The Impact Of Digital Financial Inclusion On The Urban-rural Consumption Gap

Since the reform and opening up,China’s economy once maintained a fast growth rate,and now the economy has shifted from the stage of high-speed growth to the stage of high-quality development.In this process,the contribution rate of export and investment to the economy has been gradually reduced,and the role of consumption in driving the economy cannot be ignored.It has gradually become a "stabilizer" and "ballast stone" for the smooth operation of the economy.However,there is still a large consumption gap between urban and rural residents.A large consumption gap between urban and rural residents is not conducive to the realization of residents’ better life and spiritual life,nor to the balanced and coordinated development of urban and rural areas.Pratt &whitney financial relies on the Internet,cloud computing,big data analysis,and the application of block chain and a series of related innovative technology,to promote information sharing,thresholds,and effectively reduce the transaction costs and financial services for disadvantaged groups and remote areas there are people who need financial services provides a convenient,especially in rural residents.Therefore,this paper mainly explores the following questions: How does digital inclusive finance affect the urban-rural consumption gap? What is the influence mechanism? What are the differences in the impact of digital financial inclusion in different dimensions and different geographical regions?After reviewing the relevant research literature,this paper conducts a theoretical analysis on the influence mechanism of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural consumption gap,including the direct influence mechanism and the indirect influence mechanism.This paper argues that digital inclusive finance can directly affect the consumption expenditure of urban and rural residents and narrow the urban-rural consumption gap by facilitating payment channels,easing liquidity constraints and reducing precautionary savings.In addition,digital inclusive finance can also indirectly affect the urban-rural consumption gap through the mediating effect of narrowing the income gap between urban and rural residents.Then,this paper selects the macro-economic data of 31 provinces in China from2011 to 2018 to construct a panel data model,empirically tests the impact of digital financial inclusion on the urban-rural consumption gap and its mediating mechanism,and conducts a heterogeneity analysis,namely structural heterogeneity and regional heterogeneity.The main research conclusions are as follows :(1)From the national level,digital inclusive finance has a significant negative impact on the urban-rural consumption gap.(2)From the results of intermediary mechanism analysis,digital inclusive finance can narrow the urban-rural income gap and then the urban-rural consumption gap,and there is a partial intermediary effect.(3)Analysing from different dimensions of digital inclusive finance,the results show that the breadth,the depth of use and the degree of digitalization of digital inclusive finance can narrow the urban-rural consumption gap.The breadth of digital inclusive finance has the greatest impact,the degree of digitalization is small,and the depth of use is not significant.(4)Based on the analysis of samples from different regions,the development of digital inclusive finance in the eastern,central and western regions can all narrow the urban-rural consumption gap.The influence of the development of digital inclusive finance in the western region is the largest,followed by the central region and the eastern region.Finally,based on the above conclusions,this paper believes that in vigorously developing digital inclusive finance,to promote the construction of financial infrastructure,especially to expand the coverage and use depth of financial services in the central and western regions,the eastern region should be committed to using financial technology to solve the actual scene needs.On the one hand,we should improve the level of financial knowledge in rural areas and their ability to participate in the financial market.On the other hand,financial service products should be innovated to meet the needs of consumers at different levels,especially vulnerable groups such as rural residents.