数字乡村建设的创业效应研究

Entrepreneurial Effect of Digital Rural Construction

在农村开展“大众创业、万众创新”为繁荣乡村经济、增加农民收入与促进农村发展提供了动力,数字乡村建设为农户创业提供了新动能。本文利用2019年中国家庭金融调查数据(CHFS),在考虑和修正样本选择性偏差的基础上,采用内生转换概率模型(ESP)实证检验数字乡村建设的创业效应、异质性及其作用机制。“反事实框架”下的分析发现,数字终端具有显著的创业效应,使用数字终端农户的平均处理效应(ATT)为16%,在重新定义因变量和核心解释变量后,回归结果依然稳健;机制分析发现,数字终端可以通过提高数字金融可得性与缓解信息约束的渠道助力农户创业;代际异质性分析发现,数字终端对中青年农户创业的促进作用更大。因此,弥合乡村“数字鸿沟”是优化农村创业环境,释放农户创业潜力的重要抓手。

With the popularization of digital terminal equipment in rural areas,smartphones and computers have become the"new farming tools"of rural families,and digital information becomes an indispensable"new farming means of production".In the context of the strategy of comprehensively promoting rural revitalization,exploring the entrepreneurial effect of digital rural construction from the perspective of digital terminal use is not only of great practical significance but also rich in policy implications.This paper empirically examines the entrepreneurial effect,heterogeneity and its mechanism of digital village construction at the micro level of rural households using the 2019 China Household Finance Survey(CHFS)data,and drawing on the endogenous switching probability(ESP)model,while taking into account and correcting the sample selectivity bias.The empirical results show that digital terminals significantly increase the probability of rural house⁃holds'participation in entrepreneurship.The regression results remain robust after replacing the treatment variable with the market value of digital terminals and redefining the dependent variable with active entrepreneurship.Analysis of the impact mechanism reveals that digital terminals influence farmers'entrepreneurship from the credit and information channels.Specifically,increasing availability to digital finance and alleviating information constraints are engines driving farmers'entrepreneurship.Intergenerational heterogeneity analysis suggests that the entrepreneurial effect of digital terminals is greater for young and middle-aged farmers.Compared with existing literature,this paper tries to make a breakthrough in the following three aspects.First,the entrepreneurial effect of digital terminals is examined from the dual perspectives of"breadth"and"depth",and"digital ter⁃minal use choice"and"digital product market value"are included in a unified analytical framework,which is conducive to more comprehensive understanding of the entrepreneurial effect of digital terminals in the context of digital village con⁃struction.Second,in terms of research samples,this paper uses the nationally representative micro-data of farm house⁃holds in CHFS.Compared with macro-level studies,the research findings of this paper can truly reflect the impact of digi⁃tal terminals on rural entrepreneurship,and can also assess the effectiveness of digital village construction in a more scien⁃tific and objective way.In terms of research methodology,the sample selectivity bias problem is fully considered,and the ESP model is adopted to discover the causal relationship between digital village construction and rural entrepreneurship,so that the research conclusions are more credible.Thirdly,the mechanism of digital terminals influencing farmers'en⁃trepreneurship is further explored from the perspectives of credit availability and information constraints,so that the mecha⁃nism behind the entrepreneurial decision-making can be fully revealed,which can provide a practical and feasible means to promote the implementation of the rural"mass entrepreneurship and innovation"policy.This paper reveals the intrinsic connection between digital terminals and rural entrepreneurship and its mechanism,which not only enriches the assessment of the effectiveness of digital village construction,but also expands the research boundary of rural entrepreneurship.It helps government departments to grasp the new opportunities of rural digital change,formulate and improve the digital program of farmers'entrepreneurship,help entrepreneurial farmers to cross the"digital divide,"and continuously release the potential of rural entrepreneurship.