IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spt/admaec/v14y2024i5f14_5_3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internet Development, Population Aging and Urban-rural Income Gap: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provinces in China

Author

Listed:
  • Jianing Xu
  • Aili Zhang
  • Qian Chen

Abstract

This study utilizes panel data from Chinese provinces spanning 2013 to 2021 to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system for the level of Internet development. It investigates the impact of Internet development and its sub-dimensions on the urban-rural income gap and further examines the moderating effect of population aging. The findings suggest that Internet development can significantly improve the urban-rural income gap by increasing the farm and non-farm incomes of rural residents. Specifically, from a sub-dimension perspective, Internet infrastructure, commercial scale, and development potential play significant roles in narrowing the income gap, with substantial effects observed. Moreover, considering regional heterogeneity, the narrowing effect of the Internet on the urban-rural income gap in the Northeast, Central, and Western regions is significant and roughly equivalent, surpassing that of the Eastern region. Population aging leads to synchronous changes in the age structure of Internet users; the "silver-haired digital divide" impedes the elderly population's access to and use of the Internet, thereby inhibiting the shrinking effect of Internet development on the urban-rural income gap. Further investigation reveals that the imbalance in the urban-rural population aging process, with the degree of rural aging outpacing urban areas, is a significant factor contributing to this inhibitory effect. Â

Suggested Citation

  • Jianing Xu & Aili Zhang & Qian Chen, 2024. "Internet Development, Population Aging and Urban-rural Income Gap: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provinces in China," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 14(5), pages 1-3.
    • Handle: RePEc:spt:admaec:v:14:y:2024:i:5:f:14_5_3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.scienpress.com/Upload/AMAE%2fVol%2014_5_3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Xie, Huilong & Zhang, Jiashu & Shao, Jingwen, 2023. "Difference in the influence of internet use on the relative poverty among farmers with different income structures," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 561-570.
    3. Ogutu, Sylvester Ochieng & Okello, Julius Juma & Otieno, David Jakinda, 2014. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology-Based Market Information Services on Smallholder Farm Input Use and Productivity: The Case of Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 311-321.
    4. Choi, Changkyu, 2010. "The effect of the Internet on service trade," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 102-104, November.
    5. Maria Demertzis & Silvia Merler & Guntram B Wolff, 2018. "Capital Markets Union and the Fintech Opportunity," Journal of Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 157-165.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yu, Binbin, 2022. "The Impact of the Internet on Industrial Green Productivity: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Lin Xie & Biliang Luo & Wenjing Zhong, 2021. "How Are Smallholder Farmers Involved in Digital Agriculture in Developing Countries: A Case Study from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Yi Li, 2020. "Internet Development and Structural Transformation: Evidence from China," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8.
    4. Hildegunn K. Nordås & Dorothée Rouzet, 2017. "The Impact of Services Trade Restrictiveness on Trade Flows," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(6), pages 1155-1183, June.
    5. Jin, Laiqun & Dai, Jiaying & Jiang, Weijie & Cao, Kairui, 2023. "Digital finance and misallocation of resources among firms: Evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Mario Reinhold & Stephan Thomsen, 2017. "The changing situation of labor market entrants in Germany [Die veränderliche Situation für Berufseinsteiger in Deutschland]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 50(1), pages 161-174, August.
    7. Saka Jimoh Olakunle, 2023. "Digital Technology and Trade Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 22(3), pages 480-496.
    8. Gopalan, Sasidaran & Reddy, Ketan & Sasidharan, Subash, 2022. "Does digitalization spur global value chain participation? Firm-level evidence from emerging markets," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Andrew Reeson & Lachlan Rudd, 2016. "ICT Activity, Innovation and Productivity: An Analysis of Data From Australian Businesses," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 35(3), pages 245-255, September.
    10. N'dri, Lasme Mathieu & Kakinaka, Makoto, 2020. "Financial inclusion, mobile money, and individual welfare: The case of Burkina Faso," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3).
    11. Hilal Atasoy & Rajiv D. Banker & Paul A. Pavlou, 2016. "On the Longitudinal Effects of IT Use on Firm-Level Employment," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 6-26, March.
    12. Barth, Erling & Davis, James C. & Freeman, Richard B. & McElheran, Kristina, 2023. "Twisting the demand curve: Digitalization and the older workforce," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 443-467.
    13. Xuan Zhang, 2023. "The impact of digital finance on corporate labor productivity: evidence from Chinese-listed companies," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(3), pages 527-550, September.
    14. Zimei Liu & Yezhi Ren & Yanlan Mei, 2022. "How Does Internet Use Promote Farmer Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    15. Najarzadeh, Reza & Rahimzadeh, Farzad & Reed, Michael, 2014. "Does the Internet increase labor productivity? Evidence from a cross-country dynamic panel," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 986-993.
    16. Li, Chengming & Wang, Yilin & Zhou, Zhihan & Wang, Zeyu & Mardani, Abbas, 2023. "Digital finance and enterprise financing constraints: Structural characteristics and mechanism identification," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    17. Mossberger, Karen & LaCombe, Scott & Tolbert, Caroline J., 2022. "A new measure of digital economic activity and its impact on local opportunity," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    18. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Pantelis Koutroumpis & Tommaso Valletti, 2017. "Speed 2.0: Evaluating Access to Universal Digital Highways," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 586-625.
    19. Abdulqadir, Idris A. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-61.
    20. Anil Rupasingha & John Pender & Ryan Williams, 2024. "Broadband and rural development: Impacts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Broadband Initiatives Program on saving and creating jobs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(2), pages 698-721, April.

    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:spt:admaec:v:14:y:2024:i:5:f:14_5_3. 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: Eleftherios Spyromitros-Xioufis (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.scienpress.com/ .

    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.