数字鸿沟还是信息福利——互联网使用对居民主观福利的影响

Digital Gap or Information Welfare:The Effect of Internet Use on Individual Subjective Well-being in China

随着互联网普及率的不断提高,研究互联网使用对居民福利的影响具有重大的现实意义。本文基于中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)2010年的数据,研究发现,互联网使用显著提高了居民主观福利,产生了信息福利效应。机制分析表明,互联网的信息搜索、传播功能是其提高居民主观福利的主要机制,人们高度重视互联网在工作学习中的作用,并将其作为获取信息的重要渠道。与此同时,本文的异质性分析表明,在低收入、低受教育水平等“弱势人群”和农村地区、欠发达地区,互联网所产生的信息福利效应更强,新技术的采用缩小了不同人群间既有的数字鸿沟,减少了同“优势群体”在主观福利上的差距。本文的研究结论对于“宽带中国”战略背景下,深入理解互联网、移动新技术的发展对人们生活的塑造具有一定的现实意义,同时有助于更好地剖析新时代中国居民主观福利的影响因素及其机制。

With the widespread of the Internet,exploring how internet use changes people's well-being is of great significance.Based on the China Family Panel Studies dataset in 2010,this paper finds that internet use can significantly improve individual happiness.The mechanism analyses show that sharing information is the major channel to improve individual happiness through using the Internet.People attach great importance to the role of the Internet in work and study and regard it as an important channel to obtain information.Moreover,this paper also finds that those with low income,low education level and those living in economically backward regions,can benefit more in terms of happiness from the Internet.We define this phenomenon as the information welfare of the Internet,which has narrowed the digital gap caused by the uneven development of technology among different social groups.Our findings provide a novel perspective to understand how modern information technology shapes people's lives in China.