Digital Economy, Logistics Development and the Increase of Farmers’ Income: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Eastern Economic Region of China

In the context of China’s “Rural revitalization via digital commerce”, the study explored the impact of the digital economy on farmers’ income and the path mechanism of logistics development in it. Based on the panel data of 71 cities in the Eastern Economic Region of China from 2013 to 2021, this paper calculated the level of the digital economy and used the level of logistics development as a moderating variable. Then using the basic transmission mechanism and the heterogeneous transmission mechanism to empirically analyse the impact of the digital economy on the income of farmers, exploring the non-linear link between the digital economy and farmers’ income. The analysis showed that: (1) the development of digital economy has a significant positive impact on farmers’ income. (2) the impact of the digital economy on the advancement of logistics development, showed a delayed phenomenon. (3) the digital economy’s indirect effect on farmers’ income growth also showed a lag. In this way, this study verified the practical significance of “Rural revitalization via digital commerce”, and put forward the corresponding recommendations for promoting the development of the digital economy and rural logistics.