Study On The Rural Information Poverty In Hebei Province

With the unbalanced economic and social development, it is not only a historical phenomenon, but also a real problem that economic development is slower in rural areas than in the city in Hebei—a major agricultural province. Under the market mechanism, information resources is more inclined to city. This leads to widen the gap between the rich and the poor in urban and rural areas, which is not only the income gap but also the information gap. The consequence of the income gap and the information gap results in the double Matthew effect of economy and information. In the social informatization, due to the high cost of rural informatization, the vast rural areas has become marginal areas, agriculture has become a weak industry and farmers have become vulnerable groups of informatization. The rural information poverty, more and more serious, restricts three-dimensional rural problems to be solved, is not conducive to building a new socialist countryside and to the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. It must be given attention and be resolved.It has important values and significances to study and solve the problem of rural information poverty in Hebei province. It is the entry point of solving three-dimensional rural problems. It is conducive to changing and restructuring agricultural production to enhance agricultural production efficiency, to improving the living qualities of farmers and rural people's livelihood and to coordinating the development of urban and rural areas and to building a new socialist countryside.Based on the theory of a vicious circle of poverty, the new economical growth theory, the theory of economics of information, public goods theory as well as supply and demand theory, this paper learns from some successful experiences of resolving "digital divide" or information poverty of developed countries, analyzing the information poverty existed in Hebei province with some of the relevant statistical data and the first-hand survey data of information demand from urban and rural residents. This paper uses the empirical analysis method to analyze the gap of informatization not only between Hebei province and other provinces in eastern but also between urban and rural areas in Hebei, to design the evaluation system of rural informatization of Hebei to evaluate the rural information poverty by the method of AHP and the method of FCE, to analyze the informationliteracy of farmers through the survey of their information consciousness and information ability and then to give an economic analysis of their information demand, and to study the supply of rural information from government, market and the third sector. This paper uses the normative analysis method to analyze the meaning, process and elements of the production, communication and utilization of rural information, and to analyze the present situation and existing problems. In the end, it puts forward the countermeasures which resolve rural information poverty in Hebei province. The paper has obtained the following research results and conclusions.1. By sorting out the nature of "digital divide" or information poverty and the policies and measures to resolve it and the objective comments, the necessity and urgency to study rural information poverty is pointed out. The solution of rural information poverty is the key to solve the three-dimensional rural problem and is conducive to promoting the building of new socialist countryside and the coordinated development of urban and rural areas.2. Through analyzing the concepts of "poverty", "information" and "information poverty", this paper has defined the basic content of rural information poverty and analyzed the relationship between rural informatization and it. Then, the theoretical foundation of the paper is explained, which are the theory of the vicious circle of poverty, the new economical growth theory, the theory of economics of information, public goods theory as well as supply and demand theory.3. The paper reveals the objectivity of rural information poverty by the comparative analysis of related factors of informatization among other provinces in eastern and Hebei province and the urban and rural areas in Hebei province. According to the national informatization index system and the rural informatization index system, the paper has designed the informatization evaluation index system of rural areas in Hebei province. On this basis, the degree of rural information poverty in Hebei province, including 11 cities and 6 different regions, is evaluated by the method of AHP and FCE. The results show that information poverty is prevailing in the vast rural areas of Hebei province, the worst information poverty in mountainous areas, and the focus of rural informatization in Hebei province in the future is to solve information poverty in mountainous areas.4. The paper has analyzed the causes of rural information poverty in Hebei Province from the aspect of information demand. The result shows that the lower informationliteracy of farmers, which analyzed through the survey of their information consciousness and information ability, is an important reason of rural information poverty. Then, using the extended linear expenditure system (ELES) model and logit model to analyze the ability and the willingness for purchasing information, the paper has studied the information demand of farmers from economic perspective. The lower ability and willingness for purchasing information are the direct causes of rural information poverty in Hebei province.5. The paper has analyzed the causes of rural information poverty in Hebei province from the aspect of information supply. In order to search the reasons from information supply, the paper surveys and analyzes the information production and its main body, environment and user and so on based on the perspective of farmers, and analyzes the rural information supply from government, market and the third sector based on the perspective of economics. The conclusion is that the information supply from government is insufficient and the lower efficiency. So is market. The third sector can enhance the economies of scale, but also reduce the transaction costs of information use.6. Analyzing rural information production and its present situation in Hebei province, the paper has proposed some countermeasures to resolve rural information poverty from the guiding ideology, the basic principles, information resources building, application of advanced information technology, information resources management and information of qualified personnel and so on.7. Analyzing rural information communication and its present situation in Hebei province, the paper has proposed some countermeasures to resolve rural information poverty from the concept of information dissemination, decision-making mechanisms of information dissemination, SMS communication, agricultural technology extension system building, the rural education and communication environment and so on.8. Analyzing rural information use and its present situation in Hebei province, the paper has proposed some countermeasures to resolve rural information poverty from the application of information system, investment, the R & D of core information technology, improving the qualities of farmers, the training of rural information use, the construction of rural grass-roots information service station and rural information worker and so on.The main innovation of the paper is building the evaluation system of rural informatization in Hebei province, evaluating the degree of rural information poverty in Hebei province through the method of AHP and FCE and presenting some measures to resolve rural information poverty on the basis of the analysis of rural information supply and demand and the information operating principle of "source-current-utilization".