Impact of ICT adoption on cosmetic expenditure of Chinese residents: An exploration accounting for urban-rural differentials

Abstract

This study explores the impact of the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on cosmetic expenditure, accounting for urban-rural differentials. We employ the inverse-probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimator, which has double-robust property, to estimate the 2018 China Family Panel Studies data. Results show that ICT adoption exerts a positive and significant impact on the cosmetic expenditure of Chinese residents, and its impact on urban residents is larger than that on their rural counterparts. Further analysis reveals that the cosmetic expenditure gap between urban and rural residents is smaller among households at higher-income quantile (relative to those at lower-income quantile) and those residing in the Central and Western regions of China (relative to those in the Eastern).