Digital Economy, Industrial Structure and Income Inequality

Abstract

As a distinctive feature of contemporary social development, digital economy will inevitably affect the typical fact of income inequality. This paper theoretically sorts out the influence mechanism between digital economy, industrial structure and income inequality, and conducts empirical research based on cross-border panel data from 49 countries from 2010 to 2020. The results show that the development of digital economy significantly alleviates income inequality. The digital economy indirectly narrows the income gap by promoting the advanced and rational industrial structure; The mitigating effect of the digital economy in countries with higher levels of income inequality is more pronounced than in countries with low levels of income inequality, but when the country's income distribution falls into extreme inequality, the positive effect of the digital economy in reducing income inequality is minimal.