E-Commerce Participation and Household Income Growth in Taobao Villages

E-commerce has developed rapidly in China, and Taobao Villages, which are villages significantly engaged in e-commerce, are prospering in rural areas. E-commerce is fostering entrepreneurship and creating flexible and inclusive employment opportunities, including for women and youth. This paper exam...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inIDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc
Main Authors Luo, Xubei, Niu, Chiyu
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 01.01.2019
Subjects
Electronic commerce
Family income
Households
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:E-commerce has developed rapidly in China, and Taobao Villages, which are villages significantly engaged in e-commerce, are prospering in rural areas. E-commerce is fostering entrepreneurship and creating flexible and inclusive employment opportunities, including for women and youth. This paper examines the role of e-commerce participation in household income growth, drawing from a survey of representative Taobao Villages in 2017. The paper presents three main findings. First, e-commerce participation is not random: participation is higher among the households with younger household heads, with secondary education, particularly those with technical and vocational education, urban work experience, and knowledge of e-commerce. Second, e-commerce participation is associated with higher household income, with some indications that participation has a strong positive effect on household incomes. Third, e-commerce appears to yield benefits that are broadly shared among participants in an equitable way in Taobao Villages.