Internet usage and the income gap between self‐employed individuals and employees: Evidence from China

Xinxin Ma

Review of Development Economics, 2023, vol. 27, issue 3, 1509-1536

Abstract: Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies, we investigate the impact of Internet usage on the income gap between self‐employed individuals and employees in China, considering the sample selection bias and individual heterogeneity issues. We divided employment statuses into three types―small entrepreneur, own‐account worker, and employee. The findings reveal the following: First, the returns from Internet usage differ by employment type, which is lower for self‐employed individuals than that for employees. Second, the difference in Internet usage contributes to widening the income gap, whereas the difference in the returns from Internet usage to income contributes to narrowing it. Finally, Internet usage exerts a greater impact on the income gap between employees and small entrepreneurs than that between employees and own‐account workers. These empirical results suggest that the division of Internet access may exacerbate the segmentation of the formal and informal sectors in China.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12969

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:bla:rdevec:v:27:y:2023:i:3:p:1509-1536

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1363-6669

Access Statistics for this article

Review of Development Economics is currently edited by E. Kwan Choi

More articles in Review of Development Economics from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().