Has Rural E-Commerce Increased Potato Farmers’ Income? Evidence from the Potato Home of China

Abstract

Rural e-commerce has achieved an effective interface between rural specialty industries and large markets. This paper explores the impact of rural e-commerce on the income levels of potato farmers based on field survey data. In addition, the extent of the impact of rural e-commerce on the income levels of potato farmers in the participating and non-participating groups was further explored under the counterfactual assumption. The main findings are as follows. (1) Rural e-commerce can increase the income of potato farmers. Participation in rural e-commerce can increase farmers’ income in both the participating and non-participating groups. If the participating group had not previously sold potatoes through rural e-commerce, their per capita household income would have been reduced by 27.22%. Similarly, if the non-participating group had sold potatoes through the rural e-commerce platform, their per capita household income would have increased by 36.35%. (2) Under the counterfactual assumption, the impact of rural e-commerce on the incomes of farmers who have not yet sold potatoes through e-commerce platforms is more profound. The marginal income increasing effect of rural e-commerce is currently at an incremental stage, and selling potatoes through an e-commerce platform can lead to higher returns for farmers. (3) Gender, farm household differentiation, self-employment experience, arable land area, position in village and whether participating in agricultural associations or cooperatives are important factors that simultaneously influence farmers’ e-commerce participation decisions and income levels. Education and health level can influence farmers’ e-commerce participation decisions. Age, farming years, dependency ratio and accessibility to irrigation can influence farmers’ income level.

Can E-commerce development policies promote the high-quality development of agriculture?—A quasi-natural experiment based on a China’s E-commerce demonstration city

“…Overall, the empirical research in this paper confirms that the E-commerce development policy has a significant, positive, and sustainable impact on high-quality agricultural development. This not only dramatically enriches the literature on the impact of e-commerce [ 8 – 11 ] and the development of agricultural e-commerce [ 21 , 43 ], providing empirical support for the rationality and effectiveness of various forms of e-commerce to assist agriculture, but also provides empirical evidence for local governments to use E-commerce to enable high-quality agricultural development. In addition, this study also found that for cities with good primary conditions for development, E-commerce development has a more significant positive impact on high-quality agricultural development.…”

“…Through cluster effects, carbon emissions have been reduced [ 14 , 15 ], agricultural pollution has been alleviated [ 16 , 17 ], agricultural technological innovation has been promoted [ 18 , 19 ], and agricultural factor input efficiency has been improved [ 14 ]. The development of agricultural e-commerce will actively promote the upgrading and high-quality development of agricultural industry [ 4 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Impact of Rural E-Commerce Participation on Farmers’ Household Development Resilience: Evidence from 1229 Farmers in China

“…In the context of rural e-commerce development, scholars concur that, in a narrow sense, rural e-commerce refers to the utilization of internet platforms for rural network marketing in specific environments [48]. However, in a broader sense, rural e-commerce entails the integration of all stages in agricultural production-supply-marketing, including production, transportation, and consumer consumption, intending to achieve income for farmers, profits for practitioners, and benefits for consumers [49].…”

Analysis of Income Effects of Agricultural Technology Services on Farm Households

“…Integrated development and diversification of the agricultural industry positively affect farmers' income, with a significant inverted "U" shaped relationship between leisure agriculture and income 10,11 . Organizational models, vertical integration, farmers' motivation, job satisfaction, e-commerce, industrial structure upgrading, and digital transformation of agriculture all improve farmers' income [12][13][14][15][16] .…”