How does Institutional Change Affect the Development of Digital Finance:Evidence from Pilot Free Trade Zones
Based on the quasi-natural experiment of establishing free trade zones,this paper constructs the theoretical framework of institutional change affecting the development of digital finance,and makes an empirical test based on the pan-el data of 31 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021 and the difference in difference model.The results show that establishing the free trade zone has significantly promoted the development of digital finance,which is still valid after various robustness tests.The mechanism analysis shows that the free trade zone indirectly drives the development of digital finance through three channels:promoting the agglomeration of financial factors,improving the construction of digital infrastructure,and en-hancing the innovation ability of digital technology.Heterogeneity analysis shows that establishing the first three free trade zones has significantly promoted the development of digital finance.In addition,in regions with stronger financial regula-tion,better trade development,fuller factor agglomeration,and more developed economy,the promotion effect of free trade zones on digital finance is more obvious.Further research finds that the free trade zone not only helps to enhance the depth and digitalization of local digital finance,but also promotes the development of digital finance in adjacent areas through spa-tial spillover.
pilot free trade zonedigital financespillover effectsdifference in difference method
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
