Du Lizhao, Wang Xinpu, Zhang Shaoxin
School of Economics and Management, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, People's Republic of China.
School of Economics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, People's Republic of China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Oct;30(47):104336-104349. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29792-z. Epub 2023 Sep 13.
As information and communication technologies gain prominence in rural areas, rural e-commerce has emerged as a crucial mechanism for fostering agricultural and rural development. While the economic impact of rural e-commerce is widely studied, its effects on carbon emissions remain underexplored. Utilizing a multi-period DID model and Chinese county-level panel data from 2011 to 2017, this paper examines the impact of rural e-commerce on carbon emission reduction, employing the "comprehensive demonstration of e-commerce into villages" policy introduced by the Chinese government in 2014 as a quasi-natural experiment. Our findings show that e-commerce demonstration counties experienced a 10.6% reduction in carbon emissions compared to the control group, indicating a significant emission reduction effect. Further analysis reveals that rural e-commerce drives carbon reduction through decreased fertilizer usage, altered cropping structures, and enhanced transportation efficiency. Notably, rural e-commerce's emission reduction effect is more pronounced in major grain-producing regions and areas with higher digitalization levels. This study has crucial theoretical and practical implications for achieving carbon emission reduction and sequestration in agriculture and advancing green agricultural development.
随着信息通信技术在农村地区日益重要，农村电子商务已成为促进农业和农村发展的关键机制。虽然农村电子商务的经济影响得到了广泛研究，但其对碳排放的影响仍未得到充分探讨。本文利用多期双重差分模型和2011年至2017年的中国县级面板数据，以中国政府2014年推出的“电子商务进农村综合示范”政策作为准自然实验，研究农村电子商务对碳排放减少的影响。我们的研究结果表明，与对照组相比，电子商务示范县的碳排放量减少了10.6%，显示出显著的减排效果。进一步分析表明，农村电子商务通过减少化肥使用、改变种植结构和提高运输效率来推动碳减排。值得注意的是，农村电子商务的减排效果在主要粮食产区和数字化水平较高的地区更为明显。本研究对于实现农业碳排放减少和封存以及推进绿色农业发展具有重要的理论和实践意义。
