Internet Usage and Non-Farm Employment of Rural Labor: Micro-Survey Data from Rural China

Fan Chen (), Sheng Shi () and Wei Chen ()
Additional contact information
Fan Chen: China Rural Policy and Practice Research Institute, Ningbo University
Sheng Shi: Business School of Ningbo University
Wei Chen: Business School of Ningbo University

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2025, vol. 178, issue 3, No 4, 1102 pages

Abstract: Abstract Under the dual background of rapid development of the digital economy and ongoing social transformation, fostering non-farm employment among rural laborers can effectively optimize resource allocation and propel rural economic growth. Consequently, this study empirically investigates the influence of Internet utilization on rural laborers’ non-farm employment and its underlying mechanisms, employing Probit models and utilizing data from 1,569 micro-surveys conducted in rural China. The findings indicate that (1) Internet usage significantly boosts non-farm employment, a result substantiated by rigorous endogeneity tests and robustness discussions. (2) This enhancing impact of Internet adoption on non-farm employment is particularly pronounced among age of 18–30, 51–59 individuals, those with educational attainment of elementary school and below, high /middle /technical school and above, and residents in the eastern regions. (3) Internet usage fosters non-farm employment by enhancing rural laborers’ access to vocational skills training and public services. Evidently, given China’s current emphasis on digital village construction and rural revitalization, the insights and mechanisms elucidated in this paper regarding the Internet’s influence on non-farm employment can serve as a valuable reference for advancing the employment prospects of migrant workers and facilitating urban-rural integration and development, among other objectives.

Keywords: Internet usage; Non-farm employment; Vocational skills training; Public services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-024-03363-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:soinre:v:178:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-024-03363-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11135

DOI: 10.1007/s11205-024-03363-2

Access Statistics for this article

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement is currently edited by Filomena Maggino

More articles in Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().