A Study on the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on the Economic Development of Resource-Intensive Cities—An Empirical Analysis with a Focus on the Huaihe River Basin

数字普惠金融为资源型城市经济发展及产业升级提供了强大动力。本研究以淮河流域四省26个地级市2013至2022年的面板数据为基础，运用固定效应模型考察数字普惠金融对资源型城市经济发展的影响机制。实证结果显示，数字普惠金融主要借助资源配置优化和产业结构升级这两条路径推动区域经济增长，其中产业结构升级的中介效应较为突出，具体体现为引导资本向高附加值的第三产业聚集，从而提高了经济发展质量。异质性分析结果说明，再生型城市对数字普惠金融的作用效果最显著，且覆盖广度这一维度起着关键作用。基于此，应着重推进数字普惠金融服务的广泛覆盖战略，加强数字基础设施建设，促使金融服务向小微企业和欠发达地区渗透，同时结合产业多元化布局与技术创新融合，有效化解资源型城市面临的“资源诅咒”困境。This paper uses the panel data of 26 prefecture-level cities in the four provinces of the Huai River Basin from 2013 to 2022, and systematically examines what kind of influence mechanism digital inclusive finance will have on the economic development of resource-based cities with the fixed effects model. After empirical analysis, it is found that digital inclusive finance can promote regional economic growth through two paths. One is to optimize the allocation of financial resources. The other one is to upgrade the industrial structure. The promoting effect of digital inclusive finance on regional economic growth is quite obvious. Among them, the mediating role of industrial structure upgrading is particularly prominent. It can guide capital to gather in high value-added industries, thereby indirectly improving the quality of economic development. The results of heterogeneity analysis show that the response of regenerative cities to digital inclusive finance policies is the most prominent. Among them, the dimension of coverage breadth plays a crucial role. Based on these circumstances, this article suggests that efforts should be focused on promoting the strategy of wide coverage of digital inclusive financial services. It is also necessary to strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure to extend financial services to small and micro enterprises and underdeveloped areas. The diversified layout of industries and technological innovation should be combined. In this way, the “resource curse” problem faced by resource-based cities can be effectively solved.