The Impact of Digital Technology on Non-farm Employment and the Urban-Rural Income Gap: A Study on China's Rural Labor Force

The rapid development of digital technology has provided new opportunities for rural labor non-farm employment and income growth, thereby offering a viable pathway to narrow the income gap. This paper focuses on the impact mechanisms of digital technology infrastructure on rural labor employment and income gap in China since 2012. A dual analytical framework combining macro- and micro-level perspectives is adopted. Provincial panel data (2012-2023) are used to assess the aggregate impact of digital technology on income gap, and individual-level data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) are employed to investigate how digital technology adoption facilitates the transition of rural labor to non-farm employment. The results indicate that digital technology significantly narrows the urban-rural income gap, with each unit increase in digital technology advancement corresponding to an approximately 11.9% reduction in the income disparity. Furthermore, digital technology substantially promotes non-farm employment--the adoption of digital tools increases the probability of non-farm employment by 20.13 percentage points. Specifically, the contributions of information acquisition channels and skill enhancement channels to non-farm employment are 2.26% and 6.91%, respectively. This study provides theoretical and empirical foundations for future policy research on digital technology popularization and rural labor employment.