互联网推动居民家庭消费升级了吗?——基于中国微观调查数据的研究

Has the Internet Promoted the Upgrading of Household Consumption?——Research Based on the Micro Survey Data of China

互联网发展是重要的消费条件,也是消费方式的重大革命。文章基于搜寻理论构建了包含互联网因素的家庭效用函数,分析了互联网影响家庭消费升级的机理和路径;使用2016年中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,运用工具变量回归、倾向得分匹配和分位数回归等方法进行了实证检验。研究发现:(1)互联网使用有助于提高家庭发展与享受型消费在总消费支出中的比重,促进居民家庭消费升级;(2)互联网引发的价格效应和市场范围效应进一步扩大了消费;(3)随着消费层次的提高,互联网使用对居民家庭消费升级的正向效应呈倒'U'型非线性关系;(4)互联网对消费结构的影响有异质性。就不同消费类型而言,互联网使用显著提高了家庭文教娱乐消费支出占比,而对医疗保健消费存在负向效应;相比于城镇家庭和低收入家庭,互联网使用对农村家庭和高收入家庭具有更强的促进效果。由此引申的政策含义是,促进消费升级,必须以民生为基础,以农村网络普及为抓手,以释放农村消费潜力为突破口,大力消除数字鸿沟。

Internet development is not only an important consumption condition,but also a major revolution of consumption mode.Based on the search theory,this paper constructs a family utility function including Internet factor and analyzes the mechanism and path of Internet affecting the household consumption upgrading.Then,based on CFPS2016 survey data,we conduct empirical test by using instrumental variable regression,propensity score matching and quantile regression.The conclusions are as follows:(1)The Internet usage helps to increase the proportion of household development and the enjoyment consumption among the total consumption and promotes the upgrading of consumption structure in the meanwhile;(2)The price effect and market scope effect triggered by the Internet have further expanded consumption;(3)With the improvement of consumption level,the positive effect of Internet usage on consumption upgrading presents an inverted'U'type non-linear relationship;(4)The impact of the Internet on the consumption structure is heterogeneous.In terms of different consumption types,Internet usage has significantly increased the proportion of cultural and educational entertainment consumption.However,there is a negative effect of Internet usage on health care consumption.In addition,compared with families in urban areas and those with low-income,the positive effect of Internet usage is more significant for families in rural areas and those with higher income.Therefore,the policy implications are as follows:promoting consumption upgrading must be based on people’s livelihood;taking the popularization of rural network as a starting point;taking the release of rural consumption potential as a breakthrough;vigorously eliminating the digital divide.