Digital Economy, Rural E-Commerce Development, and Farmers’ Employment Quality

Employment is the most significant source of livelihood and the foundation of social stability. The rapid development of the digital economy and rural e-commerce has continuously injected new kinetic energy into the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside and provided new possibilities for farmers’ employment. Comprehensively improving the quality of farmers’ employment is an important tool for promoting farmers’ income and solving the problems of rural development at this stage. Using panel data from 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China (2011–2020), this paper examines the impact of rural e-commerce development on rural employment quality in the context of the digital economy and analyzes its underlying mechanisms. The findings show that the development of rural e-commerce can promote the employment quality of farmers by improving the industrial structure. The digital economy plays a negative role in the process of the development of rural e-commerce promoting the employment quality of farmers, but the education level of farmers plays a positive role in it. Therefore, it is recommended to start with farmers’ education by gradually improving their literacy, enhancing their internal drive, and then promoting the positive effect of rural e-commerce development on the quality of farmers’ employment, which is more effective than relying on the external support of the digital economy. In addition, the development of rural e-commerce has a significant positive impact on the employment quality of farmers in the eastern, middle, and western regions of China, and has a greater impact on the middle and western regions than on the eastern region. The possible contribution of this paper lies in the systematic study of the relationship between the digital economy, rural e-commerce development, and the employment quality of farmers and the underlying mechanism. Moreover, this study also analyzes the unique influence and boundary conditions of China’s reality, which provides important reference and empirical evidence for promoting the development of rural e-commerce, improving the quality of rural employment, and promoting rural revitalization.