IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v82y2023ics1043951x23001323.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internet access and older adults' health: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Ding, Xiangyuan
  • Yuan, Luoqi
  • Zhou, Yi

Abstract

In the context of China's rapid population aging and internet expansion, this study examines the impact of information and communication technologies on the of older adults’ health. Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011–2018, we find that internet access improves older adults' self-reported health, mental health, and activities of daily living (ADL). Further investigations provide evidence for several underlying mechanisms, including improving social participation, promoting healthy behaviors, and encouraging intergenerational interactions. Heterogeneity analyses show that disadvantaged groups, such as those with any ADL difficulty and without social participation or a spouse, benefit more from internet access.

Suggested Citation

  • Ding, Xiangyuan & Yuan, Luoqi & Zhou, Yi, 2023. "Internet access and older adults' health: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:82:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23001323
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2023.102047
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X23001323
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2023.102047?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    2. Anders Akerman & Ingvil Gaarder & Magne Mogstad, 2015. "The Skill Complementarity of Broadband Internet," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1781-1824.
    3. Hannes Schwandt, 2018. "Wealth Shocks and Health Outcomes: Evidence from Stock Market Fluctuations," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 349-377, October.
    4. Itai Ater & Eugene Orlov, 2015. "The Effect of the Internet on Performance and Quality: Evidence from the Airline Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(1), pages 180-194, March.
    5. Manudeep Bhuller & Tarjei Havnes & Edwin Leuven & Magne Mogstad, 2013. "Broadband Internet: An Information Superhighway to Sex Crime?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(4), pages 1237-1266.
    6. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376.
    7. Huang, Wei & Zhou, Yi, 2013. "Effects of education on cognition at older ages: Evidence from China's Great Famine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 54-62.
    8. Kolko, Jed, 2012. "Broadband and local growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 100-113.
    9. Luca Braghieri & Ro'ee Levy & Alexey Makarin, 2022. "Social Media and Mental Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(11), pages 3660-3693, November.
    10. Michael DiNardi & Melanie Guldi & David Simon, 2019. "Body weight and Internet access: evidence from the rollout of broadband providers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 877-913, July.
    11. McDool, Emily & Powell, Philip & Roberts, Jennifer & Taylor, Karl, 2020. "The internet and children’s psychological wellbeing," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    12. Rooks, Ronica N. & Wiltshire, Jacqueline C. & Elder, Keith & BeLue, Rhonda & Gary, Lisa C., 2012. "Health information seeking and use outside of the medical encounter: Is it associated with race and ethnicity?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 176-184.
    13. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    14. Ronald Lee & Yi Zhou, 2017. "Does Fertility or Mortality Drive Contemporary Population Aging? The Revisionist View Revisited," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 285-301, June.
    15. Sergei Guriev & Nikita Melnikov & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2021. "3G Internet and Confidence in Government," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(4), pages 2533-2613.
    16. Chen, Lipeng & Liu, Wanlin, 2022. "The effect of Internet access on body weight: Evidence from China," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. DeStefano, Timothy & Kneller, Richard & Timmis, Jonathan, 2018. "Broadband infrastructure, ICT use and firm performance: Evidence for UK firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 110-139.
    18. Wang, Ruoxi & Chen, Zhuo & Zhou, Yongjie & Shen, Lining & Zhang, Zhiguo & Wu, Xiang, 2019. "Melancholy or mahjong? Diversity, frequency, type, and rural-urban divide of social participation and depression in middle- and old-aged Chinese: A fixed-effects analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    20. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    21. Lei, Xiaoyan & Bai, Chen & Hong, Jingpeng & Liu, Hong, 2022. "Long-term care insurance and the well-being of older adults and their families: Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    22. Barnay, Thomas & Juin, Sandrine, 2016. "Does home care for dependent elderly people improve their mental health?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 149-160.
    23. Wei Huang & Chuanchuan Zhang, 2021. "The Power of Social Pensions: Evidence from China's New Rural Pension Scheme," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 179-205, April.
    24. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    25. Lindström, Martin & Hanson, Bertil S. & Östergren, Per-Olof, 2001. "Socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity: the role of social participation and social capital in shaping health related behaviour," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 441-451, February.
    26. Zhong, Sinan & Lee, Chanam & Foster, Margaret J. & Bian, Jiahe, 2020. "Intergenerational communities: A systematic literature review of intergenerational interactions and older adults’ health-related outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    27. Ari J. Elliot & Christopher J. Mooney & Kathryn Z. Douthit & Martin F. Lynch, 2014. "Predictors of Older Adults’ Technology Use and Its Relationship to Depressive Symptoms and Well-being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(5), pages 667-677.
    28. Weixiang Luo & Yu Xie, 2014. "Socio-economic disparities in mortality among the elderly in China," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 68(3), pages 305-320, November.
    29. Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kondo, Katsunori & Kawachi, Ichiro & Takeda, Tokunori & Endo, Hideki, 2013. "Does social participation improve self-rated health in the older population? A quasi-experimental intervention study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 83-90.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qingshan Ma & Yuanmeng Zhang & Feng Hu & Haiyan Zhou & Hao Hu, 2025. "Nip it in the bud: the impact of China’s large-scale free physical examination program on health care expenditures for elderly people," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlo Cambini & Lorien Sabatino, 2023. "Digital highways and firm turnover," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 673-713, October.
    2. Cambini, Carlo & Grinza, Elena & Sabatino, Lorien, 2023. "Ultra-fast broadband access and productivity: Evidence from Italian firms," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Shiyi Chen & Wanlin Liu & Hong Song & Qing Zhang, 2024. "Government‐led e‐commerce expansion project and rural household income: Evidence and mechanisms," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(1), pages 150-174, January.
    4. Van Parys, Jessica & Brown, Zach Y., 2024. "Broadband Internet access and health outcomes: Patient and provider responses in Medicare," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Cambini, Carlo & Sabatino, Lorien & Zaccagni, Sarah, 2024. "The faster the better? Advanced internet access and student performance," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8).
    6. Niu, Geng & Jin, XiaoShu & Wang, Qi & Zhou, Yang, 2022. "Broadband infrastructure and digital financial inclusion in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. Li, Yutao & Zhang, Jinning & Lyu, Yanwei, 2023. "Does telecommunications infrastructure promote entrepreneurship in developing countries? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 106-119.
    8. Carlo Cambini & Lorien Sabatino & Sarah Zaccagni, 2021. "The Faster the Better? The Effect of Ultra-Fast Broadband on Students’ Performance," CEBI working paper series 21-14, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    9. Jin, Xin & Ma, Baojie & Zhang, Haifeng, 2023. "Impact of fast internet access on employment: Evidence from a broadband expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. Sabatini, Fabio, 2023. "The Behavioral, Economic, and Political Impact of the Internet and Social Media: Empirical Challenges and Approaches," IZA Discussion Papers 16703, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Luo, Qi & Hu, Haoyu & Feng, Dawei & He, Xiaogang, 2022. "How does broadband infrastructure promote entrepreneurship in China: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(10).
    12. Sho Miyaji, 2024. "Instrumented Difference-in-Differences with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," Papers 2405.12083, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2025.
    13. Houngbonon,Georges Vivien & Mensah,Justice Tei & Traore,Nouhoum-000531164, 2022. "The Impact of Internet Access on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9945, The World Bank.
    14. Xiumei Wang & Ye Jiang & Famin Yi, 2024. "Digital Revolution and Job Quality of Lower Class Workers: Quasi‐experimental Evidence from the Broadband China Program," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(4), pages 146-178, July.
    15. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas S. & Falck, Oliver & Hüschelrath, Kai, 2019. "Does state aid for broadband deployment in rural areas close the digital and economic divide?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 68-85.
    16. Ma, Rui & Guo, Fei & Li, Dongdong, 2024. "Can public data availability affect stock price crash risk? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    17. Liu, Hong & Ma, Jinqiu & Zhao, Liqiu, 2023. "Public long-term care insurance and consumption of elderly households: Evidence from China," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Fabling, Richard & Grimes, Arthur, 2021. "Picking up speed: Does ultrafast broadband increase firm productivity?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    19. Joop Age Harm Adema & Cevat Giray Aksoy & Panu Poutvaara, 2021. "Mobile Internet Access and the Desire to Emigrate," ifo Working Paper Series 365, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    20. Zhang, Hongliang & Assaad, Ragui, 2024. "Women’s access to school, educational attainment, and fertility: Evidence from Jordan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Population aging; Internet access; Older adults' health; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:82:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23001323. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.