The impact of digital ability on employment adequacy in rural China

Digital ability can increase job-searching efficiency of labour. However, the impact of digital ability on employment adequacy in rural households in China has not received sufficient attention. Using survey data from 1,953 rural households in China, this study analyzes labour participation and working time as indicators of employment adequacy. Item response theory was used to construct digital ability indicators, while conditional mixed process, IV-Probit, and IV-Tobit models were used for empirical estimation. After controlling for endogeneity, the results show that: 1) digital ability has a positive impact on labour participation rate and total working time; 2) digital ability has a positive effect on non-agricultural participation and working time, but negative effect on agricultural participation and production time; 3) the promotion effect of digital ability on working time is more obvious in households with high dependency ratio and low income; 4) both overtime work and underemployment co-exist among rural households. These results provide evidence that digital ability promotes employment adequacy and off-farm transfer of rural labour. Policymakers should consider improving the digital ability of rural households, especially those with high dependency burdens and low incomes. An in-depth discussion of digital ability should be undertaken in further research.