The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis
E-commerce furnishes farmers in rural China with a novel solution accomplishing entrepreneurship transformation, but serious credit constraints still coexist with it at present, which may restrict the release of e-commerce’s potential. Therefore, this study investigates whether formal credit promote...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/4/51 |
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| author | Shaoxiong Yang Huiling Wang Zhengxiao Wang Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar Linxue Ji Rong Kong |
| author_facet | Shaoxiong Yang Huiling Wang Zhengxiao Wang Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar Linxue Ji Rong Kong |
| author_sort | Shaoxiong Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | E-commerce furnishes farmers in rural China with a novel solution accomplishing entrepreneurship transformation, but serious credit constraints still coexist with it at present, which may restrict the release of e-commerce’s potential. Therefore, this study investigates whether formal credit promotes entrepreneurial farmers’ e-commerce utilization and explores its influencing mechanism. Based on the survey data collected from 831 entrepreneurial farmers in Shaanxi province, Ningxia province and Shandong province in rural China, the propensity score matching (PSM) method was applied to measure the impact of formal credit on e-commerce utilization. The results show that formal credit contributes to a 18.41% increase of e-commerce utilization in general and increases entrepreneurial farmers’ online purchases and sales by 11.15% and 14.69%, respectively. Some groups perform significantly in the heterogeneity analysis, the most noteworthy of which are entrepreneurial farmers who are younger, belong to new type of agricultural business entities and use mobile payments. Their e-commerce utilization, including online purchases and sales, are impacted most by formal credit. Furthermore, when the bootstrap method was used to examine the mediating effect, we found that formal credit has a positive and significant effect on the utilization of e-commerce through four channels, which are internet learning, asset allocation, labor allocation and income growth. Hence, the findings suggest that the government should augment the amount of formal credit to optimize entrepreneurial farmers’ internet learning, asset allocation, labor employment and income growth, thereby promoting e-commerce to achieve entrepreneurial transformation and sustainable development in rural areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:01:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-661fb71fb9bb42b9a8a2c974bcf9f4a7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0718-1876 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:01:00Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-661fb71fb9bb42b9a8a2c974bcf9f4a72023-11-22T11:29:27ZengMDPI AGJournal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research0718-18762021-02-0116490092110.3390/jtaer16040051The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation AnalysisShaoxiong Yang0Huiling Wang1Zhengxiao Wang2Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar3Linxue Ji4Rong Kong5College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, No. 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, No. 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, No. 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, No. 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, No. 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, No. 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaE-commerce furnishes farmers in rural China with a novel solution accomplishing entrepreneurship transformation, but serious credit constraints still coexist with it at present, which may restrict the release of e-commerce’s potential. Therefore, this study investigates whether formal credit promotes entrepreneurial farmers’ e-commerce utilization and explores its influencing mechanism. Based on the survey data collected from 831 entrepreneurial farmers in Shaanxi province, Ningxia province and Shandong province in rural China, the propensity score matching (PSM) method was applied to measure the impact of formal credit on e-commerce utilization. The results show that formal credit contributes to a 18.41% increase of e-commerce utilization in general and increases entrepreneurial farmers’ online purchases and sales by 11.15% and 14.69%, respectively. Some groups perform significantly in the heterogeneity analysis, the most noteworthy of which are entrepreneurial farmers who are younger, belong to new type of agricultural business entities and use mobile payments. Their e-commerce utilization, including online purchases and sales, are impacted most by formal credit. Furthermore, when the bootstrap method was used to examine the mediating effect, we found that formal credit has a positive and significant effect on the utilization of e-commerce through four channels, which are internet learning, asset allocation, labor allocation and income growth. Hence, the findings suggest that the government should augment the amount of formal credit to optimize entrepreneurial farmers’ internet learning, asset allocation, labor employment and income growth, thereby promoting e-commerce to achieve entrepreneurial transformation and sustainable development in rural areas.https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/4/51e-commerce utilizationformal creditmediation effectentrepreneurial farmers |
| spellingShingle | Shaoxiong Yang Huiling Wang Zhengxiao Wang Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar Linxue Ji Rong Kong The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research e-commerce utilization formal credit mediation effect entrepreneurial farmers |
| title | The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis |
| title_full | The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis |
| title_fullStr | The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis |
| title_short | The Nexus between Formal Credit and E-Commerce Utilization of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Rural China: A Mediation Analysis |
| title_sort | nexus between formal credit and e commerce utilization of entrepreneurial farmers in rural china a mediation analysis |
| topic | e-commerce utilization formal credit mediation effect entrepreneurial farmers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/4/51 |
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