IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i24p16984-d1007252.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can China’s Digital Inclusive Finance Alleviate Rural Poverty? An Empirical Analysis from the Perspective of Regional Economic Development and an Income Gap

Author

Listed:
  • Mingzhao Xiong

    (Post Graduate Centre, Management and Science University, Shah Alam 40100, Malaysia
    School of Economics and Trade, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China)

  • Wenqi Li

    (School of Economics and Trade, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China)

  • Brian Sheng Xian Teo

    (Post Graduate Centre, Management and Science University, Shah Alam 40100, Malaysia)

  • Jaizah Othman

    (Faculty of Business Management and Professional Studies, Management and Science University, Shah Alam 40100, Malaysia
    Department of Economics, College of Business Administration, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Digital inclusive finance (DIF) plays an active role in preventing poverty-stricken groups from returning to poverty and reducing poverty. This paper empirically tests the impact of DIF on rural poverty alleviation using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020 as a sample. It employs multiple linear regression, mediation effect models, and threshold effect models. The results show that: (1) DIF and its three sub-indicators (coverage breadth, depth of use, and digitalization degree) have significant poverty reduction effects, and the findings hold even when endogeneity is taken into account; (2) a study of regional heterogeneity found that DIF and its sub-indices, coverage and depth of use in the eastern region, have the greatest effect on the poverty alleviation of rural residents, and the effects in the central and western regions have the least effect; (3) the mediation effect test found that DIF could indirectly promote poverty alleviation in rural areas by promoting regional economic growth and narrowing the urban-rural income gap. The Sobel test shows that the mediating effect of regional economic growth is greater than the mediating effect of the urban-rural income gap; (4) it is found through the threshold effect test that regional economic growth has a double threshold effect on rural poverty alleviation, and as the threshold value continues to increase, the poverty reduction effect increases in turn. Therefore, this paper puts forward policy suggestions for the aspects of accelerating the development of DIF in rural areas, implementing regionally differentiated poverty reduction strategies according to local conditions, promoting regional economic growth, and narrowing the urban-rural income gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Mingzhao Xiong & Wenqi Li & Brian Sheng Xian Teo & Jaizah Othman, 2022. "Can China’s Digital Inclusive Finance Alleviate Rural Poverty? An Empirical Analysis from the Perspective of Regional Economic Development and an Income Gap," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16984-:d:1007252
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16984/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16984/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Imran Matin & David Hulme & Stuart Rutherford, 2002. "Finance for the poor: from microcredit to microfinancial services," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(2), pages 273-294.
    2. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. "Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September.
    3. Xi Zhang & Scott Rozelle, 2022. "Education Universalization, Rural School Participation, and Population Density," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 4-30, July.
    4. Hongpeng Guo & Yang Yang & Chulin Pan & Shuang Xu & Nan Yan & Qingyong Lei, 2022. "Study on the Impact of Income Gap on Health Level of Rural Residents in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Marcus Taylor, 2016. "Risky Ventures: Financial Inclusion, Risk Management and the Uncertain Rise of Index-Based Insurance," Research in Political Economy, in: Risking Capitalism, volume 31, pages 237-266, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    6. Abosedra, Salah & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nawaz, Kishwar, 2015. "Modeling Causality between Financial Deepening and Poverty Reduction in Egypt," MPRA Paper 67166, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Oct 2015.
    7. Fenfen Shi & Rijia Ding & Heqing Li & Suli Hao, 2022. "Environmental Regulation, Digital Financial Inclusion, and Environmental Pollution: An Empirical Study Based on the Spatial Spillover Effect and Panel Threshold Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-28, June.
    8. Tian Liu & Guangwen He & Calum G. Turvey, 2021. "Inclusive Finance, Farm Households Entrepreneurship, and Inclusive Rural Transformation in Rural Poverty-stricken Areas in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(7), pages 1929-1958, May.
    9. Shijiang Chen & Mingyue Liang & Wen Yang, 2022. "Does Digital Financial Inclusion Reduce China’s Rural Household Vulnerability to Poverty: An Empirical Analysis From the Perspective of Household Entrepreneurship," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    10. Nasir Khan & Mahwish Zafar & Abiodun Funso Okunlola & Zeman Zoltan & Magda Robert, 2022. "Effects of Financial Inclusion on Economic Growth, Poverty, Sustainability, and Financial Efficiency: Evidence from the G20 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Robert M. Townsend & Kenichi Ueda, 2006. "Financial Deepening, Inequality, and Growth: A Model-Based Quantitative Evaluation -super-1," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(1), pages 251-293.
    12. Sin-Yu Ho & Bernard Njindan Iyke, 2017. "Does Financial Development Lead to Poverty Reduction in China? Time Series Evidence," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 9(1), pages 99-112.
    13. Heping Ge & Lianzhen Tang & Xiaojun Zhou & Decai Tang & Valentina Boamah, 2022. "Research on the Effect of Rural Inclusive Financial Ecological Environment on Rural Household Income in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-16, February.
    14. Yao Li & Haiming Long & Jiajun Ouyang & Haitao Ma, 2022. "Digital Financial Inclusion, Spatial Spillover, and Household Consumption: Evidence from China," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2022, pages 1-14, February.
    15. Li, Jie & Wu, Yu & Xiao, Jing Jian, 2020. "The impact of digital finance on household consumption: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 317-326.
    16. Xuanming Ji & Kun Wang & He Xu & Muchen Li, 2021. "Has Digital Financial Inclusion Narrowed the Urban-Rural Income Gap: The Role of Entrepreneurship in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    17. Cyn-Young Park & Rogelio Mercado, 2018. "Financial Inclusion, Poverty, And Income Inequality," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(01), pages 185-206, March.
    18. Juan Luo & Bao-zhen Li, 2022. "Impact of Digital Financial Inclusion on Consumption Inequality in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 529-553, September.
    19. Jiekuan Zhang & Yan Zhang, 2021. "The relationship between China's income inequality and transport infrastructure, economic growth, and carbon emissions," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 243-264, March.
    20. Jalilian, Hossein & Kirkpatrick, Colin, 2002. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(2), pages 97-108, April.
    21. repec:eme:rpec11:s0161-723020160000031013 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Xue Wang & Guangwen He, 2020. "Digital Financial Inclusion and Farmers’ Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, February.
    23. Hossein Jalilian & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2005. "Does Financial Development Contribute to Poverty Reduction?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 636-656.
    24. Philip Arestis & Asena Caner, 2004. "Financial Liberalization and Poverty: Channels of Influence," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_411, Levy Economics Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mengzhen Wang & Xingong Ding & Pengfei Cheng, 2024. "Exploring the income impact of rural e-commerce comprehensive demonstration project and determinants of county selection," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Ding, Guoxuan & Kang, Nier, 2024. "The impact of digital financial inclusion on China's regional disparities in the quality of economic development: Based on the relational data paradigm," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 629-651.
    3. Linmao Ma & Tonggen Ding & Jinsong Zhang, 2024. "Research on the Capability to Prevent Returning to Poverty and Its Enhancement Path for the Ecologically Fragile Areas: A Case Study of Enshi Prefecture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-36, June.
    4. Zijun Mao & Xiyue Zhu & Qi Zou & Wen Jin, 2024. "How Can Digital Villages Improve Basic Public Services Delivery in Rural Areas? Evidence from 1840 Counties in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Yang Jingyi & Guo Xiaoyang & Zhang Xiuwu, 2024. "Analysis of the Effect of Digital Financial Inclusion in Promoting Inclusive Growth: Mechanism and Statistical Verification," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-18.
    6. Ziqin Xu & Hui Niu & Yuxuan Wei & Yiping Wu & Yang Yu, 2024. "Impact and Mechanisms of Digital Inclusive Finance in Relation to Farmland Transfer: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Shiqin Yang & Zisheng Yang & Renyi Yang & Xueli Cai, 2023. "Analysis of the Spatio-Temporal Evolution, Influencing Factors, and Spillover Effects of the Urban–Rural Income Gap in Chongqing Municipality, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, April.
    8. Tingwei Chen & Zongbin Zhang, 2023. "Can the Low-Carbon Transition Impact the Urban–Rural Income Gap? Empirical Evidence from the Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, March.
    9. Qianqian Li & Qilin Liu, 2023. "Impact of Digital Financial Inclusion on Residents’ Income and Income Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, January.
    10. Jianwei Gao & Yuxin Wu & Haiwei Li, 2024. "Digital Inclusive Finance, Rural Loan Availability, and Urban–Rural Income Gap: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-25, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiaowen Xie, 2023. "Analyzing the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Poverty Reduction: A Study Based on System GMM in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Isaac Appiah-Otoo & Na Song, 2021. "The Impact of Fintech on Poverty Reduction: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, May.
    3. Clement Olalekan Olaniyi & James Temitope Dada & Nicholas Mbaya Odhiambo & Xuan Vinh Vo, 2023. "Modelling asymmetric structure in the finance-poverty nexus: empirical insights from an emerging market economy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 453-487, February.
    4. Jianwei Gao & Yuxin Wu & Haiwei Li, 2024. "Digital Inclusive Finance, Rural Loan Availability, and Urban–Rural Income Gap: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Dzator, Janet & Acheampong, Alex O. & Appiah-Otoo, Isaac & Dzator, Michael, 2023. "Leveraging digital technology for development: Does ICT contribute to poverty reduction?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).
    6. Gazi Salah Uddin & Phouphet Kyophilavong & Nasim Sydee, 2012. "The Casual Nexus of Banking Sector Development and Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 2(3), pages 304-311.
    7. Aïssata COULIBALY & Urbain Thierry YOGO, 2016. "Access to Financial Services and Working Poverty in Developing Countries," Working Papers 201620, CERDI.
    8. Uddin, Gazi Salah & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Arouri, Mohamed & Teulon, Frédéric, 2014. "Financial development and poverty reduction nexus: A cointegration and causality analysis in Bangladesh," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 405-412.
    9. Sin-Yu Ho & Bernard Njindan Iyke, 2017. "Does Financial Development Lead to Poverty Reduction in China? Time Series Evidence," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 9(1), pages 99-112.
    10. Takeshi Inoue & Shigeyuki Hamori, 2012. "How has financial deepening affected poverty reduction in India? Empirical analysis using state-level panel data," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 395-408, March.
    11. Philip Arestis & Asena Caner, 2010. "Capital account liberalisation and poverty: how close is the link?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 34(2), pages 295-323, March.
    12. Abosedra, Salah & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nawaz, Kishwar, 2015. "Modeling Causality between Financial Deepening and Poverty Reduction in Egypt," MPRA Paper 67166, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Oct 2015.
    13. Qianqian Li & Qilin Liu, 2023. "Impact of Digital Financial Inclusion on Residents’ Income and Income Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, January.
    14. Madhu Sehrawat & A. K. Giri, 2018. "The impact of financial development, economic growth, income inequality on poverty: evidence from India," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1585-1602, December.
    15. Shastri, Shruti & Giri, A.K. & Mohapatra, Geetilaxmi, 2022. "Foreign capital inflows and poverty linkages in South Asia: Do the forms of capital inflows matter?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(3).
    16. Jakob Haan & Regina Pleninger & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2022. "Does Financial Development Reduce the Poverty Gap?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 1-27, May.
    17. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Lou, Runchi & Wang, Fuhao, 2023. "Digital financial inclusion and poverty alleviation: Evidence from the sustainable development of China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 418-434.
    18. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin, 2011. "Nonlinearity in the financial developmentâincome inequality nexus," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 310-325, September.
    19. Appiah, Michael & Frowne, Doreen Idan & Tetteh, Derrick, 2020. "Re-examining the Nexus Between Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Emerging Economies," Asian Journal of Applied Economics, Kasetsart University, Center for Applied Economics Research, vol. 27(2).
    20. Ayad Hicham & Belmokaddem Mostefa & Sari Hassoun Salah Eddin, 2019. "Frequency Domain Causality Relationship Analysis Between Poverty, Economic Growth And Financial Development In Algeria," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 24, pages 93-111, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16984-:d:1007252. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.