Digital Revolution and Employment Choice of Rural Labor Force: Evidence from the Perspective of Digital Skills

Xiumei Wang, Yongjian Huang (), Yingying Zhao and Jingxuan Feng
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Xiumei Wang: School of Economics and Management, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Yongjian Huang: School of Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 102206, China
Yingying Zhao: School of Economics, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 102488, China
Jingxuan Feng: School of International Business and Management, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: The practical implementation of the employment promotion effect of the digital economy is closely linked to rural laborers’ digital skills (DS). Therefore, this study uses the Mprobit model to empirically test the impact of DS on rural labor employment choices. The results show that: (1) the acquisition of DS by the rural labor force significantly increases the rate of off-farm employment and entrepreneurship but has no significant effect on farm employment, with work skills having the most significant positive impact on the rural labor force off-farm employment and online business skills having the most significant positive impact on rural labor force entrepreneurship. (2) The mechanism test reveals that DS influences the employment choices of the rural labor force by alleviating the information access constraint and financing constraints faced by rural labor. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that males and rural laborers in rich regions can benefit from entrepreneurship. In contrast, females and low-skilled and rural laborers in middle and poor regions can benefit more from off-farm employment. Our findings provide empirical evidence on effectively cultivating DS to increase the diversity of employment choices for the rural workforce and highlight the importance of improving DS.

Keywords: digital economy; digital skills (DS); employment choice; off-farm employment; entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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