Study On The Impact Of Digital Inclusive Finance On Farmers’ Happiness

Effectively improving farmers’ sense of access and well-being is an important manifestation of building a well-off society in all aspects and an important goal of realizing the rural revitalization strategy.For a long time,the enhancement of farmers’ happiness has been constrained by factors such as unstable income,weak risk resistance,exclusion from traditional finance and relative lack of financial capital.Digital inclusive finance is based on equal opportunities and well combines digital technology with inclusive finance,which can not only improve financial accessibility in rural areas by extending the service radius of banks,but also use financial technology to reduce information asymmetry in the transaction process and provide low-cost and high-efficiency financial services for low-income disadvantaged groups such as farmers,which becomes an opportunity to improve farmers’ happiness.First,based on theories such as long-tail theory,liquidity constraint theory and social comparison theory,this paper analyzes the direct and indirect mechanisms through which digital inclusive finance affects farmers’ happiness,and puts forward relevant hypotheses.Secondly,the relationship between digital inclusive finance and farmers’ happiness is examined by combining the data from the China Household Tracking Survey(CFPS2018)and the Digital Inclusive Finance 2019 survey report.The analysis results show that digital inclusive finance helps enhance farmers’ happiness.Among them,the most significant enhancement effect is the breadth of digital inclusive finance coverage.The depth of usage and the level of digitalization also contribute to enhancing farmers’ happiness to different degrees.Further,the mechanisms of digital inclusive finance affecting farmers’ happiness were examined and analyzed from three aspects: material factors,psychological factors and social development factors,and heterogeneity was analyzed in terms of individual farmers’ characteristics and farmers’ regions.The study found that the overall development of digital inclusive finance in China has ended its peak period and entered a period of normal development.The development of financial digitization and coverage is nearing its peak,with limited room for upward movement,and the development of digital inclusive finance in the coming period will be driven by the growth of depth of use.Compared with developed regions,there is still a gap in the index level,especially the level of depth of use,in the lagging regions.The happiness level of farmers shows a fluctuating upward trend,but has stabilized in the past two years.The happiness level of women is overall higher than that of men,and the groups of farmers with higher education,good health and being party members generally have higher happiness levels.Meanwhile,having a higher income,especially a higher relative income,can bring farmers a greater sense of happiness.The happiness level of farmers in the western region is slightly lower than that in the central and eastern regions,but the overall happiness level shows an increasing trend.Digital inclusive finance can significantly improve farmers’ happiness level by acting on their per capita disposable income,individual sentiment and urban-rural income gap.In terms of differences in individual characteristics,digital inclusive finance has a more significant happiness-enhancing effect on the middle-aged stage,less educated and middle-and high-income groups of farmers;in terms of regional differences,digital inclusive finance has a more significant effect on the happiness of farmers in central and western China.Finally,the following insights are obtained based on the research findings:innovation in digital inclusive finance products and service methods should be further promoted to facilitate the in-depth use of inclusive finance and digital transformation and upgrading in rural areas.With less room for upward movement in coverage breadth,it is important to focus on the universality of business and the convenience and preferential services,and to implement targeted policies and measures for different groups of farmers.