The Impact of Digital Finance on Regional Economic Resilience-An Empirical Analysis Based on the Pearl River Delta Region

Focusing on the panel data of nine cities in the Pearl River Delta from 2011-2023, this article constructs a comprehensive indicator to measure regional economic resilience from three dimensions: resistance and recovery ability, adaptation and adjustment ability, and innovation and evolution ability, then explores the impact and mechanism of digital finance on regional economic resilience. The results of the study found that: First, digital finance plays a major role in promoting regional economic resilience; Second, the impact of digital finance on regional economic resilience exists in regional heterogeneity, the first- and second-tier cities are more substantially impacted by the positive impact of digital finance, whereas the impact of the third-tier cities is relatively small, which indicates that the greater the administrative divisions of the region by the influence of digital finance is more pronounced; Third, digital finance may mediately improve regional economic resilience by enhancing regional innovation capacity and optimizing industrial structure.