Research on the Impact of Digital Infrastructure Construction on Income Inequality of Rural Residents
As an important tool for carrying data elements and a powerful support for the development of digi-tal economy,digital infrastructure will inevitably lead to profound changes in the way of social production and life and its role in raising the income level of rural residents and optimizing the pattern of income distribution within the countryside should not be overlooked.Against the background of the"Broadband China"pilot policy,the article explores the effect and mechanism of digital infrastructure construction on the income inequality of rural residents,and further examines the possible heterogeneous effects based on the usage and access divides.It is found that digital infrastructure development can alleviate the income inequality of rural residents,and the conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests.Digital infrastructure develop-ment is more conducive to mitigating the income inequality of rural residents by promoting off-farm employ-ment for low-income groups,increasing agricultural efficiency,and improving human capital.Heterogeneity analyses show that the digital infrastructure access divide still exists among rural residents in central and west-ern,remote areas,and that the mitigating effect is greater for rural residents with higher relative income depri-vation,whose main source of income is wage and business income,and who are engaged in purely agricultural-type occupations.The conclusions provide some theoretical basis for promoting the construction of digital vil-lages in order to improve the pattern of income distribution within rural areas and realize common prosperity.
Digital infrastructureincome inequality"Broadband China"digital dividecommon prosperity
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万方数据
