The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of agricultural subsidies on grain production in major grain-producing regions. We use an empirical model and data from fixed observation points in rural areas collected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2016–2017. Our findings show that agricultural subsidies in major grain-producing regions have significantly increased rural household grain yield. Furthermore, findings show that agricultural subsidies and the cost of fertilizer and pesticides for rural households have a mediating effect on grain production. In addition, the effect of agricultural subsidies varies by type: income subsidies have a greater promotion effect on grain production, whereas subsidies for purchasing agricultural machinery have no significant promotion effect on grain production. These findings show that agricultural subsidies promote grain production in China’s major grain-producing regions, and have a mediating effect on different types of subsidies.

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of Internet use on the income disparity between rural households and to determine how Internet usage can be used to reduce this income gap. We use the Recentered Influence Function Regression (RIF) and data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted by the China Social Science Survey (CSSS) center at Peking University to make the results of regression estimation more reliable. The results reveal that Internet use can make rural households’ income gap shrink considerably, and that the degree of non-farm employment among rural families has a mediating effect between Internet use and the income disparity of farm households. In addition, the Eastern region experiences a stronger mitigating effect from Internet use, whereas ethnic minorities find out no such mitigating effect. This study expands the scope of income disparity theory, provides new ideas for the construction of digital villages, and identifies new empirical evidence and decision-making grounds for improving the livelihoods of rural households and narrowing the income gap between rural households.