Empowering Rural Economies: Examining the Nexus of Rural E-Commerce, Entrepreneurship, and Income Growth in the Digital Age

Ting Ding, Ralph Bathurst

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between rural e-commerce, rural entrepreneurship, and rural income under the backdrop of "Internet + entrepreneurship" based on panel data from the rural statistical yearbooks of 29 provinces and municipalities in China from 2013 to 2019. The study finds that the development of rural e-commerce and farmers' entrepreneurship are positively correlated with farmers' income. Notably, the impact of fiscal support for agriculture on farmers' income is not significant, while the level of education has a noticeable effect on farmers' income. These results remain valid in robustness tests. Based on the above analysis, this article puts forward recommendations for the development of rural e-commerce and boost farmers? income under the context of "Internet + entrepreneurship." This article enriches the research related to how rural e-commerce enhances the well-being of farmers, and provides a theoretical basis and empirical reference for how to promote entrepreneurship and income generation through e-commerce models in the digital economy era.

Keywords: rural e-commerce, farmers income, farmers entrepreneurship, Internet + entrepreneur ship