Purpose-Regional development necessitates industrial advancement and financial support particularly in down-end regions such as counties. Prolonged capital outflows in these local areas not only exacerbate shortages of funds and hinder development but also weaken the socioeconomic transformation and growth dynamics of regional economies. This study employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method to explore the empirical impact of electronic commerce on county-level regional capital flows and their mechanisms within the framework of the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration (NREC) policy. Design/methodology/approach-This study utilizes national county-level panel data from 2009 to 2021 and applies a DID approach to mitigate endogeneity concerns, thereby providing a robust analysis of the NREC policy's causal effects. It also integrates advanced econometric techniques, such as Goodman-Bacon decomposition and staggered DID estimators, to account for the complexities of staggered policy implementation and to minimize biases arising from overlapping treatments and differential policy intensities. Findings-The empirical findings reveal that electronic commerce can function as digital dams, effectively channeling and retaining capital within county economies, thus mitigating the existing drain of resources to urban centers. By stimulating local credit demand, increasing credit supply and expanding financial support for digital commerce development, the policy significantly reduces per capita capital outflow from these regions. This effect is more pronounced in the western area and varies significantly with upward cost levels, education levels, digitalization levels, access to financial institutions and urban-rural distance. This digital dam effect, fortified by targeted policy measures, plays a supportive role in modifying the economic landscape by stabilizing local economies. Practical implications-It is recommended that governments at all levels strengthen guidance and financial support for rural e-commerce policies and continuously enhance the rural e-commerce ecosystem to reduce capital outflows and foster county-level development. Originality/value-This study's innovative approach and substantive findings contribute profoundly to our understanding of the economic dynamics governing county-level regional capital flows and the role of e-commerce in shaping these dynamics. The implications extend beyond academia, offering actionable insights for economic strategies that harness digital transformation to foster comprehensive county development including rural areas.
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of digital investment on Agricultural Global Value Chain (AGVC) resilience and investigate whether this effect varies with domestic market size. Design/methodology/approach-Using country-industry-year fixed effects with nine-year panel data from the University of International Business and Economics Global Value Chain Database and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Inter-Country Input-Output Tables, this study investigates the relationship between digital investment and AGVC resilience, analyzing heterogeneity by digital investment type, processing segment, and digital investment source. A triple interaction term-combining domestic market size, digital investment, and value chain downstreamness-is introduced to capture the interdependence of these determinants. Findings-This study finds that digital investment strengthens AGVC resilience through improved institutional environments and optimized resource allocation, with labor substitution serving as a key mechanism-particularly in high-income economies. Market scale amplifies this via reverse-pull and agglomeration effects. Gains are strongest in deep-processing sectors and domestic-digital-driven chains but absent in primary processing. Foreign digital reliance offers no benefit and may weaken resilience. The positive interaction between digital input and domestic market size is significant under lenient international regulations or high institutional quality, but insignificant under strict regulations or low institutional quality. Originality/value-This study addresses the critical yet often overlooked topic of AGVC resilience-a key pillar of contemporary food security. It examines how digital investment strengthens AGVC resilience, offering new insights into the stabilizing role of technology adoption amid rising global disruptions. The research further how domestic market scale the effects of investment.
Purpose Agricultural entrepreneurship is crucial for mitigating rural income inequality and advancing agricultural modernization, but it faces persistent credit constraints and exogenous natural risks. Although extant literature establishes digital finance's promotion of entrepreneurial activities, its sector-specific effects on agricultural entrepreneurship remain insufficiently investigated. This study investigates whether digital finance from BigTech firms alleviates financing constraints to promote agricultural entrepreneurship in China, addressing climate vulnerability and financial exclusion barriers. Design/methodology/approach We first develop a two-period occupational choice model identifying three mechanisms through which digital finance influences agricultural entrepreneurship: mitigating information asymmetry, improving risk resilience and increasing household wealth endowment. And we then conduct an empirical analysis using the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China (PKU_DFIIC) and firm registration data. Findings We find that a one-standard-deviation increase in digital finance index raises agricultural entrepreneurship density by 6.5%. Mechanism analyses robustly validate three pathways: digital finance reduces lending cost, enhances risk resilience and increases household wealth, primarily through insurance, investment and credit investigation services. Originality/value Firstly, we pioneer a theoretical framework integrating digital finance with agricultural entrepreneurship constraints, specifically modeling how digital finance mitigates information asymmetry, climate vulnerability and collateral scarcity. Secondly, this research focuses on agricultural entrepreneurship, addressing sector-specific barriers like production cycles and disaster exposure. Thirdly, our findings demonstrate how digital finance alleviates specific constraints in the agricultural sector, providing policymakers with pathways to design targeted financial products for agricultural modernization.
Purpose This study aims to clarify the mechanism by which agricultural digitalization (AD) boosts rural household income (RHI) in the context of agricultural land transfer (ALT) and explores countermeasures to strengthen this positive enabling effect. Design/methodology/approach First, a partial equilibrium model is established to systematically unpack the theoretical mechanism underlying the role of AD in increasing RHI under ALT. Second, the dynamic correlations between ALT and RHI are analyzed under two scenarios. An EF-ADL model is employed to test the proposed theoretical mechanism. Third, countermeasures are explored to enhance the increasing effect in terms of government intervention and innovation in ALT contracts. Findings AD exerts a multi-dimensional and synergistic enhancing effect on RHI via economies of scale, knowledge spillover, organizational effect, and efficiency improvement. A mutually reinforcing relationship exists between the ALT and AD. Without AD, ALT scale and RHI follow a convex function; with AD, the relationship shifts from concave to convex in phases. Secondary benefit ALT contract restructures incentives through benefit sharing and expands RHI's income channels. Government administrative intervention strengthens the effect by supporting contiguous transfers, advancing digital applications, and stabilizing land rents. Government subsidies rapidly activate the ALT market and boost income in short run. Originality/value Breaking the limitation that examines the income-enhancing effects of ALT and AD in isolation, an integrated analytical framework of AD-ALT-RHI is established. The phased nonlinear relationship between ALT and RHI with AD is identified. Going beyond verifying income-increasing mechanisms, countermeasures to strengthen the positive effect are further explored.
Purpose - The primary contradiction in the urban-rural digital divide is shifting from a focus on hardware facilities to a gap in software literacy. Strengthening the digital capabilities of farmers is vital. This study aims to investigate the impact of the relationship between digital capabilities and entrepreneurial resilience, as well as its underlying mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach - Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping estimation was utilized to assess the causal relationship between digital capabilities and entrepreneurial resilience, using a sample of 542 respondents from rural areas in China. Findings - The results show that digital capabilities have a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial resilience. Network embeddedness and resource bricolage both play partially mediating roles in the effect of digital capabilities on entrepreneurial resilience. Digital capabilities enhance entrepreneurial resilience through the serial mediation of network embeddedness and resource bricolage. The analysis shows no significant generational differences in the model. Originality/value - First, this study introduces digital capabilities into the formation mechanism of entrepreneurial resilience, which provides a new perspective for studying the antecedents of entrepreneurial resilience. Second, this study explores the mediating effects of network embeddedness and resource bricolage on the relationship between digital capabilities and entrepreneurial resilience, which further interprets the driving mechanism of digital capabilities on entrepreneurial resilience among farmer entrepreneurs. Third, this study introduces comparative research of farmers from different generational groups to explain how digital capabilities affect entrepreneurial resilience.
