Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 10, 2021

The Innovation of E-Commerce Technology and the Joint Development of Farm Households

(Abstract)

Qiu Zeqi and Qiao Tianyu

Historically speaking, the innovation and massive application of digital technology (IMADT) is an extraordinary technological revolution, and they have entered a booming stage in China, with e-commerce as its typical example. Existing studies suggest that the overall effect of the technological revolution may exacerbate social inequalities. We examined the impact of the initial phase of IMADT on development opportunities, focusing on disadvantaged farmers in poor rural areas with poor digital skills who are least likely to have new development opportunities. Our study found that following the natural logic of the technological revolution, e-commerce technology did indeed present a technological threshold to be surmounted in rural areas, creating inequalities in development opportunities. However, a favorable internal social environment in rural areas can counteract these negative effects and provide development opportunities for vulnerable farmers, which even narrow the cumulative gap between the rich and the poor. The national rural revitalization strategy provides an institutional guarantee for the inclusiveness of the digital technology dividend through the mechanisms of the market and society.