Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China
The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China. E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China. Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development, yet it...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Integrative Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311920634220 |
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| author | Chao PENG Biao MA Chen ZHANG |
| author_facet | Chao PENG Biao MA Chen ZHANG |
| author_sort | Chao PENG |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China. E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China. Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development, yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation. Since the year of 2014, in order to develop rural e-commerce, Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project. This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce. Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method, our study finds that rural e-commerce has a significantly positive effect on rural income. Moreover, the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages. The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust. The following policy recommendations are proposed: (1) policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the poverty-stricken villages. By doing so, the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized. (2) Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects, increasing rural income through the “digital dividend”. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9fd56a5670ec4d2baad5d46bbebaf015 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2095-3119 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Integrative Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-9fd56a5670ec4d2baad5d46bbebaf0152025-08-20T03:57:03ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Journal of Integrative Agriculture2095-31192021-04-01204998101110.1016/S2095-3119(20)63422-0Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural ChinaChao PENG0Biao MA1Chen ZHANG2Administration and Management Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 102208, P.R. China; Correspondence PENG ChaoSchool of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, P.R. China; Correspondence MA BiaoInstitute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100006, P.R. ChinaThe diffusion of e-commerce has played a significant role in recent rural economic development in China. E-commerce is also considered as an efficient channel to alleviate poverty in rural China. Voluminous studies have investigated the contribution of e-commerce to agricultural development, yet it is lacking empirical evidence as to the effects of e-commerce on rural poverty alleviation. Since the year of 2014, in order to develop rural e-commerce, Chinese government launched the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project. This gradual involvement policy offered a natural experiment for evaluation of e-commerce. Based on village-level survey data from rural China and Heckit method, our study finds that rural e-commerce has a significantly positive effect on rural income. Moreover, the effect is inverted U-shaped for the relative-poverty villages. The estimation of the propensity scores matching model confirms that the results are robust. The following policy recommendations are proposed: (1) policy support to rural e-commerce should prioritize the poverty-stricken villages. By doing so, the marginal income effects of e-commerce will be maximized. (2) Investment in internet infrastructure and establishment of human resources for e-commerce in rural areas will have spillover effects, increasing rural income through the “digital dividend”.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311920634220poverty alleviationincomeNational Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration ProjectHeckit method |
| spellingShingle | Chao PENG Biao MA Chen ZHANG Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China Journal of Integrative Agriculture poverty alleviation income National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project Heckit method |
| title | Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China |
| title_full | Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China |
| title_fullStr | Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China |
| title_short | Poverty alleviation through e-commerce: Village involvement and demonstration policies in rural China |
| title_sort | poverty alleviation through e commerce village involvement and demonstration policies in rural china |
| topic | poverty alleviation income National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project Heckit method |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311920634220 |
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