Exploration of the Development Model of Digital Inclusive Finance in China:An Economic and Public Wellbeing Perspective
Over the past decade,China's digital inclusive finance has achieved remarkable success,positioning the coun-try at the forefront of global inclusive finance.This paper delves deeply into the development trajectory of digital inclu-sive finance in China,summarizing the unique model and experience that have emerged.Furthermore,while significant progress has been made,challenges such as the emergence of new risks and the persistent imbalance in development re-main prominent.This paper seeks to identify the underlying issues within previous development models to find entry points for the high-quality advancement of digital inclusive finance in the future.Utilizing data from 31 provincial-level regions in China between 2011 and 2021,this paper conducts an empirical study employing methods such as the finite mixture model.The conclusions are as follows.(1)Economic foundation,in-frastructure,public wellbeing demand,and government capacity are the primary factors influencing the development of digital inclusive finance in China.Among them,the economic foundation and infrastructure represent the supply-side drivers,while public wellbeing demand represents the demand-side pull.The attention of local governments to digital,in-clusive,and financial matters serves as an explanatory factor in the classification of digital inclusive finance development models in China.Specifically,three models emerge:primary,intermediate,and bottleneck stages.(2)The driving factors of digital inclusive finance in China exhibit dynamic evolution,with the economic foundation and public wellbeing de-mand playing the main driving roles at different stages,reflecting a transition in the growth path characterized by"eco-nomic foundation-led(supply-driven)-public wellbeing demand-led(demand-pulled)-economic foundation-led(supply-driven)."The growth paths of digital inclusive finance across the 31 provincial-level regions can be categorized into lead-ing,normal,and lagging development stages.(3)The differences in development models and growth path transitions of digital inclusive finance stem from shifts in the interaction mechanisms among these influencing factors.Specifically,the dual drive of the economy and public wellbeing demand originates from the emergence and subsequent decline of the in-termediary path,that is,"economic foundation influences public wellbeing demand,which in turn influences digital inclu-sive finance."Particularly through the discussion of the bottleneck stage,it is evident that there is room for optimization in the allo-cation of digital inclusive finance development resources.On the one hand,from the perspective of public wellbeing de-mand(demand-side),regions in the bottleneck stage exhibit a significantly lower need for digital inclusive finance devel-opment compared to those in other development stages.On the other hand,considering the driving effect of the economic foundation,the difficulty and cost of developing digital inclusive finance in regions in the bottleneck stage are notably higher than in other development stages.Therefore,it is imperative to guide the flow of digital inclusive finance develop-ment resources from regions with leading development to those with lagging development.The policy implications of this study are as follows.First,local governments should tailor digital inclusive finance development strategies to their specific circumstances.They should reassess and identify the current stage of digital inclu-sive finance development within their regions and craft strategies that align with local conditions and needs.Second,the central government should strategically allocate resources for the development of digital inclusive finance.This allocation should take into account the diverse stages and specific needs of different regions to promote coordinated regional devel-opment.Third,efforts should be intensified to enhance financial literacy among residents,emphasize innovation in digital finance,and improve risk management to overcome the bottlenecks in digital inclusive finance development.Through digital financial innovation,the capacity of digital inclusive finance to meet higher quality,more diverse,and personal-ized financial needs should be strengthened.Additionally,improving residents'financial literacy will help them better un-derstand their risk tolerance and more effectively use digital inclusive finance products and services,thereby overcoming the self-exclusion effect described in financial exclusion theory.Fourth,fostering the integration of economic foundations with financial technology is essential to meet broader public wellbeing needs.Reflecting on the action path reveals that one way to break through the bottleneck stage lies in a shift of mechanisms—if the"economic foundation-public wellbe-ing demand-digital inclusive finance"pathway can be reactivated,public wellbeing demand in regions in the bottleneck stage will once again drive the development of digital inclusive finance.
Digital Inclusive FinanceEconomic FoundationPublic Wellbeing DemandDevelopment ModelPath Tran-sition
万方数据
维普
