How the new media impacts rural development in China: an empirical study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study a new pathway out of poverty for rural areas through cultivating non-farm employment: the new media utilization. Design/methodology/approach - The authors utilize two waves of nationwide micro survey data in China, China General Social Survey 2005 and 2013, to investigate the impacts of new media coverage on non-farm employment and earnings in rural China with the ordered probit model and instrument variables. Findings - The authors find that promotion of new media coverage can significantly enhance rural non-farm employment in China by 10-20 percent and ultimately increase earnings for rural residents. The findings provide new evidence for the new media as a potential newly emerging pathway out of poverty for rural areas. The conclusions are robust regarding a variety of controls and model specifications, evaluations with alternative measures, examinations within different subsamples, and estimations with constructed pseudo panels. Social implications - Encouragement of new media coverage in rural China not only can improve the rural non-farm employment and living standards but also can contribute toward narrowing the differences between urban and rural areas, thereby balancing regional development. Originality/value - It contributes to the existing literature through primarily empirically investigating the economic functions of new media in rural China.