Abstract:

The construction of digital villages has become a crucial means to promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. Based on the national county-level digital village construction database, this article empirically examined the economic and social effects and its internal mechanism of digital village construction from the perspective of increasing farmers' income. The research findings are as follows: during the research observation period, the construction of digital villages significantly promoted farmers' income and simultaneously narrowed the income gap between urban and rural residents within the county area. This conclusion was still valid when endogeneity was taken into account. Digital infrastructure, the digitalization of rural economy, the digitalization of rural governance, and the digitalization of rural life, as the key dimensions of digital village construction, have all significantly increased the income level of farmers. However, there are significant differences in the income-increasing effects of digital village construction in counties with different income levels. The construction of digital villages fails to exert a significant income-increasing effect in low-income counties, which may widen the inter-county income gap among farmers. The mechanism analysis reveals that the development of rural industries and the increase in financial investment are two important paths through which the construction of digital villages promotes the increase in farmers' income.

Key words: village rural construction, increasing farmers' income increase, county region, mechanism analysis