Abstract

Financial services are an essential source of capital and play a crucial and significant role in urban–rural integration. We analyse empirically the effect of digital finance on urban–rural integration and its mechanism using provincial panel data in China for 2011–2020. The results indicate that digital finance contributes to urban–rural integration. Moreover, for every 1 standard deviation increase in digital finance development, the degree of urban–rural integration increases by 7.7% on average, and it is more evident in China’s eastern regions, with regional heterogeneity. The level of entrepreneurship can be a vital channel for digital finance to facilitate urban–rural integration. The mechanism of action of digital finance to facilitate urban–rural integration by improving entrepreneurship levels is primarily revealed in the group with lower levels of human capital, which exhibits certain inclusive characteristics. This study is conducive to developing a policy for promoting the free flow of resources between urban and rural areas and advancing urban–rural integration.

Details

Title
Can digital finance drive urban–rural integration?
Author
Hao, Yunping 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhang, Bing 1 ; Yin, Hongfei 2 

1  College of Finance, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China 
2  School of Finance and Taxation, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan, China 
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
ISSN
1331677X
e-ISSN
18489664
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2023.2169736
ProQuest document ID
2922707701
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.