The Impact of Digital Economy on Farmers' Environmental Governance Participation: A Mechanism Analysis Based on Chinese Rural Survey Data

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the influence of the digital economy on farmers' involvement in rural environmental governance, using microdata from over 2800 farming households in the China Rural Revitalization Survey. The study focuses on three dimensions of the digital economy: digital infrastructure, digital business and digital life. The results show that the digital economy plays a significant role in promoting farmers' environmental governance behaviours. Among the three dimensions, digital infrastructure and digital life have a stronger impact, while digital business shows a more limited effect. Mechanism analysis identifies three primary pathways through which the digital economy influences governance behaviours: expanding social networks, increasing income and enhancing environmental awareness. However, digital business does not significantly contribute to environmental awareness, pointing to its limited effectiveness in driving behavioural change. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that farmers with larger‐scale operations, higher digital literacy and those in western regions are more positively impacted, whereas farmers in central regions show little effect. These findings highlight the need for region‐specific strategies that account for local conditions and demographic characteristics. The paper offers three policy recommendations: (1) tailor digital strategies to regional needs to enhance farmers' participation in environmental governance, (2) provide targeted training and support for low‐literacy and large‐scale farmers and (3) improve the alignment of digital business initiatives with environmental governance goals to foster greater synergy between technology and rural ecological management.