated extension experiment in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    3. Yi Cai & Wene Qi & Famin Yi, 2023. "Smartphone use and willingness to adopt digital pest and disease management: Evidence from litchi growers in rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 131-147, January.
    4. Shibo Gao & Jing Zhang & Zuopeng Ma & Guolei Zhou & Yanjun Liu & Yuliang Liu, 2025. "Digital Economy Development and Urban–Rural Integration in Northeast China: An Empirical Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, May.
    5. Ni Zhuo & Baozhi Li & Qibiao Zhu & Chen Ji, 2023. "Smartphone‐based agricultural extension services and farm incomes: Evidence from Zhejiang Province in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1383-1402, August.
    6. Li, Xitong & He, Peiming & Liao, Honglin & Liu, Jindan & Chen, Litai, 2024. "Does network infrastructure construction reduce urban–rural income inequality? Based on the “Broadband China” policy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    7. Wang, Jingyi & Guan, Hongjun & Zhang, Jie, 2025. "The impact of the digital economy on energy productivity: An empirical analysis based on 30 provinces in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    8. Li, Mengxu & Liu, Jianghua & Chen, Yang & Yang, Zhijiu, 2023. "Can sustainable development strategy reduce income inequality in resource-based regions? A natural resource dependence perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Hao & Liang, Chunyan & Feng, Yu & Hu, Feng, 2023. "Impact of the digital economy on high-quality urban economic development: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Bjorn Van Campenhout & David J. Spielman & Els Lecoutere, 2021. "Information and Communication Technologies to Provide Agricultural Advice to Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 317-337, January.
    11. Yang Liu & Yanlin Yang & Huihui Li & Kaiyang Zhong, 2022. "Digital Economy Development, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: Empirical Evidence from China’s Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-23, February.
    12. Huang, Jie & Lu, Hongyang & Du, Minzhe, 2025. "Can digital economy narrow the regional economic gap? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Hong, Yan-Zhen & Chang, Hung-Hao, 2020. "Does digitalization affect the objective and subjective wellbeing of forestry farm households? Empirical evidence in Fujian Province of China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    14. Jianxu Liu & Xiaoqing Li & Shutong Liu & Sanzidur Rahman & Songsak Sriboonchitta, 2022. "Addressing Rural–Urban Income Gap in China through Farmers’ Education and Agricultural Productivity Growth via Mediation and Interaction Effects," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, November.
    15. Lei Zhang & Jingfeng Yuan & Bing Zhu & Bingsheng Liu & Qiqi Ai, 2025. "The Mediating Role of Virtual Agglomeration in How ICT Infrastructure Drives Urban–Rural Integration: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-21, October.
    16. Ragasa, Catherine & Ma, Ning & Hami, Emmanuel, 2024. "Farmer groups as ICT Hubs: Findings from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Malawi," IFPRI discussion papers 2261, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Cai, Yi & Sun, Yucheng & Qi, Wene & Yi, Famin, . "Impact of smartphone use on production outsourcing: evidence from litchi farming in southern China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(4).
    18. Qiao, Penghua & Liu, Siting & Fung, Hung-Gay & Wang, Chen, 2024. "Corporate green innovation in a digital economy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 870-883.
    19. Huang, Tianyu & Quan, Yiyue & Li, Nan, 2024. "Reallocate to the right place: The heterogeneous effect of internet use on factor allocation of rural households in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1328-1346.
    20. Melia, Elvis, 2019. "The impact of information and communication technologies on jobs in Africa: a literature review," IDOS Discussion Papers 3/2019, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:telpol:v:47:y:2023:i:9:s0308596123001271. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    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.