Digital Revolution and Job Quality of Lower Class Workers: Quasi-experimental Evidence from the Broadband China Program  

作　　者：Xiumei Wang Ye Jiang Famin Yi 

机构地区：[1]School of Business,Fuyang Normal University,China [2]Department of Economics,Dickinson College,USA [3]School of Economics and Management,South China Agricultural University,China

出　　处：《China & World Economy》2024年第4期146-178,共33页中国与世界经济（英文版）

基　　金：This research was supported financially by the National Social Science Foundation of China(No.19BGL256).

摘　　要：This study examines the impact of the digital revolution on the job quality of workers with a specific focus on those at the lowest end of the spectrum in China's domestic labor market. Leveraging exogenous timing variations that result from the implementation of the Broadband China Program across different cities, it provides quasi-experimental evidence concerning the effects of the digital revolution on the job quality of lower class workers, particularly rural–urban migrant workers. Using data from China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this study reveals that migrants' comprehensive job quality index increased by 0.0138 (5.33 percent), and its component indices experienced positive effects after the Broadband China Program was implemented. This study also investigates heterogeneous policy treatment effects among workers with diverse demographic and occupational characteristics. Underlying mechanisms are considered, including positive macroeconomic shocks, increased social interactions, and Internet use. In particular, migrants' attitudes toward local settlement became more positive, suggesting that the positive effects of the digital revolution on livelihood lasted for some time. Taking China as an example, this study contributes valuable empirical evidence of how the digital revolution can affect lower class workers' employment or living conditions in a developing country. Related policy implications are also considered.

关 键 词：Broadband China Program digital revolution job quality lower clas workers rural-urban migrants 

分 类 号：F24[经济管理—劳动经济] F12[经济管理—国民经济]