THE EFFECT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ON ENTREPRENEURIAL PERFORMANCE OF RURAL WOMEN: A SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE

Rural women’s entrepreneurship is vital for rural revitalization, yet its drivers are often oversimplified. Previous research typically views digital technology as a gender-neutral efficiency tool, ignoring its potential to address psychological need deficits (autonomy, competence, relatedness) rooted in gendered structural constraints, while reducing age effects to mere “skill gaps.” Integrating self-determination theory (SDT) with digital capital theory (informed by van Dijk’s digital divide framework), this study establishes a dual-pathway model. We argue that digital technology empowers mainly by compensating for psychological needs, whereas an entrepreneur’s age—reconceptualized as gendered digital capital—moderates the effectiveness of this compensation. Using survey data from 169 rural female entrepreneurs in China’s Leading Goose Project, we find strong support. Digital technology enhances entrepreneurial performance, partially mediated by satisfaction of autonomy and competence needs, though relatedness need mediation is insignificant. Moreover, age negatively moderates this relationship: Younger entrepreneurs (18-44 years) effectively convert digital access into performance, whereas older entrepreneurs (45[Formula: see text] years), constrained by barriers like caregiving burdens and limited training, benefit less. By theorizing the psychological compensation pathway and its structural boundary condition, this study transcends instrumental accounts. It clarifies the complementary roles of SDT (the “how”) and digital capital theory (the “for whom”), offering a nuanced framework for life course-informed digital empowerment policies.