Empirical Analysis of the Role of Urbanization in Driving the Growth of Rural Residents’ Consumption

Urbanization is a powerful engine for the growth of rural residents’ consumption in China.This paper selects the cross-sectional data concerning 31 provinces( municipalities) in China during 2005-2012,and builds the panel data model of influence of urbanization on rural residents’ consumption in China for empirical analysis.The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between urbanization and rural residents’ consumption level.From the mechanism,urbanization drives the growth of rural residents’ consumption by improving rural residents’ income level and changing rural residents’ consumption concept.However,the uncertainties of rural residents’ income inhibit the growth of rural residents’ consumption.Therefore,it is necessary to accelerate the development of urbanization,broaden farmers’ income channels,improve the consumer environment and accelerate the reform of the household registration system to further activate the rural consumer market.