The Effect of Digital Economy on Rural Environmental Governance: Evidence from China

Jing Hou, Xin Li, Feiyu Chen () and Bo Hou
Additional contact information
Jing Hou: School of Business, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
Xin Li: School of Business, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
Feiyu Chen: School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Bo Hou: School of Philosophy and Public Administration, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-32

Abstract: Exploring the inherent mechanisms by which the digital economy fosters rural environmental governance holds paramount importance for driving the sustainable development of rural regions and elevating the living standards of rural residents. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks and extensive literature reviews, we have devised comprehensive indicator systems for quantifying the development trajectory of the digital economy and the efficacy of rural environmental governance, employing the entropy method for measurement. Leveraging panel data that spans from 2011 to 2022, encompassing 31 provinces across China, we empirically delve into the influence of the digital economy on rural environmental governance, along with its underlying mechanisms, by employing a fixed effects model. The baseline regression results reveal that the development of the digital economy can significantly promote the improvement of rural environmental governance, even after considering potential endogeneity issues. Moreover, the test results of the mediation effect show that the digital economy can enhance the level of rural environmental governance by accelerating industrial structure optimization and improving green technology innovation. Furthermore, the test result of the regulatory effect implies that the urban–rural dual structure may inhibit the positive effect of the digital economy on rural environmental governance. Additionally, there exists regional disparities in which the digital economy influences rural environmental governance, with the eastern region exhibiting a more pronounced effect compared to other regions.

Keywords: digital economy; rural environmental governance; industrial structure optimization; green technology innovation; urban–rural dual structure (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/11/1974/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/11/1974/ (text/html)

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:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:1974-:d:1513450

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().