Examining Digital Village Construction’s Impact on Farmers’ Common Prosperity in China: Dynamic and Spatial Perspectives

Many policymakers have recognized rural digitalization as an emerging strategy to improve farmers’ well-being. However, in the context of China, whether digital village construction is an effective and long-term way to achieve farmers’ common prosperity has not been thoroughly explored. This study aims to construct a theoretical analysis framework for the impact of digital village construction on farmers’ common prosperity and provide new empirical evidence from dynamic and spatial perspectives. The results indicated that China’s digital village construction effectively promoted the farmers’ common prosperity, and agricultural productive service and agricultural science and technology innovation are significant mediating mechanisms. However, it is not yet long-term, as the marginal effect of digital village construction is diminishing. The spatial spillover effect of digital village construction is also more obvious than its direct effect. Digital village construction consistently plays a stronger enabling role in the western region and provinces with better conditions for agriculture. The results suggest that digital village construction in China can effectively reduce regional disparities. But establishing a long-term driving mechanism for digital village construction on farmers’ common prosperity is another novel and pressing task that requires urgent attention.