An Empirical Study On The Impact Of Digital Inclusive Finance On The Urban-rural Income Gap In Shandong Provinc

During the ’ 14 th Five-Year Plan ’ period,the development of various fields in China ’s society entered the fast lane,the income level of urban and rural residents has been greatly improved,and remarkable economic construction results have been achieved.As a populous province,Shandong Province has a large economic aggregate,but the imbalance between urban and rural development is still significant,and the urban-rural income gap still exists.In 2022,the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Shandong Province is CNY 49,050,the per capita disposable income of rural residents is CNY 22,110,and the per capita disposable income ratio of urban and rural residents is 2.2.Excessive urban-rural income gap will not only affect the high-quality development of Shandong ’s economy,but also is not conducive to the realization of rural revitalization.In 2022,the People ’s Government of Shandong Province issued the " New Urbanization Plan of Shandong Province(2021-2035)." This plan requires to improve the stable income increase mechanism of urban and rural residents,expand the channels for farmers to increase income,and achieve the goal of reducing the per capita disposable income ratio of urban and rural residents to about 1.8 by 2035.Among the many factors affecting the income gap,the role of finance cannot be ignored.Especially in recent years,digital inclusive finance has developed rapidly and has achieved remarkable results in narrowing the urban-rural income gap.Based on this background,this paper studies and analyzes the impact of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural income gap in Shandong Province.Based on the research of relevant scholars at home and abroad,the panel data of 65 counties in Shandong Province from 2014 to2020 are selected.Firstly,a two-way fixed effect model is established to test the impact of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural income gap in Shandong Province.Secondly,the heterogeneity of digital inclusive finance is tested from the three sub-dimensions of digital inclusive finance,the three major economic circles of Shandong Province,and the urban-rural income gap at different quantiles.Again,the urbanization rate is used as a threshold variable to construct a panel threshold model to test whether digital inclusive finance has a non-linear impact on the urban-rural income gap in Shandong Province.Finally,the mediating effect model is constructed,and the stepwise regression method is used to verify whether financial support for agriculture plays an intermediary role in the impact of digital inclusive finance on urban-rural income gap in Shandong Province.The results show that the development of digital inclusive finance can narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas in Shandong Province;the impact of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural income gap in Shandong Province has heterogeneous effects on different dimensions,different regions and different quantiles;the digital inclusive finance has a non-linear impact on the urban-rural income gap in Shandong Province,and has a more significant convergence effect on counties with lower urbanization rates;fiscal support for agriculture plays a partial intermediary role in the impact of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural income gap.According to the research conclusions,the policy recommendations are as follows : strengthen the top-level design of digital inclusive financial development,and formulate digital inclusive financial development strategies according to local conditions;strengthen the construction of digital financial infrastructure,improve the coverage of financial institutions in rural areas,and alleviate the financial exclusion caused by the imperfect digital infrastructure;popularize digital financial knowledge and raise residents ’ awareness of participating in financial activities;promote the construction of county urbanization and help the realization of rural revitalization;increase financial support for agriculture,and effectively improve the income level of farmers.