1. Introduction
Efficiency and equity stand as central concerns within society. Following the advent of reform and opening up, China has witnessed a rapid enhancement in economic efficiency, yet the issue of equity has gained heightened prominence. As highlighted in the “2023 Migrant Workers Monitoring Report” issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total count of migrant workers in China reached approximately 297 million in 2023, marking a year-on-year increase of 1.91 million. Within this demographic, several challenges persist concerning the quality of employment and labor oversight among the rural labor force. The prevailing challenges facing China’s rural labor force are multifaceted. Firstly, there exists a stark disparity in income levels and wage satisfaction, with the average monthly income of rural migrant workers in 2021 standing at merely half the level of their urban counterparts during the same period. Secondly, employment stability remains a pressing concern, as evidenced by the alarming proportion of migrant workers engaged in precarious employment, which stands at a staggering 61%. Thirdly, the normalization of overtime work poses a significant issue, with approximately 85% of migrant workers reporting overtime obligations, nearly half of which engage in illegal overtime practices [
1]. Lastly, inadequate social security provisions render the protection of employment rights and interests a formidable challenge [
2]. These shortcomings collectively contribute to a more dire employment landscape confronting China’s rural labor force [
3].
The attainment of high-quality employment for the rural labor force is intricately linked to the enhancement of livelihoods and stands as a pivotal factor in achieving common prosperity. Common prosperity necessitates not only equitable distribution of development benefits among all strata of society but also ensures a fairer distribution of these benefits, particularly among socially vulnerable groups, notably the rural labor force [
4]. In this vein, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China underscored the imperative of prioritizing high-quality full employment, emphasizing the eradication of unjustifiable employment restrictions and discrimination [
5]. Thus, directing attention towards enhancing the quality of non-farm employment for China’s rural labor force not only contributes to employment stability but also holds significance in reshaping the initial distribution pattern, fostering social equity and justice, and advancing common prosperity. While the existing literature has explored various factors influencing non-farm employment among rural laborers, such as social capital, human capital, and digital capital [
6,
7,
8], scant attention has been devoted to examining the impact of China’s new development stage characteristics on the enhancement of non-farm employment quality for the rural labor force.
In the endeavor to elucidate the determinants of non-farm employment and its quality enhancement among the rural labor force, a pivotal and undeniable reality emerges: the significant strides made in China’s digital infrastructure construction, which have progressively assumed a paramount role in fostering economic and social advancement [
9]. With the steadfast advancement of China’s digital infrastructure, the digital economy has demonstrated robust vitality. By 2022, the digital economy’s magnitude in China will encompass 41.50% of GDP, with its penetration into non-farm sectors registering the highest rate at 68.70%, marking a 2.80 percentage point increase from the previous year, while its penetration into the agricultural sector stands at 10.50% [
10]. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized the imperative to “optimize infrastructure layout, establish a modern infrastructure system, and facilitate the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy”. Furthermore, the 2024 government work report underscored the importance of “moderately advancing digital infrastructure construction” to actively bolster the stable employment of migrant workers and enhance their sense of fulfillment, well-being, and security. Over a span of time, digital infrastructure has played a pivotal role in diversifying employment avenues and refining the allocation of labor resources, thereby furnishing the rural labor force with a plethora of non-farm employment prospects and augmenting labor market flexibility to some extent. Specifically, the evolution of digital infrastructure has expanded the geographical scope of non-farm employment opportunities for the rural labor force, extending beyond distant large- and medium-sized cities to encompass employment possibilities at the county and township levels [
11,
12,
13]. Numerous studies have underscored the positive impact of enhancing digital infrastructure construction, elucidating its role in fostering the proliferation of digital platforms, expediting information dissemination, and substantially mitigating issues pertaining to information asymmetry and search and transaction costs, thereby optimizing employment outcomes [
14]. However, it is imperative to acknowledge that while digital infrastructure advancements engender employment opportunities, they also precipitate pressing challenges necessitating urgent resolution. For instance, the prevalence of monotonous tasks and limited avenues for skill enhancement impedes the accumulation of human capital among the rural labor force. Concurrently, various deficiencies plague non-farm employment for rural laborers, including ambiguous delineations of labor relations, inadequate safeguards for labor rights and interests, protracted working hours, and deficient employment services, which collectively undermine the long-term stability and quality enhancement of rural labor force employment. Moreover, with the widespread adoption of digital information technologies such as artificial intelligence [
15], industries reliant on low-skilled, labor-intensive tasks and routine, repetitive jobs are witnessing accelerated automation and displacement. Consequently, the demand for informal employment is dwindling, posing a grave risk of obsolescence for rural laborers with lower skill proficiencies.
As a significant driver of digital economic development, improving digital infrastructure can potentially provide more non-agricultural employment opportunities and increase income levels for rural surplus labor. This improvement can enhance job quality and security for this demographic. While numerous studies have examined the economic growth effects of digital infrastructure, few have focused on its impact on ‘fairness’. Existing research primarily addresses consumer equity [
16], educational parity [
17], and intergenerational justice [
18]. However, there is limited attention to the equity of digital infrastructure development concerning urban–rural employment, particularly in terms of horizontal equity. Horizontal equity is exemplified by the quality of non-agricultural employment opportunities available to rural labor [
19], and it more accurately reflects the fairness and inclusivity of the societal opportunity framework.
This article aims to investigate the impact of digital infrastructure construction on the quality of non-agricultural employment for rural labor, elucidating its underlying mechanisms through theoretical and empirical lenses, with a specific focus on rural regions. First, we establish the mathematical rationale for how digital infrastructure influences non-agricultural employment in rural areas based on the Todaro model. We then conduct a theoretical analysis to explore the ramifications of digital infrastructure on the quality of non-agricultural employment for rural labor. Next, we integrate indicators of digital infrastructure supply and demand at the prefecture-level city level as characterization variables. These variables are combined with data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) spanning the years 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. We employ various endogenous treatment methods, including two-way fixed effects, sensitivity analysis, and instrumental variable techniques, to empirically assess the impact and mechanisms of digital infrastructure construction on the non-agricultural employment of rural labor.
In comparison to existing research, this article makes several significant contributions. Firstly, it adopts a unique research perspective by examining the impact and mechanism of digital infrastructure on the quality of non-farm employment for rural labor. This investigation is prompted by the increasingly prominent fairness issues in China, the nation’s goal of achieving common prosperity, and the backdrop of a burgeoning digital economy [
20]. By contextualizing within China’s new developmental stage, this article supplements the analysis of factors influencing the quality of non-farm employment for rural labor, thereby expanding our understanding of the fairness implications of digital infrastructure. Such endeavors hold both theoretical and practical significance. In terms of research content, this article delves into the internal mechanism through which digital infrastructure construction affects the quality of non-farm employment for rural labor. Diverging from existing research, which primarily focuses on the optimization of employment structures [
21], enhancement of production efficiency, changes in labor relations, and social division of labor [
22], this article hones in on the nuanced distinctions between formal and informal employment. It elucidates the distinct mechanism through which digital infrastructure construction impacts employment quality for rural labor, considering both substitution and enhancement effects. This analysis provides valuable insights into leveraging digital infrastructure construction to promote high-quality employment opportunities for rural labor. Furthermore, at the policy level, this article furnishes robust theoretical and empirical support for governmental and decision-making bodies to bolster digital infrastructure construction. It advocates for initiatives aimed at enhancing digital literacy among rural laborers, fostering high-quality macro-development opportunities for non-farm employment, and ultimately advancing societal welfare.
5. Conclusions and Discussion
Based on the data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020, this paper systematically examines the impact of digital infrastructure construction on the employment quality of the rural labor force in China from the micro level. The conclusions are as follows: First, the construction of digital infrastructure can significantly improve the subjective and objective dimensions and comprehensive index for the quality of non-farm employment of rural labor force; second, with the increase of quantiles, the effect of digital infrastructure on the quality of non-farm employment of rural labor is stronger. Thirdly, the construction of digital infrastructure has improved the quality of non-farm employment of the rural labor force, which is mainly reflected in the middle-skilled labor force group; fourthly, in particular, we find that digital infrastructure has significantly promoted the improvement of the quality of informal employment of rural high-skilled labor and middle-skilled labor, showing inclusive economic development.
Based on the above research conclusions, this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations:
First, improve the layout of digital infrastructure and build a solid foundation for improving the quality of non-farm employment of rural labor. The regression results show that digital infrastructure construction can significantly improve the quality of non-farm employment of rural labor force. Therefore, government departments can lay a solid foundation for improving the quality of non-farm employment of the rural labor force by improving the layout of digital infrastructure construction. On the one hand, improve the layout of information infrastructure, actively promote the construction of 5G networks and gigabit networks and provide more convenient and efficient information and communication services for the rural labor force, so as to obtain more diversified employment information and learning resources. On the other hand, deepen the construction of innovation infrastructure and strengthen the collaborative innovation between industry, university, and research. Government departments should encourage and support universities, scientific research institutions, and enterprises to cooperate deeply, jointly carry out research and innovation of key technologies of digital infrastructure, and promote the deep integration of industry, university, and research. The improvement of the R & D level of digital new infrastructure can not only improve the performance and efficiency of digital infrastructure, but also provide a broader employment space for the rural labor force, reduce the employment threshold, and help improve their skill level.
Second, bridge the digital divide and optimize the labor skill structure. Heterogeneity analysis proves that digital infrastructure mainly promotes the improvement of the employment quality of rural high-skilled labor and middle-skilled labor in the field of informal employment. First of all, the government should increase investment in digital infrastructure construction in rural and underdeveloped areas to ensure that they can enjoy digital services comparable to those in developed areas and narrow the digital divide. Secondly, the government should pay attention to the differentiated needs of different skill levels of labor in the digital process. For high-skilled and medium-skilled labor, the government should provide more professional and cutting-edge digital skills training to further enhance their employment competitiveness. At the same time, for low-skilled labor, the government should pay attention to the improvement of their digital literacy and help them adapt to the development trend of the digital age by popularizing the basic knowledge of digitization. Finally, government departments should also strengthen the supervision and governance of digital infrastructure to prevent the ‘power transfer‘ and the gap between the rich and the poor caused by the digital divide. Through the establishment of a sound legal and regulatory system of digital infrastructure, the development and application of digital technology can be standardized to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the labor force and prevent digital technology from becoming a tool to aggravate social inequality.
The third is to optimize the development of digital infrastructure and effectively deal with the substitution and enhancement effects of digital infrastructure. The analysis of internal mechanisms shows that digital infrastructure can have a profound impact on the quality of informal employment of the rural labor force through the substitution effect and enhancement effect. First of all, in view of the problem that the substitution effect may reduce the quality of informal employment of the rural labor force, the government should strengthen the digital literacy education of the rural labor force and develop more high-quality digital content that is beneficial to improve the vocational skills and employability of the rural labor force. In addition, the government can increase support for rural innovation and entrepreneurship and mobilize and encourage the rural labor force to enhance employment competitiveness through technological innovation and patent conversion. Secondly, in terms of enhancing the effect, the government should increase investment in rural education, improve the quality and penetration of education, and provide more learning and development opportunities for the rural labor force. At the same time, enterprises and social organizations can also carry out vocational skills training for rural labor force based on their own advantages. Not only that, the government can also establish a rural labor employment service platform to provide employment guidance, recruitment information, and other one-stop services to help them better integrate into the job market.