Digital literacy and Rural Self-employed Employment Groups: Survey Evidence from Rural China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jmsd.202412111

Author(s)

Yu-hao Mao1,2,*, Wen Li3

Affiliation(s)

1China Research Center for Common Prosperity, Hunan Technology and Business University, Changsha, Hunan, China 2Key Laboratory of Digital Economy and High-quality Development, Hunan Technology and Business University, Changsha, Hunan, China 3School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha, Hunan, China *Corresponding Author.

Abstract

The digital economy has a huge impact on individual employment behavior, and numerous scholars have discussed the impact of the digital economy on employment. This paper empirically examines the impact of individual digital literacy on rural self-employment employment based on CFPS 2020 data. It is found that digital literacy provides the probability of self-employment employment for rural residents. Further categorizing self-employment into subsistence self-employment and entrepreneurial self-employment, it is found that digital literacy increases the probability of subsistence self-employment and entrepreneurial self-employment, with a greater impact on subsistence self-employment. The article's recommendations to address self-employment, implement employment security, and promote the transformation of digital technology into practical benefits have some practical reference value and policy implications.

Keywords

Digital Literacy; Informal Employment; Self-Employment; Digital Divide

References

[1] Scheerder Anique, Alexander Van Deursen, and Jan Van Dijk. Determinants of Internet Skills, Uses and Outcomes. A Systematic Review of the Second- and Third-Level Digital Divide. Telematics and Informatics, 2017, 34 (8): 1607-1624. [2] Calderon Gomez Daniel. The Third Digital Divide and Bourdieu: Bidirectional Conversion of Economic, Cultural, and Social Capital to (and from) Digital Capital Among Young People in Madrid. Capital Among Young People in Madrid. New Media & Society, 2021, 23 (9): 2534-2553. [3] Sen Amartya. Capitalism Beyond the Crisis. New York Review of Book, 2009, 56 (5):23-35. [4] Shan Depeng, Zhang Yongqi, Wang Ying. Farmers' Digital Literacy, Property Income and Common Wealth. Journal of Central University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), 2022, 49 (3): 143-153. [5] He Zongyue, Song Xuguang. Mechanisms and Implications of the Digital Economy for Employment - Reflections After the Epidemic. The Economist, 2020 (5): 58-68. [6] Zhang Kangsi, Liu Cuihua, Ding Shulei. Research on the Wage Difference Between Formal and Informal Employment. China Population Science, 2018 (1): 83-94+128. [7] He Wenjiong. Digitalisation, Informal Employment and Social Security System Reform. Social Security Review, 2020, 4 (3): 15-27. [8] Yang Deli, Zhou Qi. Digital Economy, Individual Ability and Wage Differentials of Migrant Workers - A Multi-Layer Model Analysis Based on Formal and Informal Employment. Western Forum, 2023 (3): 15-31. [9] Shi Danzhe, Lai De-Sheng. Progress in the Study of Self-Employment. Economics Dynamics, 2013 (10): 143-151. [10] Wang Jie, Cai Zhijian, Ji Xing. Digital Literacy, Farmer Entrepreneurship and Relative Poverty Alleviation. E-Government, 2022 (8): 15-31.