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Linking farmers to markets: Does cooperative membership facilitate e-commerce adoption and income growth in rural China?

Author

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  • Chen, Chen
  • Gan, Christopher
  • Li, Junpeng
  • Lu, Yao
  • Rahut, Dil

Abstract

This study uses the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey to investigate the associations between cooperative membership, E-commerce adoption, and household income. Using the conditional mixed process framework, we find that cooperative membership promotes rural households’ e-commerce adoption, and cooperative membership and e-commerce adoption significantly increase rural household income. The two-stage predictor substitution approach confirms this result. Further, participating in different types of cooperatives has heterogeneous effects on the e-commerce adoption decision and household income growth. However, regardless of whether or which cooperative households participate in, e-commerce adoption significantly increases household income. Policymakers can work with e-commerce enterprises, leverage the current cooperatives, especially the village stock economic and market cooperative, and set up e-commerce cooperatives to popularize e-commerce-related knowledge to encourage e-commerce adoption among rural households. Further, considering the regional disparities in e-commerce adoption, it is essential to strengthen the policy support for the rural households residing in Central and Western China to narrow the “digital divide.”

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Chen & Gan, Christopher & Li, Junpeng & Lu, Yao & Rahut, Dil, 2023. "Linking farmers to markets: Does cooperative membership facilitate e-commerce adoption and income growth in rural China?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1155-1170.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:80:y:2023:i:c:p:1155-1170
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2023.09.040
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    2. Yonghu Zhang & Yifeng Zhang, 2024. "The Influence of Digital Literacy on the Phenomenon of Deviation between Farmers’ E-Commerce Sales Willingness and Behavior: Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-22, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperative membership; e-commerce adoption; Household income; CMP framework; Market participation; Rural China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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