IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/agribz/v39y2023is1p1495-1511.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

E‐commerce improves dietary quality of rural households in China

Author

Listed:
  • Jiexi Shen
  • Zhanguo Zhu
  • Matin Qaim
  • Shenggen Fan
  • Xu Tian

Abstract

E‐commerce is gaining importance in the food sector of many countries, and its potential influence on people's access to food and dietary choices is yet to be thoroughly investigated. In this study, we analyze data from a food consumption survey conducted in rural China in 2021 to examine the impact of e‐commerce on individual food consumption patterns and dietary quality. Our results with instrumental variable models show that e‐commerce significantly reduces the consumption of staple foods, such as cereals and potatoes, while it increases the consumption of legumes, nuts, milk, and milk products, even after controlling for income and other confounding factors. Additionally, e‐commerce contributes to higher dietary diversity and dietary quality among rural households. In the face of shrinking physical markets in rural areas, it seems that rural e‐commerce can serve as an important mechanism to improve food access and meet the diversifying dietary demands of rural residents. [EconLit Citations: Q13, L81].

Suggested Citation

  • Jiexi Shen & Zhanguo Zhu & Matin Qaim & Shenggen Fan & Xu Tian, 2023. "E‐commerce improves dietary quality of rural households in China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(S1), pages 1495-1511, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:agribz:v:39:y:2023:i:s1:p:1495-1511
    DOI: 10.1002/agr.21864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21864
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/agr.21864?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Florin-Valeriu PANTELIMON & Tiberiu Marian GEORGESCU & Bogdan-Stefan POSEDARU, 2020. "The Impact of Mobile e-Commerce on GDP: A Comparative Analysis between Romania and Germany and how Covid-19 Influences the e-Commerce Activity Worldwide," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(2), pages 27-41.
    2. repec:oup:ajagec:v:99:y:2017:i:1:p: is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Wanglin Ma & Xiaoshi Zhou & Min Liu, 2020. "What drives farmers’ willingness to adopt e‐commerce in rural China? The role of Internet use," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 159-163, January.
    4. Qiujie Zheng & Junhong Chen & Robin Zhang & H. Holly Wang, 2020. "What factors affect Chinese consumers’ online grocery shopping? Product attributes, e-vendor characteristics and consumer perceptions," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 193-213, February.
    5. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    6. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can Mobile Phones Improve Gender Equality and Nutrition? Panel Data Evidence from Farm Households in Uganda," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 256215, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    7. Qiujie Zheng & Junhong Chen & Robin Zhang & H. Holly Wang, 2020. "What factors affect Chinese consumers’ online grocery shopping? Product attributes, e-vendor characteristics and consumer perceptions," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 193-213, February.
    8. Wang, Xiaobing & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott, 2017. "Off-farm employment and agricultural specialization in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 155-165.
    9. Fan, Jingting & Tang, Lixin & Zhu, Weiming & Zou, Ben, 2018. "The Alibaba effect: Spatial consumption inequality and the welfare gains from e-commerce," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 203-220.
    10. Mayneris, Florian & Martin, Julien & Theophile, Ewane, 2020. "The price of remoteness: Product availability and local cost of living in Ethiopia," CEPR Discussion Papers 14515, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Andrea Pozzi, 2012. "Shopping Cost and Brand Exploration in Online Grocery," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 96-120, August.
    12. Harvey S. James, 2003. "The effect of trust on public support for biotechnology: Evidence from the U.S. Biotechnology Study, 1997-1998," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 155-168.
    13. William N. Evans & Wallace E. Oates & Robert M. Schwab & William N. Evans & Wallace E. Oates & Robert M. Schwab, 2004. "Measuring Peer Group Effects: A Study of Teenage Behavior," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 13, pages 232-257, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Martin C. Parlasca & Oliver Mußhoff & Matin Qaim, 2020. "Can mobile phones improve nutrition among pastoral communities? Panel data evidence from Northern Kenya," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 475-488, May.
    15. J. Edward Taylor & Scott Rozelle & Alan deBrauw, 1999. "Migration, Remittances, and Agricultural Productivity in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 287-291, May.
    16. France Caillavet & Gayaneh Kyureghian & Rodolfo M. Nayga & Coline Ferrant & Pierre Chauvin, 2015. "Does Healthy Food Access Matter in a French Urban Setting?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1400-1416.
    17. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can mobile phones improve gender equality and nutrition? Panel data evidence from farm households in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-103.
    18. Nerine Mary George & Vinit Parida & Tom Lahti & Joakim Wincent, 2016. "A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: insights on influencing factors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 309-350, June.
    19. Pradeep K. Chintagunta & Junhong Chu & Javier Cebollada, 2012. "Quantifying Transaction Costs in Online/Off-line Grocery Channel Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 96-114, January.
    20. Khonje, Makaiko G. & Nyondo, Christone & Mangisoni, Julius H. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Burke, William J. & Chadza, William & Muyanga, Milu, 2022. "Does subsidizing legume seeds improve farm productivity and nutrition in Malawi?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    21. Yong Qin & Yingfeng Fang, 2022. "The Effects of E‐Commerce on Regional Poverty Reduction: Evidence from China's Rural E‐Commerce Demonstration County Program," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(3), pages 161-186, May.
    22. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/19upp1b1si9uarpnvu9q0gp2mg is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Gao, Yanyan & Zang, Leizhen & Sun, Jun, 2018. "Does computer penetration increase farmers’ income? An empirical study from China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 345-360.
    24. Zhao, Chunkai & Wu, Yaqian & Guo, Jianhao, 2022. "Mobile payment and Chinese rural household consumption," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    25. Huang, Yingying & Tian, Xu, 2019. "Food accessibility, diversity of agricultural production and dietary pattern in rural China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 92-102.
    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. Zhang, Hepei & Ma, Wanglin & Li, Junpeng & Yang, Wei, 2023. "Can citrus farmers earn more from selling online?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1549-1560.

    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. Sikhulumile Sinyolo & Catherine Ndinda & Conrad Murendo & Sithembile A. Sinyolo & Mudzunga Neluheni, 2020. "Access to Information Technologies and Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables in South Africa: Evidence from Nationally Representative Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Ningan Yang & Yawen Ding & Shi Min & Junfei Bai, 2022. "Does rubber expansion hinder the migration of rural labor? Evidence from southwest China?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 1108-1131, May.
    3. Jiangyuan Hou & Mingyue Du & Qingjie Zhou, 2023. "What People Talk About Multi-Channel Purchasing Behavior and What They Intend to do: Related Perspective From ESG Evaluation System," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    4. Martin C. Parlasca, 2021. "A vital technology: Review of the literature on mobile phone use among pastoralists," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 780-799, May.
    5. Pallavi Rajkhowa & Matin Qaim, 2022. "Mobile phones, off‐farm employment and household income in rural India," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 789-805, September.
    6. Weisong Qiu & Tieqi Wu & Peng Xue, 2022. "Can Mobile Payment Increase Household Income and Mitigate the Lower Income Condition Caused by Health Risks? Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.
    7. Jan Willem Gunning & Pramila Krishnan & Andualem T. Mengistu, 2024. "Fading choice: transport costs and variety in consumer goods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(363), pages 1100-1123, July.
    8. Liu, Jian & Ren, Yanjun & Glauben, Thomas, 2021. "The effect of income inequality on nutritional outcomes: Evidence from rural China," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(3), pages 125-143.
    9. Pham Quang Huy & Vu Kien Phuc, 2023. "Big data in relation with business intelligence capabilities and e-commerce during COVID-19 pandemic in accountant’s perspective," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Bosker, Maarten & Deichmann, Uwe & Roberts, Mark, 2018. "Hukou and highways the impact of China's spatial development policies on urbanization and regional inequality," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 91-109.
    11. Ikuto Aiba, 2024. "Information technology, market congestion, and economic geography," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 73(3), pages 1269-1295, October.
    12. Dimant, Eugen, 2015. "On Peer Effects: Behavioral Contagion of (Un)Ethical Behavior and the Role of Social Identity," MPRA Paper 68732, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Lang Wang & Yuping Chen & Shijun Ding, 2022. "Examining the Impact of Digital Finance on Farmer Consumption Inequality in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    14. Yanling Wang & Junqian Xu & Guangsheng Zhang & Xiao Wang, 2022. "Study on Evolutionary Game of Rural E-Commerce Entrepreneurship Ecosystem with Governmental Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, November.
    15. Chrisendo, Daniel & Siregar, Hermanto & Qaim, Matin, 2022. "Oil palm cultivation improves living standards and human capital formation in smallholder farm households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    16. Gershom Endelani Mwalupaso & Xu Tian & Xianhui Geng, 2020. "Rethinking Food Production: Nexus of Mobile Phones and Production Cost Minimization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-12, April.
    17. Evans, Olaniyi, 2018. "Digital Agriculture: Mobile Phones, Internet & Agricultural Development in Africa," MPRA Paper 90359, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Simion Matsvai & Yiseyon Sunday Hosu, 2024. "ICT and Agricultural Development in South Africa: An Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Approach," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-22, July.
    19. Yanlin Sun & Shaoxiong Ma & Hao Feng, 2023. "The New Geography of Manufacturing in China: The Internet and Manufacturing Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.
    20. Amy Quandt & Jonathan D Salerno & Jason C Neff & Timothy D Baird & Jeffrey E Herrick & J Terrence McCabe & Emilie Xu & Joel Hartter, 2020. "Mobile phone use is associated with higher smallholder agricultural productivity in Tanzania, East Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, August.

    More about this item

    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:wly:agribz:v:39:y:2023:i:s1:p:1495-1511. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1520-6297 .

    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.