Study On The Impact Of "Broadband China" Strategy On Residents’Consumption Level

At present,China is making great efforts to build a new pattern of double cycle to alleviate the shortage of investment and export in promoting economic growth and stabilize our economic growth.At the same time,information technology has become an important driving force for today’s economic development,promoting industrial transformation and upgrading,and facilitating the further exploitation of new domestic consumption hotspots.Broadband,as the basis for supporting the development of information technology,is of great significance to the economic development of China.In recent years,China has also paid more attention to the construction of information network infrastructure,and from 2014 to 2015,78 pilot cities(clusters)were selected to implement the "Broadband China" strategy,further promoting broadband penetration and utilization.Considering the importance of network infrastructure to China’s economic development,this paper takes micro household consumption as the entry point to study the economic effects of the implementation of the "Broadband China" strategy.Based on the existing literature,this paper argues that the "broadband China" strategy has greatly promoted broadband penetration in China,which not only affects the intensity of Internet use by residents and implicitly influences their consumption habits,but also promotes employment and entrepreneurship,and to a certain extent increases residents’ income,which in turn promotes their consumption.To this end,this paper puts forward the hypothesis that the implementation of the "broadband China" strategy can significantly improve residents’ consumption level.The paper analyzes the data of China Household Tracking Survey and China Urban Statistical Yearbook in 2014 and 2016 by using double difference method.The empirical results show that the implementation of the "broadband China" strategy has effectively raised the consumption level of residents in China,and the distinction between rural and urban samples reveals that the consumption of residents in rural areas is more influenced by the construction and popularization of broadband,while residents in urban areas do not show overly strong consumption behavior.In addition,the heterogeneity analysis shows that the consumption level of middle-aged households at middle-income level is more influenced by the "broadband China" strategy,and the consumption of clothing,education and entertainment,transportation and communication expenses,and health care are significantly influenced by different consumption types,except for household durable goods and housing consumption.Finally,combined with the findings of the study,this paper suggests that the government should further optimize the existing information infrastructure,standardize the development of the current Internet economy,provide residents with a safer and more convenient market environment for Internet consumption,and strengthen supervision to reduce residents’ consumption risks,so as to maximize the spillover effects of broadband construction and popularization and promote residents’ consumption.By analyzing the impact of the "broadband China" strategy on residents’ consumption level,this paper complements the assessment of the microeconomic effects of the strategy and clarifies the microscopic mechanism of the impact of broadband penetration on residents’ consumption level in a comprehensive manner,which has theoretical and practical significance.