Can Digital Inclusive Finance Narrow the Urban-Rural Income Gap: An Empirical Study from 6 Cities in Guizhou Province

本研究结合2013~2022年度贵州省6个市的面板数据，并且选取数字普惠金融发展水平和城镇化率、产业结构、受教育水平等多项指标进行实证分析，探讨数字普惠金融对贵州缩小城乡收入差距的作用机理。结果表明：1) 数字普惠金融对缩小贵州省城乡收入差距成效显著。2) 数字普惠金融通过教育投入促进了农村居民消费水平，提高了小微企业及低收入群体的金融获得，为农村经济的蓬勃发展注入了强劲动力。3) 数字普惠金融提高了农户就业率，促进了金融资源的优化配置，进一步优化城乡之间的要素流动，从而缩小了城乡间的收入差距。4) 产业结构的合理调整在缩小城乡收入差距的过程中也发挥了积极的协同效应。基于上述发现，本文就数字普惠金融对贵州省在缩小城乡收入差距、促进共同富裕的道路上，需要加快农村居民消费提质增效，持续深化数字普惠金融改革创新促进农户就业数量、提高农户就业质量，此外还需扩展数字普惠金融宽度、挖掘其深度，不断优化财政支出结构，促进产业发展。This study combines the panel data of six cities (prefectures) in Guizhou Province from 2013 to 2022 and selects multiple indicators such as the development level of digital inclusive finance, urbanization rate, industrial structure, and education level for empirical analysis to explore whether Guizhou can truly narrow the urban-rural income gap through the development of digital inclusive finance. The results show that: 1) Digital inclusive finance has achieved remarkable results in narrowing the urban-rural income gap in Guizhou Province. 2) Digital inclusive finance has promoted the consumption level of rural residents, improved the financial access of small and micro enterprises and low-income groups, and injected strong impetus into the vigorous development of the rural economy. 3) Digital inclusive finance has increased the employment rate of farmers, promoted the optimal allocation of financial resources, further optimized the flow of factors between urban and rural areas, and thus narrowed the income gap between urban and rural areas. 4) The reasonable adjustment of industrial structure has also played a positive synergistic effect in narrowing the urban-rural income gap. Based on the above findings, this paper suggests that in the process of narrowing the urban-rural income gap and promoting common prosperity in Guizhou Province through digital inclusive finance, it is necessary to accelerate the improvement of the quality and efficiency of rural residents’ consumption, continuously deepen the reform and innovation of digital inclusive finance to increase the number and quality of farmers’ employment, and further expand the breadth and depth of digital inclusive finance, continuously optimize the structure of fiscal expenditure, and promote industrial development.