Digital Finance Research Articles

Digital infrastructure and urban entrepreneurship level

ABSTRACT This article explores the pivotal role of digital infrastructure in fostering urban entrepreneurship amidst the current era of rapid digital economy expansion. By leveraging Tianyancha micro-enterprise data alongside city-level data spanning from 2005 to 2019, in our study, we elucidate how digital infrastructure serves as a vital catalyst for enhancing urban entrepreneurial activity. Our findings demonstrate that digital infrastructure significantly elevates the entrepreneurial landscape within urban settings. Through mechanism analysis, we reveal that digital infrastructure facilitates urban entrepreneurship by facilitating inclusive digital finance and broadening consumer markets. Moreover, our heterogeneity analysis underscores that cities with higher economic development, denser populations, and service-oriented industries – particularly non-productive service sectors – stand to gain the most from digital infrastructure advancements. Lastly, our extended analysis reveals a threshold effect wherein digital infrastructure reaches a critical point in its ability to spur urban entrepreneurship.

Determinants of Digital Financial Literacy for Young Adult Generation in Indonesia

Industry 4.0 has greatly facilitated the adoption of Digital Finance Inclusion (DFI) in Indonesia. Consequently, DFI providers need to investigate the many variables influencing DFI users to understand their consumers better. The primary step in comprehending the initial hurdles for DFI is through DFL (Digital Financial Literacy). This study aims to identify, quantify, and authenticate the factors that influence Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) among Indonesian people who engage in fintech services. In 2023, 225 adult fintech users in Indonesia were polled via a self-administered survey. The findings demonstrate that there are 11 factors that influence DFL among adults in Indonesia. This study generated unique contributions by emphasizing critical parameters that offer solutions for assessing digital financial literacy that can serve as a foundation for constructing a digital financial literacy index. Therefore, the study shows that a deep foundational understanding of DFL is necessary to utilize DFS efficiently.

Digital finance and corporate financialization: from the perspective of bank competition and economic policy uncertainty

ABSTRACT The paper explores the roles of bank competition and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in the relationship between digital finance and corporate financialization. We find that digital finance dampens corporate financialization by intensifying competition in the banking industry. However, when EPU increases, the ability of digital finance to suppress corporate financialization weakens. We also find a substitution effect between digital finance and EPU.

Study on the impact of green digital finance on low-carbon transition of energy consumption structure under multidimensional perspective-empirical evidence from China

Green digital finance plays a crucial role in driving green production, consumption and facilitating the low-carbon transition of energy consumption structures. This paper delves into the impact of green digital finance on this transformation from a multidimensional perspective for the first time. The study reveals that developing green digital finance effectively elevates the level of carbon reduction in energy consumption structures. Both industrial restructuring and innovation in green, low-carbon technologies play significant conduit roles in advancing the low-carbon transformation of energy consumption structures through green digital finance, with a mutually reinforcing relationship between them. Formal environmental regulations act as positive regulators, influencing the strategic choices of innovation entities in green, low-carbon technology innovation. Green digital finance exhibits heterogeneous effects on the low-carbon transformation of energy consumption structures due to factors such as geographical location, financial regulatory intensity, informal environmental regulations, marketization, and resource endowment. The conclusions of this paper hold substantial significance and practical reference value for China's ongoing efforts to advance the construction of a new energy system and high-quality energy development.

Does Digital Finance Promote Business Performance of Manufacturing?

Does Digital Finance Promote Business Performance of Manufacturing?

Can digital financial inclusion help reduce migrant workers' overwork? Evidence from China.

Migrant workers in China are migrants from the rural to the urban areas who usually work in the cities and return to the countryside after a certain period. Due to China's strict household registration system, they differ significantly from urban residents' access to public services. However, at the same time, China's workers are facing a severe phenomenon of overwork, and the group of migrant workers is even more hard-hit by overwork, which will cause various adverse effects on workers and society and should attract the attention of all sectors of society. This paper focuses on the impact of digital financial inclusion on the overwork of migrant workers. This study considered cross-sectional data containing 98,047 samples based on the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey 2017 (CMDS) and China Municipal Statistical Yearbook after robustness tests and heterogeneity analysis using probit models. (1) digital financial inclusion can effectively alleviate overwork among migrant workers; (2) the impact of digital finance on overwork is more significant for the new generation, digitized industries, and self-employed migrant workers; it is also more significant for the South, East, and small and medium-sized cities than for the North, the Midwest, and large cities; (3) job quality and income are crucial factors in how digital financial inclusion affects overwork among migrant workers. Digital financial inclusion can improve the quality of employment for migrant workers and alleviate overwork. However, the income substitution effect partially reduces the inhibitory impact of digital financial inclusion on overwork. Continuously promote the development of digital inclusive finance, improve laws and regulations, and protect the labor rights and interests of migrant workers. At the same time, vocational training and skills upgrading for rural migrant workers should be strengthened to improve the quality of their employment so that they can leave the secondary labor market and enter the primary labor market.

Impact of digital finance on agricultural output: From the perspective of digital development of agriculture

The rapid development of digital technology has brought new opportunities for agricultural development. Using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2011–2021, this paper examines the relationship between the impact of digital finance on agricultural output, and constructs comprehensive digital agriculture indicators to examine the mediating effects. The study finds that digital finance has contributed significantly to agricultural output. The mediation effect verifies that digital finance can further contribute to agricultural output by increasing the digitisation of agriculture. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that digital finance plays a more important role in financial support in the Middle Region.

Digital finance and corporate environmental violations

Using a sample of 1048 A-share listed firms for the period 2011–2020, we analyze the direct and indirect pathways through which digital finance shapes environmental governance mechanisms within corporations. Our findings reveal that digital finance mitigates environmental violations through information (internal control) and financial (environmental investment) mechanisms. The primary findings remain consistent after using battery of robustness tests. Moreover, the negative influence of digital finance on environmental violations is more pronounced for state-owned firms, heavy polluters, and firms operating in regions with stringent environmental regulations. Overall, this research contributes valuable insights into the firm-level consequences of digital finance integration and emphasizes the importance of robust regulatory frameworks for environmental sustainability in the digital age.

Enhancing Industry Evolution: The Role of Digital Inclusive Finance in Optimizing and Upgrading the Industrial Structure

The upgrading of digital inclusive finance has markedly enhanced the financing and operational milieu for small and micro enterprises (SMEs), exerting a pivotal influence on the optimization of the national industrial structure. This paper leverages panel data spanning from 2011 to 2020 across 30 provincial-level administrative regions within China to scrutinize the ramifications of digital inclusive finance on the amelioration and elevation of the industrial framework. It endeavors to assimilate the construct of digital inclusive finance into the analytical paradigm concerning the evolution of industrial structures, embarking on a dual-faceted investigation from both theoretical constructs and empirical evidences to elucidate the dynamics between digital inclusive finance and the upgrading of China’s industrial structure. The empirical outcomes underscore that digital inclusive finance substantially fosters the refinement of the industrial architecture, particularly accentuating its positive leverage on the rationalization of industrial structure. Subsequent explorations reveal a regional heterogeneity in the facilitative effects of digital inclusive finance on industrial structure optimization and upgrading, with more pronounced significances identified within the central and western regions of China. Moreover, it is discerned that divergent domains of digital inclusive finance impart differential impacts on the optimization efficacy of the industrial structure. This discourse not only augments the scholarly dialogue on digital finance and industrial progression but also proffers empirical insights for policy formulations aimed at harnessing digital inclusive finance as a strategic instrument for economic augmentation and industrial sophistication.

Digital Financial Services Effort in Enforcing Anti-Money Laundering through Open Banking Optimization

Technology has revolutionized finance, but seamless services increase fraud risks. As digital finance grows, anti-money laundering (AML) systems struggle with high transaction volumes. The main objective of this study is to verify whether open banking catalyzes the efficiency of transaction monitoring in AML. Another objective is to analyze the current agenda of regulators in Indonesia, which is related to the Indonesia Payment Systems Blueprint 2025 and customer data security. The Delphi technique pinpointed contemporary AML compliance technologies, encompassing money laundering, Regulatory Technology, and regulatory bodies. The article delves into a comparative analysis between Regulatory Technology and financial crime, which emphasizes several actions to eradicate money laundering, such as strengthening the AML system, customer screening, and allowing cross-data sharing between institutions. In addition, this paper explores RegTech's limitations and forthcoming hurdles regarding AML compliance. The finding shows that open banking catalyzes the efficiency of transaction monitoring in AML and supports the regulator's agenda to combat money laundering with some requirements.

Digital Finance Helps “Five-in-one” Rural Revitalization Development

Digital Finance Helps “Five-in-one” Rural Revitalization Development

Finansial Inklusi dan Akses Kredit untuk UMKM: Sebuah Analisis Bibliometrik

This study conducts a bibliometric analysis to explore the research landscape of financial inclusion, analyzing thematic clusters, research trends, author collaboration networks, and identifying potential areas for future research. Utilizing VOSviewer for network visualizations, we examine data from key publications spanning several decades to determine how research foci have evolved. Our findings reveal that research on financial inclusion encompasses a diverse range of themes, including core financial services, digital finance, microfinance, and the socioeconomic impacts of financial accessibility. Trends indicate a progressive shift towards integrating digital solutions and sustainability into financial practices. Author collaboration analysis highlights a robust network of scholars, with significant contributions from leading figures in the field. The study also identifies under-researched areas such as gender-specific financial inclusion and sustainable finance, presenting opportunities for future explorations. These insights contribute to understanding the dynamic and multidimensional nature of financial inclusion research, highlighting its role in fostering economic development and addressing global challenges.

Digitizing Prosperity: How Digital Finance Transforms Agricultural Incomes in China

Digitizing Prosperity: How Digital Finance Transforms Agricultural Incomes in China

Rethinking digital finance and information and communication technology (ICT) capital impacts on environmental goods trade under carbon neutrality targets

Rethinking digital finance and information and communication technology (<scp>ICT</scp>) capital impacts on environmental goods trade under carbon neutrality targets

Research on the Impact of Digital Finance on the High-Quality Development of Regional Economy: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data

As a product of the combination of digital technology and traditional finance, the vigorous development of digital finance in the context of the digital economy era will certainly have a great impact on the high-quality development of the economy. Based on the panel data of 31 provinces from 2011 to 2020, this paper adopts the entropy value method to determine the economic development index of the region, and applies the two-way fixed effect model to explore the impact of the development of digital finance on the regional economic development. It is found that the rapid development of digital finance has a positive role in promoting the economic development of the region and changes with the level of openness to the outside world as well as the level of human capital, and that the innovation effect update of the region plays an intermediary role as an intermediary variable in the impact of digital finance on the economic development of the region. There is significant heterogeneity in the economic development of digital finance on different regions, with the highest in the east and the lowest in the center. Reasonable suggestions are made for the better development of the economy of each region, thus promoting the high-quality development of the economy of each region.

Digital Finance, Executive Background and Enterprise Green Innovation

Digital finance is a combination of digital information technology and finance. Compared with traditional finance, its development can be more efficient to achieve the improvement of the enterprise. Data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies for the period 2011-2020 in China, and matching with 31 provincial data. Regression models were used to analyze the function of digital finance on corporate green innovation and the impact of the senior managers background on its mechanisms. Reached the following conclusion: first, digital finance clearly promotes green innovation in companies. Second, according to the upper echelon theory, the executive background in corporate has a regulatory effect. The higher the rate of managers within companies with background abroad or high-level education, the more digital finance promotes green renovation. Then, based on the results of the study, suggestions were put forward.

Research on the Impact of Digital Finance on the High-quality Development of China's Economy

At present, China's economy is in a period of transformation and development. Facing multiple challenges at home and abroad, it is particularly important to explore a new path of high-quality economic development. The rise of digital finance has provided a new perspective on this. The present paper aims to study the supporting role of digital finance in the high-quality development of China's economy and reveal the action mechanism between the two. Through the literature analysis method, this paper sorts out the relevant literature of digital finance to support high-quality economic development, defines the concept of digital finance and high-quality economic development, analyzes the economic and ecological effects of digital finance from the perspective of macro to micro, and points out the possible research directions in the future. The research results show that digital finance plays a positive role in promoting the high-quality development of China's economy by improving the efficiency of financial services and promoting technological innovation.

FinTech developments and their heterogeneous effect on digital finance for SMEs and entrepreneurship: evidence from 47 African countries

Purpose Lack of access to finance is a major constraint to the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship in developing countries. The recent proliferation of mobile phone services, access to the internet and emerging technologies has led to a surge in the use of FinTech in Africa and is transforming the financial sector. This paper aims to examine whether FinTech developments heterogeneously contribute to the growth of digital finance for SMEs and entrepreneurship in 47 African countries from 2013 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a novel method of moments quantile regression, which deals with heterogeneity and endogeneity in diverse conditions for asymmetric and nonlinear models. Findings The empirical results reveal that the rise of FinTech companies offering services in Africa heterogeneously increases digital finance for SMEs and entrepreneurship in their different stages of growth. FinTech developments have a strong and positive impact in countries with higher levels of digital finance than those with lower levels. FinTech developments and digital finance positively and significantly influence entrepreneurship in Africa, particularly in the nascent and transitional development stages of entrepreneurship. Institutional quality has a considerable positive moderating effect when used as a control rather than an interaction variable. Practical implications The results suggest the need to promote FinTech developments in Africa: to provide a wide range of alternative digital finance schemes to SMEs and to promote entrepreneurship, especially in countries where entrepreneurship is in the nascent and transitional development stages. The results also underscore the need to promote FinTech development through supportive regulations and institutional quality to reduce risks related to FinTech and digital financing schemes. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first attempts to account for the often overlooked heterogeneity effects and show that the influence of FinTech developments is not homogenous across the varying development stages of digital finance and entrepreneurship.

The Impact of Digital Finance Development on Urban Carbon Emissions under the Dual Carbon Goal

Digital finance is an important tool for promoting the transition to a "low-carbon economy" in cities, and the application of digital finance can reduce carbon emissions in cities and provide a basis for the early realization of the "dual-carbon" goal. Under the background of "30-60" carbon peak and carbon neutral, the construction of international carbon trading system and system is accelerating. This project is based on the implementation of China's "30-60" dual-carbon strategy, focusing on some of the current problems faced by China, considering the impact of digital finance on urban carbon emissions, and focusing on the three aspects of technological innovation, industrial structure, and innovation effects, to conduct some attempts to explore the roles and opportunities of China's digital finance in support of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. The role and opportunities of China's digital finance to support carbon peak and carbon neutralization are discussed.

Research on the Impact Effect of Digital Finance on the Development of Low Carbon Economy

The report of the 20th Party Congress pointed out that “promoting the greening and low-carbonization of economic and social development is the key link to achieve high-quality development”, and steadily promoting carbon peak and carbon neutral work is the proper meaning of promoting the development of low-carbon economy. Digital finance, as a fusion of digital technology and financial business, can form a long-term mechanism of governance of pollution, so the study of the impact of digital finance on the development of China's low-carbon economy has certain theoretical value and practical significance. Based on the panel dataset of 30 provinces from 2011 to 2021, this paper constructs a benchmark regression model and a mediation effect model to analyze the impact effect of digital finance on the development of low-carbon economy, and based on the theoretical analysis and the empirical results, it provides referable policy suggestions for promoting the development of low-carbon economy.