数字经济缩小城乡居民收入差距的机理与实证

Mechanism and Empirical Evidence of Digital Economy in Narrowing the Income Gap between Urban and Rural Residents

新经济地理学经典模型将贸易成本作为影响厂商区位选择的关键因素,探究了产业空间集聚的内在机制。拓展已有模型可以发现,区域数字基础设施规模及居民数字素养的提升均可通过影响贸易成本进而吸引高生产率厂商集聚以提升居民要素报酬,缩小城乡收入差距。采用2017—2022年中国省级面板数据,研究中国区域层面数字经济发展对于城乡居民收入差距的影响,结果发现:(1)在控制相关影响因素的基础上,数字基础设施规模的提升显著缩小了区域城乡收入差距水平,且分样本回归结果显示欠发达地区的追赶效应更为明显;(2)居民数字素养的提升对于缩小区域城乡收入差距也表现显著,且该影响在中西部欠发达地区更为显著,农村居民数字素养的提升更有助于其依靠数字技术拓展就业创业渠道,实现增收;(3)区域经济发展水平、区域开放度和政府财政支出规模对于缩小城乡居民收入差距也具有显著的正向影响。

The classical model of New Economic Geography considers trade costs as a key factor influencing firms’location choices and explores the intrinsic mechanisms of industrial spatial agglomeration.Expanding existing models reveals that both the scale of regional digital infrastructure and improvements in residents’digital literacy can influence trade costs,thereby attracting high-productivity firms to agglomerate,increasing returns to residents’factors of production,and narrowing the urban-rural income gap.This study uses provincial panel data from China between 2017 and 2022 to examine the impact of digital economic development on the urban-rural income gap at the regional level.The results show:(1)After controlling for relevant factors,the expansion of digital infrastructure significantly reduces the regional urban-rural income gap,with regression results showing a more pronounced catch-up effect in less developed areas.(2)Improvements in residents’digital literacy also significantly contribute to narrowing the regional urban-rural income gap,with the effect being more significant in less developed regions.Enhancing digital literacy among rural residents is particularly effective in helping them expand employment and entrepreneurial opportunities through digital technologies,thereby increasing income.(3)The level of regional economic development,degree of regional openness,and scale of government fiscal expenditure also have a significant positive impact on reducing the urban-rural income gap.