E-commerce and Taobao Villages in China: Impact on Provincial Rural Development
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2021
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Haverford College. Department of Economics
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Abstract
E-commerce has gradually become an essential part of people's daily life. Part of the e-businesses in China involve producers/households in rural areas selling agricultural products or manufacturing daily supplies to urban areas, which provides better ways for rural people to make profits. This thesis estimates the effect of the ratio of Taobao villages (formed by clusters of e-businesses in rural areas) on rural per capita disposable income and urban-rural consumption gaps in a province as to measure how e-commerce growth impacts rural development in China more broadly. Using macroeconomic provincial data from 2010-2019, I estimate OLS and fixed effects regressions to test this relationship. Results indicate that the percentage of Taobao villages in a province is positively correlated with an increase in rural disposable income per capita. In addition, the presence of Taobao villages narrows the gap between consumption levels in rural and urban areas. However, this economic improvement occurs faster and is more pronounced in more Taobao-village-abundant provinces.
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Hayley Shi was a Bryn Mawr College student.