The impact of information communication technology adoption on rural labourers’ off-farm employment: an analysis based on China family panel studies

ABSTRACT

Rural family income growth in China depends significantly on off-farm employment. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, this research examines the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on off-farm employment of rural workers and the underlying mechanism. We find that ICT has a positive impact on promoting off-farm employment among rural workers. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that ICT affects off-farm employment of rural workers by enhancing their risk preferences. Specifically, rural workers with higher risk preferences are more likely to engage in off-farm employment. In addition, the positive impact of ICT on off-farm employment is more pronounced among rural workers with stronger learning abilities, active learning habits, and higher learning frequency and social frequency of Internet use. This study provides valuable insights on how to improve off-farm employment opportunities for rural workers, thereby reducing the income gap between urban and rural areas.

KEYWORDS:

• Information and communication technology (ICT)
• human capital
• social capital
• risk preferences
• off-farm employment

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• J23
• D19
• D89
• E24

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ https://www.cauc.edu.cn/jsjxy/598.html.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the MOE Project of Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities (22JJD790052), the Youth Project of the National Natural Science Foundation (72103115), the MOE project of “Humanities and Social Sciences (21XJC790008)”, The Third Xinjiang Comprehensive Scientific Expedition Project (2022xjkk0305)”, and “Social Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province, Grant/Award Number (2021D028)”.