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Since 2018, the Digital Village Construction project has been given much higher priority in Chinese rural revitalization. This paper studies the effects of digital literacy on the organic fertilizer utilization rates and explores the effectiveness of information. Using data from a field survey on 1585 vegetable growers in six main vegetable-producing provinces of China, we build Tobit model and endogenous switching regression model to do the empirical test. The results show that digital literacy and the effectiveness of information increase the organic fertilizer utilization rates by 6.5 per cent and 19.1 per cent, respectively. The moderating effect of the effectiveness of information is significant at 10% level. In particular, the treatment effects of digital literacy showed that when the farmers with low-level digital literacy switch to high-level digital literacy, the organic fertilizer utilization rates will be raised by 2.973 CHY (CHY is Chinese money unit. At current exchange rate of March 2024, 1 USD = 7.1982 CHY). And if the farmers with high-level digital literacy switch low-level digital literacy, the organic fertilizer utilization rates will decline by 1.546 CHY. The empirical findings of the current study provide guidelines for policy makers to improve the quality of information, carry out targeted digital literacy cultivation and promote the positive role of digital technology in improving organic fertilizer utilization rates. Overall, this study presents a better understanding of the actual impacts of farmers' digital literacy and digital technology in rural China, and provides valuable insights for other countries or regions that also engage in the improvement of digital literacy to promote the development of green economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural e-commerce has achieved an effective interface between rural specialty industries and large markets. This paper explores the impact of rural e-commerce on the income levels of potato farmers based on field survey data. In addition, the extent of the impact of rural e-commerce on the income levels of potato farmers in the participating and non-participating groups was further explored under the counterfactual assumption. The main findings are as follows. (1) Rural e-commerce can increase the income of potato farmers. Participation in rural e-commerce can increase farmers' income in both the participating and non-participating groups. If the participating group had not previously sold potatoes through rural e-commerce, their per capita household income would have been reduced by 27.22%. Similarly, if the non-participating group had sold potatoes through the rural e-commerce platform, their per capita household income would have increased by 36.35%. (2) Under the counterfactual assumption, the impact of rural e-commerce on the incomes of farmers who have not yet sold potatoes through e-commerce platforms is more profound. The marginal income increasing effect of rural e-commerce is currently at an incremental stage, and selling potatoes through an e-commerce platform can lead to higher returns for farmers. (3) Gender, farm household differentiation, self-employment experience, arable land area, position in village and whether participating in agricultural associations or cooperatives are important factors that simultaneously influence farmers' e-commerce participation decisions and income levels. Education and health level can influence farmers' e-commerce participation decisions. Age, farming years, dependency ratio and accessibility to irrigation can influence farmers' income level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People's weak perceptions of environmental pollution (PEP) threaten the achievement of the Global Sustainable Goals, especially in rural areas. However, Internet use may improve farmer's PEP. Thus, based on survey data from rural China, this study uses an endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) to remove the selection bias and quantitatively evaluate the impact of Internet use on the farmers' PEP. The results of this study show that (1) for group of farmers using the Internet, if they do not use the Internet, their PEP may decrease by 91.004% and (2) for group of farmers not using the Internet, if they use the Internet, their PEP may increase by 100.160%. These results provide the evidence for developing countries aiming to improve their residents' PEP and provide a new path for solving the problem of global environmental pollution and realizing sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although reducing poverty has become an important issue for rural development in China, few studies have analyzed the role of mobile Internet use in multidimensional poverty. To fill this gap, this study investigated the impact of mobile Internet use on multidimensional poverty, using data collected from a household survey in rural China. Because households generally decide whether to use mobile Internet by themselves, an endogenous switching regression model was employed to control for potential selection bias. In total, 9.63% of the households were identified as multidimensionally poor and the adjusted multidimensional poverty incidence was 5.47%. The results also showed that mobile Internet use has a significant negative impact on multidimensional poverty. Further, we provide evidence of heterogeneity in the effect of mobile Internet use across regions. These findings highlight the importance of mobile Internet use in multidimensional poverty reduction strategies for rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether corporate governance affects the relationship between earnings management and firm performance by using Taiwanese data. We used an endogenous switching regression model to classify firms into strong and weak governance regimes based on an endogenously determined threshold. The results show that discretionary accruals (DAs) and discretionary current accruals (DCAs) have significantly negative effects on return on assets and Tobin's q for firms in a weak governance regime. This implies that managers in weakly governed firms are more likely to abuse accounting discretion than those in strongly governed firms, leading to decreased firm performance. Managers prefer using DCAs rather than DAs to window-dress financial earnings, but this causes a greater reversal of corporate value in the subsequent period. Conversely, DAs and DCAs are positively and significantly related to firm performance in a strong governance regime. This indicates that managers under strong governance typically exercise optimal accounting choices to respond to varied economic conditions, or to avoid costly debt-covenant violations, potentially enhancing firm value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]