How does cultural consumption city pilot improve household consumption structure upgrade? Evidence from China

This paper presents a feasible road to achieving household consumption structure upgrade through the cultural consumption pilot. We employ the panel data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey from 2014 to 2018 and use the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method to test the policy of National Cultural Consumption Demonstration Cities (NCCDC) pilots on the household consumption structure upgrade. The results show that household consumption structure upgrades after becoming pilot cities and NCCDC policy can promote the increase of enjoyment consumption and the decline of survival consumption. We adopt different methods to test the robustness of the results, and all tests are robust. Moreover, the upgrading effect of family residents’ consumption structures in NCCDC pilots is mainly reflected in urban families, and communities with good governance. Its main mechanisms are cultural radiation, while Internet and clan network effects, which moderate NCCDC policy and household consumption upgrades. The NCCDC policy shapes city brands in communities. More cultural facilities, consumption platforms, and family donations of cultural products emerge in large numbers.