Impacts of Cross‐Border E‐Commerce Pilot Zones on Digital Inequality: An Empirical Analysis in China

Wei Feng and Hang Yuan

The World Economy, 2026, vol. 49, issue 2, 280-303

Abstract: The establishment of cross‐border e‐commerce (CBEC) comprehensive pilot zones is a crucial initiative for advancing China's high‐level opening‐up strategy. This study treats the establishment of these pilot zones as a quasi‐natural experiment and employs a staggered difference‐in‐differences (DID) model, utilising panel data from 279 prefecture‐level cities and above from 2014 to 2023. It explores the impact of this policy on digital inequality within regions and the mechanisms driving this effect. The findings are as follows. First, the establishment of CBEC comprehensive pilot zones exacerbates digital inequality within cities, a conclusion that is supported by a series of robustness tests. Second, this policy primarily influences digital inequality through channels such as unequal economic development, uneven entrepreneurial activity, and disparate financial development. Third, heterogeneity tests reveal that the policy's effect on exacerbating digital inequality is more pronounced in cities located southeast of the Hu Huanyong Line, in transportation hub cities, and in non‐old industrial base cities. Finally, spatial analysis indicates that the establishment of CBEC comprehensive pilot zones has a spatial spillover effect on the expansion of digital inequality. This study enriches the theoretical understanding of the causes of digital inequality and offers policy insights for narrowing digital divides within cities.

Date: 2026
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