Exploring the Level and Influencing Factors of Digital Village Development in China: Insights and Recommendations

Abstract

Digital rural construction is an important strategy for rural revitalization. In order to improve the precision of digital rural measurement, a set of evaluation indicators for digital rural construction was devised in this study. The study uses the entropy method, kernel density estimation and system clustering to quantify the level of China’s digital rural construction, as well as the Tobit test and other techniques. From the perspective of time series evolution, the construction of digital villages grew continuously, with a peak in 2020. After that, the speed of digital village construction slowed down slightly because of economic changes in both domestic and international environments. In terms of dynamic evolution, the core density curve of China’s digital rural construction shifted to the right between 2011 and 2021, accompanied by gradient influence and a multipolar development trend; local general budget revenue, the per capita disposable income of rural residents, rural infrastructure investment, computer ownership per 100 rural residents, added value of primary industry, education level, and rural power generation are some of the factors that affect the development level of China’s digital countryside. This study is helpful in understanding the influencing aspects of China’s digital rural construction, thereby facilitating the formation of suitable digital rural development strategies in various regions depending on the real scenario.

Evaluation, mechanism and policy implications of the symbiotic relationship among rural digitization, agricultural development and farmer enrichment: evidence from digital village pilots in China

“…Rural digitalization will increase rural operational income by raising the quality and efficiency of agricultural production, increase wage income by enriching and broadening employment channels, and create more property income by optimizing farmers' asset allocation (Komorowski and Stanny, 2020). Only a continuous increase in farmers' incomes can ensure that they continue to update their information facilities and agricultural equipment, so that farmer enrichment has a reverse force in promoting rural digitization and agricultural development (Cao et al, 2023). As agriculture is the primary industry in rural areas and the core area of employment for farmers, the promotion of sustainable agricultural development has become an important strategy for the government to raise the income of farmers.…”

The Impact and Mechanism of Digital Villages on Agricultural Resilience in Ecologically Fragile Ethnic Areas: Evidence from China’s Provinces

“…The evaluation system systematically examines indicators for ecologically fragile ethnic areas, with a specific focus on industrial stability, ecological sustainability, and agricultural growth dynamics. Past research has commonly employed the entropy method for evaluating digital village level and agricultural resilience [54][55][56]. However, this approach faces challenges in reducing the dimensionality of the evaluation indicator system, which may overlook the importance of certain indicators and lead to discrepancies between indicator weights and expectations.…”

Performance and sustainability evaluation of rural digitalization and its driving mechanism: evidence from Hunan province of China

“…A few scholars have analyzed the driving mechanism of rural digitization and its evolution, investigating the influence and nature of the role of different factors from economic, social, environmental and other dimensions. For example, Cao (2023) measured the rural digitalization in China and its driving mechanism at the national level based on entropy method and Tobit model; analyzed the spatial differences of digital village construction and its influencing factors in Gansu of China from at the regional level using Geographic Information System (GIS) and GeoDetector.…”