Research on Welfare Disparities under the Global Digital Divide:Empirical Testing from Cross-border Panel Data
Since the onset of the fourth technological revolution,the rapid evolvement of the digital economy has exerted a significant impact on both the economy and society,particularly the increasingly significant impact on welfare levels.This paper utilizes the United Nations Human Development Index in conjunction with cross-country panel data spanning from 2007 to 2017 for 149 countries and regions.The generalized Propensity Score Matching model(GPSM)is used to delve deeply into the relationship between the digital divide and welfare gap.Overall,the digital divide contributes to global welfare imbalance.The welfare gap between countries expands as the"access gap"widens,culminating in a 2.32-fold difference when the"access gap"reaches its maximum extent.The impact of the"use gap"on the welfare chasm exhibits an N-shaped trend,which first increases,then decreases,and then increases again.Mechanism analysis elucidates that the digital divide influences the welfare gap through both the health effect and the skill effect,contributing to a widening of the welfare gap as the access gap expands.The skill effect is identified as the primary driver behind the N-shaped trend in the welfare gap as the"use gap"widens.Accounting for the developmental disparities among various countries,this paper conducts heterogeneity analysis and finds that the larger the income gap between the two countries,the stronger the impact of the digital divide on welfare disparities.In recent years,the digital divide has become increasingly salient in the realm of new digital technologies.This paper explores the relationship between the new digital technology gap and the welfare gap based on industrial robot data,and finds that the welfare gap is significantly positively correlated with the gap in robot quantity.By elucidating the role of the digital economy in the equitable social welfare and analyzing the repercussions of the digital divide on the welfare gap at a global level,this paper offers targeted recommendations for advancing global digital inclusion and welfare equity.
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万方数据
