Internet use and livelihood resilience: micro-level evidence from 364 household surveys in China

Introduction As agricultural digitalization advances, Internet Use is becoming an important tool that shapes how farmers access information, make production and management decisions, and respond to risks. However, evidence on the relationship between Internet Use and the Livelihood Resilience of crop-farming households remains limited and inconclusive. Methods Using survey data from 364 crop-farming households across 18 prefecture-level cities in Sichuan Province, China, collected in 2025, this study constructs a comprehensive Livelihood Resilience index based on three dimensions—Buffer Capacity, Adaptive Capacity, and Livelihood Reconfiguration Capacity—with indicator weights determined using the Entropy Weight Method. An Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) Model is employed to examine the relationship between Internet Use and Livelihood Resilience, together with its underlying mechanisms related to land productivity and risk perception. Results After accounting for self-selection bias, the Livelihood Resilience of Internet users is estimated to be 4.98% higher than under the counterfactual scenario of non-use, while for current non-users, Internet Use would increase Livelihood Resilience by 2.45% (conditional on the ESR identification assumptions). The estimated effects vary across the three resilience dimensions, with the largest effect observed for Adaptive Capacity (5.32%), followed by Buffer Capacity (3.89%) and Livelihood Reconfiguration Capacity (2.91%). The effects also differ across Internet application scenarios: Marketing-oriented Internet Use shows the largest estimated effect (5.85%), compared with Production-oriented (3.92%) and Management-oriented use (3.23%). The mechanism analysis provides evidence consistent with two potential channels: higher land productivity and stronger risk perception. Discussion Overall, this study extends the literature on the economic effects of Internet Use from a Livelihood Resilience perspective and provides empirical evidence relevant to strengthening farmers’ capacity to respond to risks in the context of digital rural development.