Research On The Impact Of Digital Inclusive Finance On Urban-rural Income Gap

After the reform and opening up,China’s economy has grown rapidly and is now the second largest economy in the world.At the same time,with the rise of digital technologies such as big data,cloud computing and 5G communications,China’s digital economy has begun to flourish.Finance is the core of the modern economy,and digital technology has driven the development of digital inclusive finance,which provides more effective financial services to all classes of people at lower prices and on equal terms.However,against this backdrop,the gap between the rich and the poor in China has begun to emerge,with the income gap between urban and rural residents widening.At the same time,the dual structure of urban and rural economy has failed to allow the towns and villages to achieve positive interaction,and the solution to the problem of urban-rural income gap is imminent.Then,whether digital inclusive finance can alleviate the income gap between urban and rural areas has important research value.The Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle,as the region with the highest level of economic development in western China,has an important strategic position in the national development of promoting the western development and building "One Belt,One Road".Therefore,this paper selects the panel data of 136 districts(counties and cities)in the economic circle from 2016 to 2021 as the research sample to explore the relationship between digital inclusive finance and urban-rural income gap in the economic circle.The article firstly elaborates the influence mechanism between the two,and secondly analyzes the evolution process and current situation of the two in the economic circle respectively.On the basis of the above,the paper further conducts an empirical analysis.After the descriptive statistics of the variables,the regressions of the full sample and sub-dimensions within the economic circle are conducted using the fixed-effects model,while the economic circle is divided into four major regions,namely,the twin core,northeast Sichuan,south Sichuan,and the plain,for regional heterogeneity analysis.Finally,in order to explore the transmission path and nonlinear relationship between the two,the intermediary and threshold effects were also tested.The results show that,first,digital inclusive finance can significantly reduce the urbanrural income gap in the economic circle,and the coverage breadth dimension converges best.In addition,the plain area in the economic circle is the strongest convergence effect among the four major regions.Second,the transmission paths of both economic development level and urbanization level exist and are significant,and both play a partial mediating role.Third,there is no threshold for the breadth of coverage,while there is a single threshold for the depth of use and a double threshold for the degree of digitization,and a nonlinear relationship is indeed implied between the two.Finally,based on the above findings,this paper puts forward corresponding policy recommendations in terms of top-level design,risk regulation and infrastructure.