Digital Economy, Rural Industry Revitalisation and Rural Consumption-An Empirical Study

Abstract

Gradually, the growth of rural sectors through digital methods has become a principal catalyst for the expansion of rural economies. The research develops an indicator framework and computes the aggregated index for the digital economy and the index for rural industrial rejuvenation across 30 Chinese provinces between 2012 and 2022 employing the entropy method. Drawing from this data, the analysis focused on investigating the potential of the digital economy to stimulate increased consumption in rural regions, leading to the introduction of a mediation effect model which aims to explore how the level of rural industrial rejuvenation functioned in this phenomenon. The study indicates that the digital economy is an effective engine driving rural consumption, which holds the promise of augmenting the consumption abilities of rural inhabitants by fostering the rejuvenation of rural industries. Furthermore, the pivotal role played by digital economy in stimulating the consumption of rural inhabitants is most pronounced in the central area, succeeded by the western area, with a comparatively lesser effect in the eastern area. The paper suggests these strategic measures: Initially, strengthening digital economy infrastructure; Next, focus on digital transformation of traditional agriculture. Lastly, advocating for the convergence of rural industries, with the goal of boosting the rejuvenation of rural industries and encouraging rural consumption.