Abstract: This paper considers the creation of the“Four Good Rural Roads” (FGRR) National Demonstration Counties as a quasi-natural experiment, and studies the impact of the construction of the FGRR on farmers' incomes and its mechanism of action. The study finds that the construction of the FGRR can significantly increase farmers' incomes, this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism analysis reveals that the construction of FGRR influences farmers' income growth through three pathways: non-agricultural employment, technology adoption, and industrial development. The heterogeneity analysis further demonstrates that the more developed the economic level, the better the financial resources and“digital infrastructure”, the greater the extent to which the construction of FGRR can promote farmers' income growth. The construction of FGRR exhibits a significant spatial spillover effect, notably boosting farmers' income growth in the neighboring counties of demonstration counties, with this phenomenon being more pronounced in the eastern region. Therefore, the government should actively promote the coordinated development of rural road construction, management, maintenance, and operation, explore a multidimensional development path anchored in“labor force—technology—industry”, enhance the synergy between economic development and financial markets as well as“digital infrastructure”, and establish a cross-regional collaborative development mechanism, thereby achieving the goal of increasing farmers' income through the construction of FGRR.

Key words: four good rural roads, farmers' income growth, economic growth, non-farm employment, industrial upgrading