How Does Internet Use Promote Returned Migrant Workers' Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Rural China

Entrepreneurship is the driving force behind the creation of rural employment opportunities and the promotion of the sustainable development of the rural economy. Based on the data of five rounds of national surveys covering the period from 2010 to 2018 conducted by the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this paper uses probit and other regression models to empirically study the impact of internet use on the entrepreneurship of returned migrant workers. The results show that the use of the internet can not only increase the probability of returned migrant workers starting a business but also increase the scale of entrepreneurial investment by 18% and the number of enterprises founded by 36%, which is particularly prominent among those rural areas with great potential for internet penetration. In rural areas with low levels of internet application, governments should continue to increase the level of support aimed at assisting returned migrant workers with founding their own businesses, to focus on enhancing the information literacy of returned migrant workers, and to accelerate the construction of information technology in rural areas with backward internet infrastructure to drive sustainable economic development through entrepreneurship.