The Relationship between Urbanization and Consumption Upgrading of Rural Residents under the Sustainable Development: An Empirical Study Based on Mediation Effect and Threshold Effect

Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization, the overall consumption level of rural residents has been improved accordingly in China, and the consumption structure has gradually become perfect. However, in the process of urbanization, it is necessary to handle some practical problems in order to realize the sustainable development of consumption in rural areas. Under the concept of sustainable consumption, urbanization has become a new engine that drives rural residents’ consumption in China. The digital economy has injected new vitality to expand domestic demand as well. Therefore, whether consumption upgrading in rural areas is affected by urbanization and the digital economy is a topic worth studying. To discuss the relationship between urbanization, the digital economy and consumption levels in rural areas, this paper uses an intermediary effect model to test how urbanization promotes the consumption upgrading in rural regions with the digital economy as the intermediary variable and explores the threshold characteristics of urbanization. The results are as follows: urbanization significantly promotes the rural residents’ consumption upgrading, and there is regional heterogeneity. It improves the consumption optimization in the eastern and central regions, but not in the western region. The digital economy intermediates the relationship between urbanization and consumption optimization. Moreover, urbanization has a double threshold, and with the increase of the threshold value, the marginal effect of urbanization on rural residents’ consumption upgrading also increases gradually. China should seize the opportunities of the development of urbanization and the digital economy, constantly raise farmer income, and narrow the income gap between urban and rural area, so as to promote the sustainable development of consumption in rural areas.