Digital inclusion and urban-rural integration: Mechanisms and regional heterogeneity in China.

ABSTRACT: Although digital inclusion is globally recognized as a key pathway to equitable development, rigorous empirical evidence on its specific mechanisms and regionally varying effects in driving urban-rural integration in developing countries remains scarce. To fill this gap, this study employs a fixed-effects model and robustness checks to analyze the impact of digital inclusion on urban-rural integration, using evidence from China. The findings show that digital inclusion enhances urban-rural integration by reducing information asymmetry, improving access to education and healthcare resources, and fostering industrial convergence. However, digital inclusion exerts a significant positive effect on urban-rural integration in eastern and central China, but has no significant effect in western Ch

SUBMITTER: Qiu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12818669 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature