Research On The Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity Impact Of Digital Economy Development On Urban-rural Income Gap In Prefecture Level Cities In China

Since the reform and opening up,China’s economic development has achieved remarkable achievements,becoming the second largest economy in the world.However,while seeking economic growth,the issue of income inequality cannot be ignored.Excessive income inequality may stimulate social conflicts and restrict long-term sustainable economic development.At present,China is already one of the countries with severe income inequality in the world,and the urban-rural income gap is particularly prominent.In the process of implementing the strategy of rural revitalization to achieve common prosperity,it is imperative to solve the problem of excessive urban-rural income gap.With the rapid development of the new generation of information technology,China’s digital economy has achieved significant results.It can break down spatiotemporal barriers and restrictions between urban and rural areas,and is expected to play an important role in solving the problem of urban-rural income gap.At present,there are many achievements on the impact of the digital economy on the urban-rural income gap,but the conclusions on whether the digital economy can narrow the urban-rural income gap are inconsistent.Some literature suggests that the digital economy can generate digital dividends,which is beneficial for narrowing the urban-rural income gap,while others believe that the digital economy will bring about the digital divide,leading to the widening of the urban-rural income gap,Some literature also suggests that the impact of the digital economy on the urban-rural income gap is non-linear,and may exhibit changes such as a "U" shape,inverted "U" shape,or "M" shape.China has a vast territory and significant regional differences,and the impact of digital economy on urban-rural income inequality may vary among different regions.Existing research on this topic is insufficient.Therefore,this article takes 276 prefecture level cities in China as the research object,uses the entropy weight method to measure the development level of the digital economy,and uses the spatial constant coefficient panel model and spatial variable coefficient panel model to explore the impact of the digital economy on the urban-rural income gap from the perspective of spatiotemporal heterogeneity,and proposes relevant policy recommendations based on the research conclusions.Research findings:(1)From 2011 to 2019,the development level of China’s digital economy has been increasing year by year,with significant growth,and the average development level has increased by 191.62%;However,the differences in the development of the digital economy are becoming increasingly significant,with the standard deviation of the development level of the digital economy increasing by 1.93 times,and most prefecture level cities are at a low level,showing an uneven development trend.Cities with higher levels are mainly located in coastal areas such as the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta;The development of the digital economy is not randomly distributed in space,but exhibits significant spatial agglomeration and heterogeneity characteristics.The "high-high" agglomeration in coastal areas and the "low-low" agglomeration in southwestern,northwestern,and northeastern regions are particularly evident.(2)From 2011 to 2019,the overall income gap between urban and rural areas in prefecture level cities in China was relatively large.However,with the deepening of the rural revitalization strategy and poverty alleviation policies,it showed a steady decrease trend,with the per capita income ratio between urban and rural areas decreasing by 14.34%;The cities with larger disparities are mainly located in the central and western regions,while the cities with smaller disparities are mostly located in the eastern regions,especially in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions.The size of the urban-rural income gap between prefecture level cities is spatially opposite to the level of digital economy development,showing a significant spatial pattern of "low in the east and high in the west".(3)The impact of the digital economy on the urban-rural income gap in prefecture level cities in China has significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity.Overall,the impact effect is mainly manifested as a negative effect,that is,the higher the level of digital economy development,the smaller the urban-rural income gap,and the impact of the digital economy on the urban-rural income gap shows a "U" shaped change trend over time;In terms of space,the degree of impact is manifested as "high in the west and low in the east",which has a more significant negative effect on the development of digital economy in areas with large urban-rural disparities;Furthermore,it is worth noting that for a few cities in the northwest and northeast regions,the development of the digital economy has exacerbated the emergence of the digital divide,which should be taken seriously.