Digital inclusive finance and agricultural green development in China: impact and mechanism

Abstract This study focuses on the impact of digital inclusive finance on agricultural green development in China. It finds that digital inclusive finance has a significant positive impact on agricultural green development in China. Fully leveraging the advantages of digital inclusive finance can inject strong momentum into agricultural green development, and this conclusion remains robust after replacing the dependent variable, removing samples of municipalities directly under the central government of China, and conducting endogeneity tests. The significant positive impact of digital inclusive finance on agricultural green development is valid in regions with high, medium, and low levels of agricultural green development in China, indicating that digital inclusive finance can effectively promote agricultural green development in regions with varying levels of green development in China. Mechanism tests show that green finance and agricultural green technology innovation play effective mediating roles in the mechanism through which digital inclusive finance impacts China’s agricultural green development. Digital inclusive finance promotes agricultural green development in China by improving the levels of green finance and agricultural green technology innovation.