IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v87y2023ics1057521923001096.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of the digital divide on household consumption in China

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Jianqiu
  • Yin, Zhichao
  • Jiang, Jialing

Abstract

The rapid digitization of economy and the widening of digital divide have attracted the attention and interest of many researchers. In such a context, this paper aims to identify the causal effect of the digital divide on household consumption. Using the 2017 and 2019 waves of the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data, we find that the digital divide has led to a significant reduction in household consumption. Besides, such a negative correlation results from the combined effects of (i) rising unemployment, (ii) intensified liquidity constraints, and (iii) declining financial literacy. Furthermore, it is discovered that the digital divide has different impacts on households depending on the specific consumption category, thus hindering the diversification of consumption. Our findings are expected to shed some light on the little-documented evidence with profound implications for the socioeconomic policies on the application of technology to enhance the efficiency and inclusiveness of the digital economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Jianqiu & Yin, Zhichao & Jiang, Jialing, 2023. "The effect of the digital divide on household consumption in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:87:y:2023:i:c:s1057521923001096
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102593
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521923001096
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102593?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. Caballero, Ricardo J., 1990. "Consumption puzzles and precautionary savings," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 113-136, January.
    2. Yin, Zhichao & Gong, Xue & Guo, Peiyao & Wu, Tao, 2019. "What Drives Entrepreneurship in Digital Economy? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 66-73.
    3. Hall, Robert E, 1978. "Stochastic Implications of the Life Cycle-Permanent Income Hypothesis: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(6), pages 971-987, December.
    4. Zeldes, Stephen P, 1989. "Consumption and Liquidity Constraints: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(2), pages 305-346, April.
    5. Pengpeng Yue & Aslihan Gizem Korkmaz & Zhichao Yin & Haigang Zhou, 2022. "The rise of digital finance: Financial inclusion or debt trap," Papers 2201.09221, arXiv.org.
    6. Franco Modigliani & Shi Larry Cao, 2004. "The Chinese Saving Puzzle and the Life-Cycle Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 145-170, March.
    7. Jonathan Gruber & Aaron Yelowitz, 1999. "Public Health Insurance and Private Savings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(6), pages 1249-1274, December.
    8. Ding, Na & Gu, Leilei & Peng, Yuchao, 2022. "Fintech, financial constraints and innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Attila Ambrus & Markus Mobius & Adam Szeidl, 2014. "Consumption Risk-Sharing in Social Networks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 149-182, January.
    10. Lingchen Liu & Fan Wu & Huiying Tong & Cuihong Hao & Tingting Xie, 2021. "The Digital Divide and Active Aging in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Marcos D. Chamon & Eswar S. Prasad, 2010. "Why Are Saving Rates of Urban Households in China Rising?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 93-130, January.
    12. Bai, Chong-En & Wu, Binzhen, 2014. "Health insurance and consumption: Evidence from China’s New Cooperative Medical Scheme," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 450-469.
    13. Paul Gertler & Jonathan Gruber, 2002. "Insuring Consumption Against Illness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 51-70, March.
    14. Milton Friedman, 1957. "The Permanent Income Hypothesis," NBER Chapters, in: A Theory of the Consumption Function, pages 20-37, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Song, Quanyun & Li, Jie & Wu, Yu & Yin, Zhichao, 2020. "Accessibility of financial services and household consumption in China: Evidence from micro data," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    16. John Giles & Kyeongwon Yoo, 2007. "Precautionary Behavior, Migrant Networks, and Household Consumption Decisions: An Empirical Analysis Using Household Panel Data from Rural China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 534-551, August.
    17. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang, 2011. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Evidence from Rising Sex Ratios and Savings Rates in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(3), pages 511-564.
    18. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2014. "Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs: Evidence from Kenya's Mobile Money Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 183-223, January.
    19. Chris Forman & Avi Goldfarb & Shane Greenstein, 2012. "The Internet and Local Wages: A Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 556-575, February.
    20. Schmidt-Hebbel, Klaus & Serven, Luis, 2000. "Does income inequality raise aggregate saving?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 417-446, April.
    21. Bartikowski, Boris & Laroche, Michel & Jamal, Ahmad & Yang, Zhiyong, 2018. "The type-of-internet-access digital divide and the well-being of ethnic minority and majority consumers: A multi-country investigation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 373-380.
    22. Kukk, Merike, 2016. "How did household indebtedness hamper consumption during the recession? Evidence from micro data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 764-786.
    23. Chris Forman & Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2012. "From Wires to Partners: How the Internet Has Fostered R&D Collaborations Within Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(8), pages 1549-1568, August.
    24. Brahima Coulibaly & Geng Li, 2006. "Do Homeowners Increase Consumption after the Last Mortgage Payment? An Alternative Test of the Permanent Income Hypothesis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 10-19, February.
    25. Meng, Xin, 2003. "Unemployment, consumption smoothing, and precautionary saving in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 465-485, September.
    26. Jin, Ye & Li, Hongbin & Wu, Binzhen, 2011. "Income inequality, consumption, and social-status seeking," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 191-204, June.
    27. Ogawa, Kazuo & Wan, Junmin, 2007. "Household debt and consumption: A quantitative analysis based on household micro data for Japan," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 127-142, June.
    28. Fumio Hayashi, 1985. "The Effect of Liquidity Constraints on Consumption: A Cross-Sectional Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(1), pages 183-206.
    29. Christopher D. Carroll, 2001. "A Theory of the Consumption Function, with and without Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 23-45, Summer.
    30. Melvin Stephens, 2004. "Job Loss Expectations, Realizations, and Household Consumption Behavior," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 253-269, February.
    31. Aditya Aladangady, 2017. "Housing Wealth and Consumption: Evidence from Geographically-Linked Microdata," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(11), pages 3415-3446, November.
    32. Janine Aron & John V. Duca & John Muellbauer & Keiko Murata & Anthony Murphy, 2012. "Credit, Housing Collateral, And Consumption: Evidence From Japan, The U.K., And The U.S," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 58(3), pages 397-423, September.
    33. Jenny C. Aker, 2010. "Information from Markets Near and Far: Mobile Phones and Agricultural Markets in Niger," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 46-59, July.
    34. Mondal, Ripon Kumar & Khanam, Rasheda, 2018. "The impacts of international migrants’ remittances on household consumption volatility in developing countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 171-187.
    35. Milton Friedman, 1957. "A Theory of the Consumption Function," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie57-1, June.
    36. Li, Jie & Wu, Yu & Xiao, Jing Jian, 2020. "The impact of digital finance on household consumption: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 317-326.
    37. Xun Zhang & Ying Tan & Zonghui Hu & Chen Wang & Guanghua Wan, 2020. "The Trickle‐down Effect of Fintech Development: From the Perspective of Urbanization," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 28(1), pages 23-40, January.
    38. Jie Gan, 2010. "Housing Wealth and Consumption Growth: Evidence from a Large Panel of Households," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(6), pages 2229-2267, June.
    39. Liu, Yang & Luan, Lin & Wu, Weilong & Zhang, Zhiqiang & Hsu, Yen, 2021. "Can digital financial inclusion promote China's economic growth?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    40. Karen E. Dynan, 2000. "Habit Formation in Consumer Preferences: Evidence from Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(3), pages 391-406, June.
    41. Sumit Agarwal & Wenlan Qian, 2014. "Consumption and Debt Response to Unanticipated Income Shocks: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Singapore," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(12), pages 4205-4230, December.
    42. Yue, Pengpeng & Korkmaz, Aslihan Gizem & Yin, Zhichao & Zhou, Haigang, 2022. "The rise of digital finance: Financial inclusion or debt trap?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    43. Taixing Liu & Beixiao Pan & Zhichao Yin, 2020. "Pandemic, Mobile Payment, and Household Consumption: Micro-Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2378-2389, August.
    44. Daron Acemoglu & David Laibson & John A. List, 2014. "Equalizing Superstars: The Internet and the Democratization of Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 523-527, May.
    45. Yang, Tong & Zhang, Xun, 2022. "FinTech adoption and financial inclusion: Evidence from household consumption in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    46. Niebel, Thomas, 2018. "ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 197-211.
    47. Nicholas S. Souleles, 1999. "The Response of Household Consumption to Income Tax Refunds," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 947-958, September.
    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. Gong, Zhongyi & Ge, Mei, 2024. "Does fiscal expenditure contribute to increasing fertility intentions of rural households?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Chen, Zhe & Li, Xiaojing & Zhang, Jizhou & Xia, Xianli, 2024. "Does digital finance alleviate household consumption inequality? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. Zhang, Cheng & Zhu, Yuyao & Zhang, Limin, 2024. "Effect of digital inclusive finance on common prosperity and the underlying mechanisms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Li, Jingwen & Wang, Haoliang & Soh, WeiNi, 2024. "Digital transformation, financial literacy and rural household entrepreneurship," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    5. Sha, Yezhou & Wang, Zilong & Yin, Zhichao, 2024. "House purchase restriction and stock market participation: Unveiling the role of nonpecuniary consideration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 390-406.
    6. Wang, Yueying & Liu, Qinming, 2024. "Examining factors driving household carbon emissions from elderly families—Evidence from Japan," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Ye, Xiang & Yue, Pengpeng, 2024. "What matters to reshaping consumption patterns in China? Digital inclusion and supply chain," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    8. Jin, Xing & Lyu, Kangyin, 2024. "The impact of digital economy on emerging employment trends: Insights from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS)," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Xu, Dandan & Guo, Dongli & Yue, Pengpeng & Li, Mengshi, 2024. "Household green consumption: Does digital inclusion matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    10. Xiaohui Sun & Zhijian Cai & Chongyu Wang & Jing Wang, 2024. "The Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Residents’ Cultural Consumption in China: An Urban-Rural Difference Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-18, December.
    11. Xie, Qian & Ke, Haie & Peng, Juan, 2024. "Impacts of Financial Literacy on Elderly Households’ Consumption," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    12. Du, Zhili & Xu, Jie & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "What does the digital economy bring to household carbon emissions? – From the perspective of energy intensity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 370(C).

    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. Yang, Yang & Jiang, Jialing & Yin, Zhichao, 2021. "Social networks, shocks, and household consumption in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 111-122.
    2. Orazio P. Attanasio & Guglielmo Weber, 2010. "Consumption and Saving: Models of Intertemporal Allocation and Their Implications for Public Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 693-751, September.
    3. Ye, Xiang & Yue, Pengpeng, 2024. "What matters to reshaping consumption patterns in China? Digital inclusion and supply chain," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Daria Pignalosa, 2021. "The Euler Equation Approach: Critical Implications of Recent Developments in the Theory of Intertemporal Choice," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 15(1), pages 1-43, June.
    5. Yating Dai & Jian Cheng & Daolin Zhu, 2022. "Understanding the Impact of Land Supply Structure on Low Consumption: Empirical Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Xin, Xinyi & Zhang, Anquan & Liu, Lu, 2024. "Study on the influence of Internet finance on urban household savings rate: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 45-61.
    7. Alessandro Federici & Pierluigi Montalbano, 2012. "Macroeconomic volatility, consumption behaviour and welfare: A cross-country analysis," Working Paper Series 3612, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    8. Christopher D. Carroll & Edmund Crawley & Jiri Slacalek & Kiichi Tokuoka & Matthew N. White, 2020. "Sticky Expectations and Consumption Dynamics," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 40-76, July.
    9. Wei Yang & Peng Yang & Huaiwang Shi & Weizeng Sun, 2022. "Mobile Payment Application and Rural Household Consumption—Evidence from China Household Finance Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Yang, Bo & Ma, Fang & Deng, Weihua & Pi, Yang, 2022. "Digital inclusive finance and rural household subsistence consumption in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 627-642.
    11. Tran Nguyen Van, 2022. "Understanding Household Consumption Behaviour: What do we Learn from a Developing Country?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 22(4), pages 801-858, October.
    12. van Treeck, Till. & Sturn, Simon., 2012. "Income inequality as a cause of the Great Recession? : A survey of current debates," ILO Working Papers 994709343402676, International Labour Organization.
    13. Steffen Andersen & Philippe d'Astous & Jimmy Martínez-Correa & Stephen H. Shore, 2018. "Responses to Savings Commitments: Evidence from Mortgage Run-offs," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 1, Institut sur la retraite et l'épargne / Retirement and Savings Institute.
    14. Li, Jie & Wu, Yu & Xiao, Jing Jian, 2020. "The impact of digital finance on household consumption: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 317-326.
    15. Gu, Xinhua & Tam, Pui Sun, 2013. "The saving–growth–inequality triangle in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 850-857.
    16. d’Astous, Philippe, 2019. "Responses to an anticipated increase in cash on hand: Evidence from term loan repayments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Tan, Jing & Xu, Hao & Yu, Jingwen, 2022. "The effect of homeownership on migrant household savings: Evidence from the removal of home purchase restrictions in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    18. Baugh, Brian & Ben-David, Itzhak & Park, Hoonsuk, 2013. "Disentangling Financial Constraints, Precautionary Savings, and Myopia: Household Behavior Surrounding Federal Tax Returns," Working Paper Series 2013-20, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    19. Funke, Michael & Li, Xiang & Zhong, Doudou, 2023. "Household indebtedness, financial frictions and the transmission of monetary policy to consumption: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    20. Mairead Roiste & Apostolos Fasianos & Robert Kirkby & Fang Yao, 2021. "Are Housing Wealth Effects Asymmetric in Booms and Busts?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 578-628, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital divide; Household consumption; Consumption structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • G50 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - General

    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:finana:v:87:y:2023:i:c:s1057521923001096. 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/inca/620166 .

    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.