The impact of digital infrastructure construction on older adults' cognitive health: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

The digital infrastructure has profoundly changed people's daily lives and health outcomes. However, the causal effect of digital infrastructure on cognitive health remains unclear. The study employs the "Broadband China" policy as a reliable proxy for digital infrastructure, using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) five waves panel data from 2011 to 2020 and a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) method to investigate the causal impact of digital infrastructure construction on the cognitive health in Chinese older adults. We find that digital infrastructure construction has a significant positive effect on the cognitive health of older adults, and the dynamic DID results confirm a persistent effect. Mechanism analysis shows that digital infrastructure improves cognitive health by increasing social interaction, health promotion behaviors (including medical insurance participation and physical exercise), and reducing medical costs. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the cognitive health-improving effect of digital infrastructure construction is stronger among older adults living in urban areas and high-GDP cities, male, low and middle-aged, and highly educated. Our research findings provide empirical evidence for improving cognitive health and healthy aging among older adults through the development of digital infrastructure.