Ma Jun-Qi, Sheng Li
School of Public Administration, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing, 400067, China.
School of Foreign Languages, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing, 400067, China.
SSM Popul Health. 2024 Dec 13;29:101739. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101739. eCollection 2025 Mar.
The digital infrastructure has profoundly changed people's daily lives and health outcomes. However, the causal effect of digital infrastructure on cognitive health remains unclear. The study employs the "Broadband China" policy as a reliable proxy for digital infrastructure, using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) five waves panel data from 2011 to 2020 and a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) method to investigate the causal impact of digital infrastructure construction on the cognitive health in Chinese older adults. We find that digital infrastructure construction has a significant positive effect on the cognitive health of older adults, and the dynamic DID results confirm a persistent effect. Mechanism analysis shows that digital infrastructure improves cognitive health by increasing social interaction, health promotion behaviors (including medical insurance participation and physical exercise), and reducing medical costs. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the cognitive health-improving effect of digital infrastructure construction is stronger among older adults living in urban areas and high-GDP cities, male, low and middle-aged, and highly educated. Our research findings provide empirical evidence for improving cognitive health and healthy aging among older adults through the development of digital infrastructure.
数字基础设施已经深刻改变了人们的日常生活和健康状况。然而，数字基础设施对认知健康的因果效应仍不明确。本研究采用“宽带中国”政策作为数字基础设施的可靠代理变量，利用中国健康与养老追踪调查（CHARLS）2011年至2020年的五期面板数据以及交错双重差分（DID）方法，来探究数字基础设施建设对中国老年人认知健康的因果影响。我们发现，数字基础设施建设对老年人的认知健康有显著的积极影响，动态DID结果证实了这种持续效应。机制分析表明，数字基础设施通过增加社会互动、促进健康行为（包括参加医疗保险和体育锻炼）以及降低医疗成本来改善认知健康。异质性分析表明，数字基础设施建设对认知健康的改善作用在居住在城市地区和高GDP城市的老年人、男性、中低收入和中年以及受过高等教育的人群中更强。我们的研究结果为通过发展数字基础设施来改善老年人的认知健康和健康老龄化提供了实证证据。
