Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China

Abstract Females’ participation in non-farm employment contributes prominently to social progress. Based on the data of 1674 rural females and 1656 urban females in China, this paper evaluates the effects of internet access and four specific online activities (online interaction, online service, onl...

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Main Authors: Kunxi Nie, Yueji Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-08-01
Series:Agricultural and Food Economics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00394-2
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author Kunxi Nie
Yueji Zhu
author_facet Kunxi Nie
Yueji Zhu
author_sort Kunxi Nie
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Females’ participation in non-farm employment contributes prominently to social progress. Based on the data of 1674 rural females and 1656 urban females in China, this paper evaluates the effects of internet access and four specific online activities (online interaction, online service, online learning, and online entertainment) on females’ non-farm employment using the endogenous switching Probit model. Further, the treatment effect model is employed to explore the role of online work, as a typical non-farm employment based on internet, in increasing household income and in reducing rural–urban income gap. The results show that internet access significantly contributes to females’ non-farm employment and the effect is stronger for rural females than urban females. In terms of online activities, participation in online interaction and online entertainment have positive impacts on rural females’ non-farm employment, while participation in online service, online learning and online entertainment exert positive effects on urban females’ non-farm employment. This study also finds that females’ online work increases household income in both rural and urban areas. The rural–urban income gap is narrowed since rural households’ income has been increased more than urban households. Thus, we propose implications for policy makers to support females in internet access and non-farm employment.
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spelling doaj-art-eed79b8e35aa4d85a91e84257e3f8d732025-08-20T03:42:39ZengSpringerOpenAgricultural and Food Economics2193-75322025-08-0113112910.1186/s40100-025-00394-2Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from ChinaKunxi Nie0Yueji Zhu1International Business School, Hainan UniversityInternational Business School, Hainan UniversityAbstract Females’ participation in non-farm employment contributes prominently to social progress. Based on the data of 1674 rural females and 1656 urban females in China, this paper evaluates the effects of internet access and four specific online activities (online interaction, online service, online learning, and online entertainment) on females’ non-farm employment using the endogenous switching Probit model. Further, the treatment effect model is employed to explore the role of online work, as a typical non-farm employment based on internet, in increasing household income and in reducing rural–urban income gap. The results show that internet access significantly contributes to females’ non-farm employment and the effect is stronger for rural females than urban females. In terms of online activities, participation in online interaction and online entertainment have positive impacts on rural females’ non-farm employment, while participation in online service, online learning and online entertainment exert positive effects on urban females’ non-farm employment. This study also finds that females’ online work increases household income in both rural and urban areas. The rural–urban income gap is narrowed since rural households’ income has been increased more than urban households. Thus, we propose implications for policy makers to support females in internet access and non-farm employment.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00394-2Females’ non-farm employmentInternet accessHousehold incomeRural–urban income gap
spellingShingle Kunxi Nie
Yueji Zhu
Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China
Agricultural and Food Economics
Females’ non-farm employment
Internet access
Household income
Rural–urban income gap
title Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China
title_full Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China
title_fullStr Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China
title_full_unstemmed Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China
title_short Internet access, female’s non-farm employment, and income effects: insights from China
title_sort internet access female s non farm employment and income effects insights from china
topic Females’ non-farm employment
Internet access
Household income
Rural–urban income gap
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00394-2
work_keys_str_mv AT kunxinie internetaccessfemalesnonfarmemploymentandincomeeffectsinsightsfromchina
AT yuejizhu internetaccessfemalesnonfarmemploymentandincomeeffectsinsightsfromchina