Unveiling the blueprint for rural digital prosperity: A comparative examination of top 100 digital counties in China

Yunqing Liu, Zekun Dai and Xin Zhao

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2024, vol. 208, issue C

Abstract: The current research focus in the field of digital rural development revolves around achieving high-quality digital rural construction and addressing the digital divide in different regions. This is particularly significant in China, where the issue has grown increasingly prominent. To delineate the pathway for rural digitalization and bridge the digital divide, we have constructed a Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, drawing upon configuration theory. Utilizing data from China's Top 100 Digital Rural Counties and applying the methods of Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we identified the configurational paths necessary to achieve high-quality digital rural construction and discerned the nature of the digital divide across various regions. The findings show that: 1) none of the single antecedent conditions is a necessary condition for achieving a high level of digital rural construction. 2) There are four configurational paths for high-quality digital rural construction: technology-organization combination, technology-organization optimization, technology-organization symbiosis, and environmental integration. 3) Further analyses show that the configurational path for high-quality rural digitalization in the southeast coastal areas is organization-led, multi-coordinated, and technology-environment driven. In contrast, for inland provinces, it is technology-led, technology-innovation, and technology-external pressure. Moreover, a comparative analysis of regional differences shows that the high-quality digital rural construction in the southeast coastal provinces presents a well-rounded development type, whereas for the inland provinces it demonstrates a development mode of technology-driven under government leadership. The findings provide valuable insights for rural digitalization research and shed light on bridging the digital divide.

Keywords: Digital rural construction; Digital divide; TOE framework; Configuration theory; Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA); Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162524004232
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:208:y:2024:i:c:s0040162524004232

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123625

Access Statistics for this article

Technological Forecasting and Social Change is currently edited by Fred Phillips

More articles in Technological Forecasting and Social Change from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().