Research On The Impact Of Internet Use On Rural Household Consumption Structure

China’s unique dual economy structure has led to an increase in income and consumption levels for both urban and rural residents.However,the development of an unreasonable consumption structure in households remains a problem.In recent years,China has been actively exploring efficient and stable ways to improve or solve this issue,given the increasing emphasis on enhancing people’s livelihoods,the role of the rural economy,and narrowing the consumption gap between urban and rural residents.The development of the internet provides an effective means to achieve these goals.Despite government support and individual efforts,the income and consumption levels of rural residents have gradually lagged behind those of their urban counterparts,and the development of mechanical and intelligent consumption has made the difference even more pronounced.However,the internet has quietly influenced the economy,society,and politics by facilitating information sharing and intelligent consumption,and has gradually reached out to agriculture,farmers,and rural areas,transforming their thinking and behaviors.As such,the use of the internet has become one of the ways to improve the consumption structure of rural households.To investigate the effects of the internet on rural household consumption structures,this study used data from the CFPS database for the years 2014,2016,and 2018.After data cleaning,the study obtained12,519 samples.The study first defined household consumption structure upgrading and non-agricultural employment and reviewed relevant theoretical frameworks,such as marginal benefit theory and asymmetric information theory.Then,the study analyzed the direct and indirect effects of internet use on rural household consumption structure and proposed two research hypotheses.Finally,the study used a fixed-effects model to verify the direct effect of internet use on rural household consumption structure and an intermediate effects model to demonstrate the mediating role of non-agricultural employment in the impact of internet use on rural household consumption structure upgrading.The empirical analysis revealed the following key findings:(1)The use of the internet promotes the upgrading of rural household consumption structures;(2)The impact of internet use on rural household consumption structure varies across regions;(3)The impact of Internet use on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure is positively regulated by income levels;(4)Internet use can indirectly promote the upgrading of household consumption structure by increasing the additional income generated by non agricultural employment.The policy implications derived from this study include:(1)Improving rural information network infrastructure;(2)Actively promoting the improvement of rural e-commerce markets;(3)Emphasize the formulation of non agricultural employment assistance policies;(4)Leveraging the internet to strengthen rural labor force human capital.