Research on the Impact Mechanism of Digital Technique on Rural Industry Integration: Evidence from China

Abstract Data has become a virtual factor of production, which, when integrated with traditional factors such as labor, capital, and land, forms digital labor, digital capital, and digital land, thereby generating a multiplier effect that contributes to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. This paper utilizes panel data from 30 provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities) of China from 2014 to 2024, and employs a double machine learning model to empirically test the impact mechanism of rural digitalization on the integration development of rural industries. The results indicate that digital villages significantly promote the integrated development of rural industries through three direct pathways: digital industry development, digital information infrastructure, and digital service levels, with this conclusion remaining valid after a series of robustness tests. Mechanism analysis shows that digital villages facilitate the integration of rural industries through three indirect pathways: alleviating urban-rural factor mismatches, adjusting the agricultural industrial structure, and promoting agricultural technological advancement, with this conclusion still valid after various robustness tests. Heterogeneity results show that there is significant variability in how digital villages promote the development of integrated rural industries, with effects being more pronounced in major grain-producing and eastern regions compared to non-major grain-producing and central-western regions. Based on this, the paper proposes policy recommendations focused on accelerating digital village construction, formulating differentiated strategies, and alleviating factor mismatches, aiming to provide references for achieving rural revitalization. We mainly propose countermeasures and suggestions from three aspects: digital dividend, differentiation strategy, and element mismatch. Our main purpose in studying this article is to make up for the shortcomings of existing theories, enrich the theoretical system of digital rural construction, contribute Chinese solutions to the world's digital rural construction, and improve the level of world digital rural construction.