How Does Digital Finance Affect Residents’ Social Donation Behavior?—An Empirical Analysis Based on CFPS Microdata

基于中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS) 2012~2022年六期面板数据，系统考察数字金融对居民家庭社会捐赠行为的影响及其作用机制。研究发现，数字金融发展显著提升了家庭社会捐赠意愿与捐赠规模，该结论在工具变量法检验下依然成立。机制分析表明，数字金融通过缓解流动性约束(收入效应)、增强社会信任(信任效应)及提升主观幸福感(幸福感效应)三重路径促进捐赠行为。异质性分析揭示，数字金融对低学历群体具有普惠性赋能作用，而对高学历群体因投资替代效应产生抑制性影响。研究为优化数字金融的社会治理功能、推动第三次分配与共同富裕目标协同提供了经验证据与政策启示。Using six waves of panel data (2012~2022) from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study systematically examines the impact of digital finance on residents’ social donation behavior and its underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that the development of digital finance significantly enhances households’ willingness to donate and the scale of their donations, a conclusion that remains robust under instrumental variable tests. Mechanism analysis indicates that digital finance promotes donation behavior through three pathways: alleviating liquidity constraints (income effect), strengthening social trust (trust effect), and improving subjective well-being (happiness effect). Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that digital finance exerts an inclusive empowering effect on low-educated groups, while it suppresses donations among high-educated groups due to investment substitution effects. This study provides empirical evidence and policy insights for optimizing the social governance functions of digital finance and advancing the synergy between the “third distribution” and common prosperity goals.