Inclusion In China Research Articles

Enhancing financial inclusion in China amidst COVID-19: Opportunities, challenges, and strategies

This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial inclusion in China, a country with a significant agricultural sector and an evolving digital landscape. The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital financial services, underscoring disparities in access. This study explores the pre- and post-pandemic scenarios of financial inclusion in China, evaluates the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, and assesses the role of digital transformation in the financial sector. It also investigates the changing roles of commercial banks and microfinance institutions, the integration of technology in finance, and the development of rural-urban economic linkages. The paper aims to propose strategies to enhance financial inclusion, ensuring it reaches the most vulnerable, and concludes with recommendations for creating a more equitable and robust economic system.

Development of Digital Financial Inclusion in China's Regional Economy: Evidence from Panel Threshold Models

This study aims to investigate the effect of digital financial inclusion and air pollution on economic growth for 31 Chinese provinces between 2003 and 2022 using Panel Threshold Auto-Regressive (PTAR) and Panel Smooth Transition Auto-Regression (PSTAR) models. The results show that there is a nonlinear link between digital financial inclusion and economic growth in China. For PTAR, the LnDFII thresholds are 4.264 (i.e., DFII = 71.094), and for PSTAR are 4.563 (i.e., DFII = 95.871). Below these thresholds, digital financial inclusion significantly boosts economic growth by 0.061 and 0.063 in the PTAR and PSTAR models, respectively. However, above these thresholds, the positive impact diminishes, with coefficients dropping to 0.015 and 0.004 in the PTAR and PSTAR models, respectively. Additionally, both models indicate that digital financial inclusion positively affects reducing air pollution, thereby potentially fostering economic growth. Hence, authorities should strategically implement digital technologies and strengthen collaborative efforts at the regional level to maximize these benefits.

Navigating the digital age: The gray digital divide and digital inclusion in China

Rapid digitalization and an aging population are leading to an increasingly prominent age-based digital divide among the world’s elderly population. This study focuses on China, one of the most rapidly aging and digitalizing countries in the world. Employing a mixed-method approach, this research examines how elderly individuals experience the digital transformation and the associated digital divide. The findings suggest that the elderly interviewees encounter multiple barriers to learning and using digital technologies, which highlights the significant role of social support and networks in facilitating their adaptation to the digital society and lifestyle. Attitudes toward digital engagement and digitalization vary greatly among the elderly, ranging from being optimistic to feeling left behind and having multiple concerns. Our findings further reveal that the Chinese government has implemented numerous digital apps tailored to the demands of the elderly and provided training opportunities to bridge the gray digital divide. This emphasizes the responsiveness and adaptiveness of Chinese authorities in addressing pressing societal issues. However, we identify a gap in digital outreach, as most elderly interviewees have limited awareness of government digital inclusion policies and programs. This article contributes to digital divide research and offers practical implications for countries grappling with the gray digital divide.

Digital financial inclusion, resident consumption, and urban carbon emissions in China: A transaction cost perspective

Using data from 283 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2018, this study empirically investigates the impact of digital financial inclusion on urban carbon emissions. We conclude that digital financial inclusion significantly promotes urban carbon emissions. Moreover, as urban carbon emissions increase, the marginal effect first grows and then dwindles. A further investigation shows that digital financial inclusion significantly promotes urban carbon emissions by increasing resident consumption. Finally, we find that the impact of digital financial inclusion on urban carbon emissions is heterogeneous in terms of city size, city rank, and the commercial credit environment. In addition, digital financial inclusion has spillover effects on urban carbon emissions. It delivers positive effects on the local city while imposing significant suppressing effects on carbon emissions in neighbouring cities. The reason possibly is that digital financial inclusion in China is still in its early stage and it delivers ‘polarization effects’.

The role of digital financial inclusion in China on urban-rural disparities in healthcare expenditures.

The digital financial inclusion (DFI) provides opportunities to improve the relative capacity to pay for healthcare services by rural residents who are usually underserved by traditional finance in China. This paper provides empirical evidence on how the development of DFI affects the healthcare expenditure disparities between urban and rural residents. We employed the fixed effects model and instrumental variable method to estimate the impact of DFI on the Theil index of urban-rural disparities in healthcare expenditures, using panel data from 31 provinces (2011 ~ 2020) in China. We further adopted a moderating effect model to test whether the intensity of the impact would vary depending on the level of local government health expenditures. The results suggest a negative association between the development level of DFI and the urban-rural healthcare expenditure disparities in China. For every 1% increase in the DFI index, the Theil index of urban-rural disparities in healthcare expenditures would fall by 0.0013. After changing the measurement method for the dependent variable and adjusting the sample, the results remain robust. Moreover, the result of the moderating effect model indicates that, a high level of government health expenditures is conducive to the impact of DFI. Our research reveals that DFI plays an important role in bridging the urban-rural gap in healthcare expenditures. This finding provides new information for addressing the issue of urban-rural healthcare inequality in China. Chinese government needs to accelerate the construction of digital infrastructure and increase the penetration rate of digital tools in rural areas to promote the beneficial effects of DFI. Additionally, it is also necessary for local government to address the unbalanced allocation of medical resources between urban and rural areas, especially the shortage of rural human resources.

Development of Digital Finance and Enhancement of Regional Innovation in the Context of Dual Circulation

Amidst the framework of dual circulation, innovation emerges as a pivotal strategy for realizing high-quality economic development. Concurrently, digital finance, serving as a potent complement to traditional financial systems, significantly influences regional innovation enhancement. This research employs a spatial panel methodology to thoroughly investigate the inherent mechanisms through which digital finance development shapes regional innovation. Empirical testing is conducted using panel data derived from 283 mainland Chinese prefecture-level cities spanning from 2013 to 2020. The findings underscore that digital inclusive finance plays a crucial role in amplifying regional innovation output, unveiling a distinct spatial impact on innovation. The progression of each facet of digital finance contributes to mitigating supply-side financing constraints, thereby directly fostering heightened regional innovation. The study delves into a Chinese regional sub-sample, revealing a prevalent driving effect with conspicuous heterogeneity across the major regions—East > Central > West. As scientific and technological innovation stands as the primary driving force, its profound interplay with the evolution of financial inclusion in China is evident. This study provides valuable insights to fortify regional modernization efforts and serves as a reference for policymakers and researchers navigating the complex intersection of finance and innovation in the Chinese context.

Fostering environmental sustainability: An analysis of green investment and digital financial inclusion in China using quantile-on-quantile regression and wavelet coherence approach

This study explores the opportunities for enhancing environmental sustainability in China through a meticulous examination of the interrelations among green investment, digital financial inclusion, and environmental sustainability. An innovative tripartite methodology encompassing quantile-on-quantile regression, Granger causality in quantiles, and wavelet coherence analysis, complemented by extensive robustness checks is employed to unveil nuanced insights. The findings reveal a robust positive interrelation between green investment, digital financial inclusion, and environmental sustainability, notably within middle to upper quantiles of environmental sustainability, extending across varying levels of digital financial inclusion and environmental sustainability quantiles (0.05–0.95). This synergy is pivotal in middle to high quantiles of both green investment and digital financial inclusion, signifying the critical role of each in environmental conservation. The research accentuates the imperative of strategic investments in eco-friendly innovations and the financial sector to usher China towards a sustainable developmental paradigm. Overall, the findings suggest that green investment, financial inclusion, and play a critical role in enhancing environmental sustainability of China's current economic growth. This study provides valuable insights for developing countries seeking to achieve sustainable development goals through leveraging green investment, and digital financial inclusion.

Regional Culture and Digital Financial Inclusion in China

Unbalanced development among regions is a prominent feature of the current situation of inclusive finance. Few works have been done on how regional culture affects the imbalance of inclusive financial development. The authors try to investigate this issue using yearly data of digital financial inclusion in China spanning from 2011 to 2020 and the Hofstede regional culture of China. The results reveal regional culture could be the potential driver which leads to regional imbalance of the development of digital financial inclusion in China. Specifically, under Chinese historical culture background, financial inclusion is positively related with indulgence regionally, while individualism or power distance could exert negative impact. The findings are verified by a two-stage least square approach. Due to the anonymity and platform dependence of digital financial, Hofstede culture could make sense by influencing public trust in the financial sector, the internet, and unfamiliar relationships.

Research on the Contribution of Regional Digital Financial inclusion Based on PCA-ANN-MLP Algorithm

Digital Financial Inclusion is a hot topic under the theme of China's economy today. Digital Financial Inclusion is an important supplement and extension of traditional Financial inclusion. Its core idea is to reduce the threshold of financial services and ease the financing difficulties of low-income groups, small and micro enterprises, and other vulnerable groups by providing low-cost and efficient financial services to the public. The empirical results of much literature show that digital Financial inclusion has narrowed the gap between the rich and the poor, which plays a vital role in the high-quality development of China's economy. Therefore, it is important to explore it's influencing factors and analyze the influencing mechanism. This study focuses on the three provinces in eastern China and applies the grounded theory approach. Utilizing data from the Peking University database, 17 factors influencing the level of digital inclusive finance are selected. PCA (principal component analysis) is used to reduce dimensions, and ANN-MLP (artificial neural network multi-layer perceptron) algorithm is used to explore the contribution factors of Digital Financial Inclusion, explore important factors, and put forward relevant suggestions. The significance of this study is that taking the three provinces in eastern China as an example, it explores the factors influencing the development of DFI in China, and makes an important contribution to the issue of how to promote the rapid development of digital Financial inclusion in China.

Policy intents and the enactment of inclusion in prestigious schools in urban China: can equity and excellence coexist?

ABSTRACT This article addresses the policy intents regarding inclusive education in the Chinese basic education sector, prestigious school principals’ and teachers’ understanding of inclusion, and their current enactment of inclusion in delivering education. Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews, we find that inclusion in China can be understood in two broad categories. One concerns even development and equal access to educational opportunities between regions of different economic development, while the other concerns equal rights and educational opportunities between students with special educational needs and students in regular classrooms. In terms of enactment, the teachers and principals at the prestigious schools sampled focus on different issues to those highlighted in policy documents. Inclusion is often discussed in relation to competition, quality, and outcomes in the schools, rather than access to education and the learning process. When it comes to inclusion criteria, prestigious schools substantively exert their influence to exclude certain students, due to their self-image of excellence. However, based on the ideology of human capital theory, excellence and equity are not seen as incompatible goals in the Chinese educational system.

Why can't children with autism integrate into society in China? Study based on the perspective of NGO classification.

In the field of protecting children with autism, NGOs have become a major force that cannot be ignored. Although NGOs for children with autism have expanded the number and improved the quality of the services they provide, a large number of autistic children still cannot achieve the goal of social inclusion in China. The existing literature has mostly tried to explain the reason from the perspective of the common characteristics of NGOs and has paid insufficient attention to the huge differences between these NGOs, so it is impossible to identify the obstacles that children with autism encounter accurately. From the perspective of NGO classification, this study conducted an in-depth investigation of 4 NGO cases in City N, China, to show the impact of the difference of NGOs on the obstacles to the social inclusion of autistic children. The research has found that under the authoritarian regime, NGOs for children with autism that rely heavily on external funds include three common groups: government-oriented NGOs, foundation-supported NGOs, and individual-financed NGOs. The structural characteristics of the funders and their interaction with the NGOs for children with autism shape their different action logics, as the result that the desire of children with autism to integrate into society cannot be achieved as expected. The results of this study give more accurate insights into the barriers in social service provision for children with autism that impede their social inclusion and provide a reference for those seeking a solution to this problem.

Geopolitical risk, financial system and natural resources extraction: Evidence from China

A sustainable financial system helps economies stand against current environmental problems and challenges. Scholars and policymakers worldwide are interested in examining the factors that might alleviate environmental issues and enhance financial development. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of natural resources, geopolitical risk, and trade on financial inclusion in China from 1992 to 2022. We use the most appropriate time series econometric approach such as the Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) bound test, to analyze the long-run relationship among the targeted variables. The study used Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) techniques for robustness. The ARDL results indicate that natural gas and coal rents increase financial inclusion, whereas mineral rents decrease. Interestingly the trade boost while the geopolitical risk decreases the financial inclusion in China. Our results suggested that Policymakers and scholars should work on understanding how geopolitical risk affects increase at the national and global levels, as well as how to manage geopolitical events to create a healthy, sustainable environment. Moreover, new ventures and rent-seeking should be encouraged to eliminate natural resource waste and strengthen China's natural resource tax policy.

Stratified financial inclusion in China based on hukou and its interaction with city and province development

ABSTRACT Financial inclusion (that is, access by individuals to the services provided by financial institutions such as banks, insurance, and investment firms) is a key condition for economic development, and forms one of the principal policy instruments in China for the promotion of rural-urban integration. Using data from the China Household Financial Studies (2013), this paper investigates the determinants of financial inclusion at the household level in China. Focused on the role of the Chinese household registration system (hukou), this paper proposes a new hukou typology to investigate the composite index of financial inclusion as well as the six indicators. Multilevel estimates reveal substantial differences of financial inclusion among different hukou holders; significant cross-level associations between hukou and economic development is also found, revealing the complex and non-linear relationship between hukou and financial inclusion. These findings shed light on the potential for market failures and two types of discrimination based on hukou system, which deny access to financial services to groups of people. Research implications on how to increase financial inclusion are mentioned and discussed.

The health of the elderly and social security in the context of digital financial inclusion in China.

The health of the elderly and social security in the context of digital financial inclusion in China.

The Development of Digital Financial Inclusion in China

"The development of China's digital financial inclusion" is an important research field that has attracted much attention in recent years. Digital financial inclusion refers to the use of emerging technologies such as the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence to provide the general public with more convenient, efficient, and low-cost financial services. Digital financial inclusion has become an important means to promote financial inclusion. In recent years, the development of my country's digital financial inclusion has achieved world-renowned achievements. However, there are still many issues and challenges to be resolved. For example, information asymmetry, difficulty in risk control, and imperfect regulatory policies are still the main obstacles to the development of digital financial inclusion. This article will discuss the background, development, problems and challenges, and future development directions of China's digital financial inclusion, aiming to give readers a comprehensive understanding of the development status and future trends of China's digital financial inclusion.

Confucianism and human rights - exploring the philosophical base for inclusive education for children with disabilities in China

Inclusive education is a key global agenda that is primarily driven by concern for children’s rights. In China, the term is a translated, introduced, foreign concept. The localised practice of inclusion is encapsulated in the policy of Learning in Regular Classrooms, which not only adopts the narrow sense of inclusion for children with disabilities, but it is also dominated by the medical model of disability. An explicit rights-based philosophical foundation for inclusion that is widely accepted and internalised by local Chinese teachers and schools appears largely absent. This paper explores how Confucianism as a moral philosophy may be compatible with the rights discourse and may provide the necessary moral strengths and philosophical base to support inclusion in Chinese schools. The conclusion highlights the needs to pay attention to how teachers’ deeper values, motivation, and drives can facilitate inclusive efforts, and also calls for a more explicit human rights discourse to develop in China in the long term.

The asymmetric effect of green investment, natural resources, and growth on financial inclusion in China

The financial system plays a significant role in subsidizing an economy's adaption to environmental challenges and promoting its resilience to ecological perils in the context of financial needs. So, researchers have shifted their efforts to exploring financial development as a mitigating factor of environmental deprivation. In a similar context, the current study examines the role of green investment and natural resource rent in boosting Financial Inclusion (FI) in China from the period of 1990-to 2018. In compliance, a novel empirical estimation technique popularised, the “quantile autoregressive distributed lag” (QARDL) model, is used to assess the influence of green investment (GIN) and natural resource rent (NRR), and per capita income on the financial inclusion for China. We have used the QARDL model to overcome the drawbacks of using any conventional model such as the ARDL model. In addition, it will give us a robust approach and in-depth analysis of the issue under discussion. According to the empirical findings, green investment is positively and significantly associated with financial inclusion throughout the quantiles in the long run. Natural resource rent exerts a positive and significant influence on financial inclusion in higher quantiles in the long run. In addition, the per capita income significantly increases the financial inclusion at all quantiles. The empirical analysis explored the bi-directional causality in the selected variables. According to current empirical results, green investment and natural resource rent are the two most influential factors in boosting financial inclusion in the case of China. Hence, policies should be made on initiating new projects, green investment, and promoting natural resource rent-seeking attitude by mitigating the misuse of natural resources and refining the prevailing natural resource tax laws in China.

The Effect of Technology Adoption on Financial Inclusion: A Cross-country Panel Analysis between China and Nigeria

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effects of Technology Adoption on Financial Inclusion with focus on Automated Teller Machines, Internet usage and Mobile Cellular subscriptions as the major drivers in a cross-country analysis between China and Nigeria Research Design/Methodology: To examine the impact of Technology Adoption on Financial Inclusion, we employed Pooled OLS and Feasible Generalized Least Squares estimators. Financial Inclusion is represented by number of depositors with Commercial Banks per 1,000 adults’ population. Findings: The results reveal that Automated Teller Machines, Internet usage and Mobile Cellular Subscriptions exert insignificant positive effects on Financial Inclusion both in China and Nigeria. The technology variables however exert significant positive impact on Financial Inclusion as represented by other dummy countries in the Panel. The study also found that GDP growth rate has significant negative relationship with Financial Inclusion in China and Nigeria as well as the rest of the world as represented. Originality/Value: The findings of the study reveal that Technology Adoption has greater but untapped potentials capable of significantly influencing Financial Inclusion in both China and Nigeria.

The relationship between school climate and general teachers’ attitude toward inclusion in China: the mediation effect of teachers’ efficacy

The prosperity of inclusion of students with disabilities largely rest on the attitudes of mainstream teachers. Few studies explore the relationship among school climate, teachers’ attitude on inclusion and teachers’ efficacy in China. This study surveyed 266 general teachers in China to understand the role of teachers’ efficacy on inclusive education between school climate and teachers’ attitude. The results indicated that teachers hold positive attitudes towards inclusion on average, especially in the dimension of affection. Additionally, school climate, teachers’ efficacy and teachers’ attitude were significantly associated, and the mediating effect of teachers’ efficacy between school climate and teachers’ attitude were proved by mediation analyses. The findings suggested that creating more inclusive school climate and improving general teachers’ knowledge and skills on inclusive education, especially the skills on collaboration with others, which could contribute to promote more positive attitude on inclusive education of general teachers.

Striving for inclusion: evidence from China using a latent profile approach

PurposeThis study aims to identify profiles of inclusion in the workplace to provide evidence-based guidance to build an inclusive organization.Design/methodology/approachLatent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centred classification analytical tool, was applied to determine the subtypes of inclusion with Mplus 7.4, using two-wave data collected from 368 employees in 8 Chinese companies.FindingsThree subgroups were identified: identity inclusion group (the highest level of inclusion, 34.0%), value inclusion group (the moderate level of inclusion, 47.5%) and low inclusion group (the lowest level of inclusion, 18.5%). The findings indicate that groups with male, aged and highly educated members, as well as members from developed areas generally tend to feel more included and greater inclusion relates to more favourable outcomes and fewer detrimental consequences.Research limitations/implicationsAs this study was conducted only in China, the results may not be generalizable to non-Chinese contexts.Practical implicationsThe results may help organizational leaders develop a deeper understanding of the significance and the crux of inclusion. To address the duality of workforce diversity, managers can take initiatives to create an inclusive organization. To achieve inclusion, managers should pay attention to ways of improving the perceptions of inclusion among all employees.Originality/valueThis is among the first studies to identify the variants in inclusion in China using LPA. It reveals the subtypes and characteristics of inclusion and can serve as a starting point to explore how to realize organizational inclusion in theory and practice.