Promoting rural entrepreneurship is an important approach to achieving rural revitalization, accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, and enhancing the well-being of farmers. Based on the County Digital Rural Index (CDRI) and the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), we empirically examine the impact and role of digital rural construction (DRC) on rural household entrepreneurship. Our findings are as follows: (1) DRC plays a vital role in facilitating entrepreneurial behaviors (EB) and entrepreneurial performance (EP) among rural households. (2) DRC indirectly fosters rural household entrepreneurship by facilitating resource acquisition and opportunity identification. (3) Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that DRC’s promotion effect is stronger among local entrepreneurs and individuals with risk-averse tendencies. Additionally, DRC has a more pronounced effect in stimulating EB within lower-income families, while its impact on EP shows the opposite trend. Furthermore, DRC’s influence on rural household entrepreneurship is particularly significant in regions with more advanced digital rural development. (4) Additionally, we observe a significant positive impact of the four dimensions of DRC on rural household entrepreneurship, further affirming the role of DRC in driving rural household entrepreneurship. In the digital economy era, this study provides empirical evidence to promote the integration of digital technology and rural entrepreneurship, offering valuable insights for advancement in this domain.

To reduce the passive entrepreneurial exit of rural families and improve the quality of rural entrepreneurship, we theoretically discuss how digital technology can help rural families to obtain resources in the process of entrepreneurship from a micro perspective to inhibit the passive entrepreneurial exit, and perform an empirical test by using the data of three consecutive periods of China’s household finance survey in 2015, 2017, and 2019. The results show that: First, digital technology use has a significant inhibitory effect on the passive entrepreneurial exit of rural families. Second, the role of digital technology lies in effectively improving the social capital, human capital, and financial capital of entrepreneurial families, thus inhibiting the passive entrepreneurial exit of rural families. Third, the role of digital technology is related to the development level of village social networks and county economic development levels. The average marginal effect of data technology in villages or counties with high development levels is higher. The policy implications are as follows: We should accelerate the improvement of rural digital infrastructure construction, accelerate the expansion of digital services for the people, and enhance the ability of farmers to use digital technology while increasing policy support for farmers’ entrepreneurship.

The elderly dependency ratio in China has increased from 10.7% in 2003 to 17.8% in 2019, and there may be a link between the widespread withdrawal of family entrepreneurship in society and the increased dependency burden. Based on China Family Panel Studies, we empirically examine the impact of dependency burden on household entrepreneurial exit behavior. We find that the likelihood of household exit from entrepreneurial activity increases as the population ages. Compared to active exit from entrepreneurship, dependency burden mainly induces failure exit from household entrepreneurship. In addition to reducing physical capital accumulation and labor supply, dependency burden also reduces the household workforce’s mental and physical health, leading to the entrepreneurial exit. The application of digital technology can mitigate the negative effects of dependency burden in household entrepreneurship. The mitigating effect of digital technology will be enhanced with the deepening of the application. Therefore, government and academia need to pay attention to the negative effects of dependency burden on the sustainability of household entrepreneurship.