Rural-urban Inequality Research Articles

Rural-Urban Inequalities and Spatial Justice in Europe

This paper examines patterns of rural-urban inequality in Europe. Econometric analysis of quantitative data, new large-n survey data, and stakeholder interviews are utilised, revealing a broad trajectory of convergence between rural and urban areas that is cross-cut by pockets of persistent disadvantage and by contrasts between different parts of Europe. The paper employs the concept of spatial justice to consider the factors shaping these patterns and their political effects. It shows that while EU programmes have had some impact on material measures of inequality, perceived spatial injustice remains, creating opportunities for disruptive political movements.

Labor Market Distortions, Rural-Urban Inequality, and the Opening of People's Republic of China's Economy

Labor Market Distortions, Rural-Urban Inequality, and the Opening of People's Republic of China's Economy

Risk of all-cause mortality is associated with multiple health-related lifestyle behaviors and does not differ between urban and rural areas in Korea.

Urban-rural inequities in health and mortality exist in Korea, a highly centralized developed country. The potential impact of multiple health-related lifestyle behaviors on mortality and difference between urban and rural areas is not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect of high-risk health behaviors on all-cause mortality among residents living in urban and rural in Korea. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted on 8,298 adults aged 40 yrs and older from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2015. High-risk behaviors were defined as having poor diet quality, current smoking, high-risk drinking, or insufficient physical activity. Mortality status was linked to the Cause of Death data followed up to December 31, 2019. The associations between all-cause mortality and high-risk behaviors were evaluated using Cox proportional hazard regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, income, and survey year. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated, and effect modification analysis was conducted. Participants were stratified by residential area (urban or rural). During the follow-up (median: 5.4 yrs), 313 deaths occurred. A higher proportion of rural residents than urban residents engaged in multiple high-risk behaviors (28.9% vs. 22.6%; P < 0.0001). As individual factors, a greater risk of mortality was associated with poor diet quality, current smoking, and inadequate physical activity, and these tendencies persisted in rural residents, especially for diet quality. Multiple high-risk behaviors were positively associated with a higher risk of mortality in Koreans living in urban and rural areas. PAF (95% confidence interval) was 18.5% (7.35-27.9%) and 29.8% (16.1-40.2%) in urban and rural residents, respectively. No additive or multiplicative effect of the region was observed. The higher prevalence of multiple high-risk lifestyle behaviors in rural residents may explain the higher mortality in rural areas compared to urban areas. Comprehensive public health policies to improve health-related behaviors in rural populations may be needed.

NO PENSION, NO HAPPINESS?—FINANCIAL SUPPORT EXPECTATION IN THE OLDEST-OLD AGE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Abstract Objective This paper aims to explore the effect of financial support expectation on depressive symptoms among the oldest-elderly. Method. Data were drawn from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2018. The analytical sample included 10641 respondents who were older than 45. Financial support expectations refer to whom they would reply on when they cannot work, which includes four categories: children, themselves (savings or commercial life insurance), pensions, and others. Linear regression models were employed after controlling for pension, health insurance and urban-rural household registration (hukou). Results More than half of the sample reported that they would rely on their children when they became too old to work. Those who reported that they would rely on themselves (b=-1.72, p=0.000) or pensions (b=-1.23, p=0.000) reported lower levels of depressive symptoms compared to those who would rely on their children. When pension and health insurance were controlled for, only those who would rely on themselves presented lower level of depressive symptoms. Pension and health insurance (except rural health insurance) mediated the association between the financial support expectation and depressive symptoms. However, the hukou status inhibited the mediating effect of pension and health insurance. Conclusion Financial uncertainty is a potential threat in the oldest-old age. Reducing the urban-rural inequality in pension and health insurance would help reduce the negative effects of financial uncertainty.

Explaining the rise of economic and rural-urban inequality in clean cooking fuel use in Tanzania

Despite the high rate of economic growth and electrification in the last two decades in Tanzania, only 6.9 % of the nation's households have access to clean cooking fuel technology which is concentrated among the rich urban households. Analysing data from two waves of the Tanzania National Panel Survey (2014/15 and 2020/21), we estimate the economic and rural-urban inequalities in the use of clean cooking fuel. Using the concentration curve, Erreygers concentration index and non-linear Fairlie decomposition, we find an increase in economic inequality and rural-urban inequality in the use of clean cooking fuel. Based on our analysis, factors such as the household head's education, household economic status and household connection to electricity contribute to the rural-urban inequality in the use of clean cooking fuel. Policy changes are vital for ensuring both rural and urban households have equitable access to education, electricity connection and household economic status to address inequality in the use of clean cooking fuel.

Impacts of Economy, Systems and Regional Inclusiveness on Rural-Urban Inequality of English Education in China

Since the 21st century, China has made great efforts in education, and the overall cultural level of the people has been significantly improved. However, with the improvement of people's living standards and the country's degree of openness, the issue of large regional differences in English education has gradually attracted the public's attention. This article aims to analyze the impact of economy, system, and regional inclusion on the inequality of English education between urban and rural areas in China and put forward relevant suggestions to alleviate or change these negative impacts. The author employs a literature analysis approach and concludes that economic, systemic, and regional inclusiveness have profound and interactive effects on rural-urban differences in teacher quality, students' English acquisition ability, and access to quality English-language instructional resources. Finally, this paper suggests using the central government's direct investment in education and teacher allocation, improving the household registration system and related laws, and increasing students' exposure to English in rural areas to alleviate the urban-rural disparity in English education in China.

Mapping and measuring urban-rural inequalities in accessibility to social infrastructures

Equal access to social infrastructures is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, but has long been a great challenge worldwide. Previous studies have primarily focused on the accessibility to social infrastructures in urban areas across various scales, with less attention to rural areas, where inequality can be more severe. Particularly, few have investigated the disparities of accessibility to social infrastructures between urban and rural areas. Here, using the Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan urban agglomeration, China, as an example, we investigated the inequality of accessibility in both urban and rural areas, and further compared the urban-rural difference. Accessibility was measured by travel time of residents to infrastructures. We selected four types of social infrastructures including supermarkets, bus stops, primary schools, and health care, which were fundamentally important to both urban and rural residents. We found large disparities in accessibility between urban and rural areas, ranging from 20 min to 2 h. Rural residents had to spend one to two more hours to bus stops than urban residents, and 20 min more to the other three types of infrastructures. Furthermore, accessibility to multiple infrastructures showed greater urban-rural differences. Rural residents in more than half of the towns had no access to any infrastructure within 15 min, while more than 60% of the urban residents could access to all infrastructures within 15 min. Our results revealed quantitative accessibility gap between urban and rural areas and underscored the necessity of social infrastructures planning to address such disparities.

Direct and indirect consumption activities drive distinct urban-rural inequalities in air pollution-related mortality in China

Household consumption in China is associated with substantial PM2.5 pollution, through activities directly (i.e., fuel use) and/or indirectly (i.e., consumption of goods and services) causing pollutant emissions. Urban and rural households exhibit different consumption preferences and living areas, thus their contributions to and suffering from air pollution could differ. Assessing this contrast is crucial for comprehending the environmental impacts of the nation’s ongoing urbanization process. Here we quantify Chinese urban and rural households’ contributions to ambient PM2.5 pollution and the health risks they suffer from, by integrating economic, atmospheric, and health models and/or datasets. The national premature deaths related to long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution contributed by total household consumption are estimated to be 1.1 million cases in 2015, among which 56% are urban households and 44% are rural households. For pollution contributed indirectly, urban households, especially in developed provinces, tend to bear lower mortality risks compared with the portions of deaths or pollution they contribute. The opposite results are true for direct pollution. With China’s rapid urbanization process, without adequate reduction in emission intensity, the increased indirect pollution-associated premature deaths could largely offset that avoided by reduced direct pollution, and the indirect pollution-associated urban–rural inequalities might become severer. Developing pollution mitigation strategies from both production and consumption sides could help with reducing pollution-related mortality and associated urban–rural inequality.

Disaster-Related Health Impacts and Endemic Disease among Middle-Aged Adults in India: Evidence from Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (LASI), 2017-18

AimThis study aims to identify the disaster-related health impact on endemic diseases among middle-aged individuals in India.Data & Methods: This study utilizes data from the first wave of the Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India, 2017-18 with an eligible sample of 66,606 individuals aged 45 years and above. Binary logistic regression analysis and the Fairlie decomposition technique were used to understand the factors affecting endemic disease and to predict the factors contributing to rural-urban inequality in endemic disease prevalence. ResultsThe prevalence of endemic disease was 48 % among individuals whose health was affected by the disaster and 25 % among those whose health was not affected by the disaster. The Odds Ratio (ORs) of having endemic disease among disaster-affected individuals was found to be uniformly higher in rural areas [OR: 2.6 (95% CI: 2.2,3.0)] than in urban areas [OR: 1.84 (95% CI: 1.4,2.5)]. In the adjusted model, the risk of endemic disease among disaster-affected individuals was 2.17 times and 1.42 times higher in rural and urban areas respectively in comparison to individuals without any health impact from a disaster. ConclusionEfforts aimed at education on hygiene, and provisions of safe water and sanitation will significantly reduce the burden. Preparedness in disaster-prone areas, training the health and local community, efficient resource allocation, and identifying and managing the particular disease will help to minimize disease transmission.

Urban-rural and gender differential in depressive symptoms among elderly in India.

To date, evidence remained inconclusive explaining rural-urban and male-female differential in depression. Unlike other previous research on the association of several risk factors with depressive symptoms among the elderly, this study focussed on the socio-economic status-related inequality in the prevalence of depression among the elderly along with focussing urban-rural and male-female gradients of depression among the elderly. This study used data from Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave-I, 2017-18, survey. The outcome variable for this study was self-reported depression. Bivariate analysis was used to understand the prevalence by sociodemographic clusters. Fairlie decomposition analysis has been done to measures rural-urban inequalities for depression among older men and women. Results found that around 22 percent of urban elderly and 17 percent of rural elderly reported depression. A higher proportion of female elderly (22.6% vs. 18.4%) reported depression than male elderly. Almost one in every five elderly (20.6%) reported depression in India. The results found that a higher percentage of women in rural and urban areas reported depression than their male counterparts. While examining SES-related inequality in the prevalence of depression, education was a significant factor explaining the SES-related inequality in the prevalence of depression among female elderly and not in male elderly. Given the large proportion of elderly reporting depression, this study highlights the need for improving health care services among the elderly. The increasing burden of depression in specific sub-populations also highlights the importance of understanding the broader consequences of depression among rural and female elderly.

Long-term trends and urban-rural disparities in the physical growth of children and adolescents in China: an analysis of five national school surveys over three decades.

China's rapid economic growth has brought opportunities for improved health and growth of children and adolescents. We sought to explore the long-term trends and urban-rural inequalities in physical growth (specifically height and BMI) among school-aged children and adolescents in China to identify policy priorities for a healthier generation. We used the 1985, 1995, 2005, 2014, and 2019 cycles of the Chinese National Survey on Students' Constitution and Health from primary and secondary schools in 30 mainland provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. We analysed height and BMI data for 7, 12, and 18 year old children and adolescents of Han ethnicity. Children and adolescents who had complete data on age, sex, location, weight, and height were included. All surveys used a multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling method and were nationally representative. A univariate kernel density estimation was used to plot the distribution of height and BMI. Quantile regression was used to examine associations between urban and rural locations and the primary outcomes of height and BMI at specific quantiles of distribution (5th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 95th). Across the five surveys (in 1985, 1995, 2005, 2014, and 2019), 313 973 children and adolescents were included. From 1985 to 2019, the height and BMI distribution curves shifted to the right for each age group and sex, with the BMI curve becoming more dispersed. Median height in adolescents aged 18 years increased by 3·8 cm (95% CI 3·4-4·1) in boys in urban areas and 5·7 cm (5·3-6·1) in boys in rural areas, and 2·7 cm (2·4-3·0) in girls in urban areas and 3·7 cm (3·4-4·0) in girls in rural areas. Children in urban areas were taller than those in rural areas at every quantile, but the magnitude of this disparity narrowed by 2019. In 2019, the median height of boys in urban areas were 1·4 cm (1·0-1·8) greater in those aged 7 years, 2·5 cm (1·9-3·1) greater in those aged 12 years, and 1·1 cm (0·6-1·5) greater in those aged 18 years than their rural counterparts, whereas the median height of girls in urban areas were 1·1 cm (0·7-1·4) greater in those aged 7 years, 1·6 cm (1·1-2·1) greater in those aged 12 years, and 1·1 cm (0·7-1·5) greater in those aged 18 years than rural girls. Over this period, urban-rural differences in BMI disappeared at the lowest quantile, but persisted at higher quantiles. In 2019, the urban-rural differences in BMI for boys aged 12 years were 0·6 kg/m2 (95% CI 0·3-0·8) at the median, 1·0 kg/m2 (0·6-1·4) at the 75th quantile, and 0·7 kg/m2 (0·1-1·3) at the 95th quantile; for girls aged 12 years, 0·3 kg/m2 (0·1-0·5) at the median, 0·5 kg/m2 (0·2-0·8) at the 75th quantile, and 0·9 kg/m2 (0·3-1·5) at the 95th quantile; for boys aged 18 years, 0·6 kg/m2 (0·4-0·8) at the median, 0·8 kg/m2 (0·5-1·2) at the 75th quantile, and 0.7 kg/m2 (0·0-1·5) at the 95th quantile; and for girls aged 18 years, 0·2 kg/m2 (0·1-0·4) at the median, 0·5 kg/m2 (0·3-0·8) at the 75th quantile, and 1·0 kg/m2 (0·5-1·5) at the 95th quantile. Across three decades, school-aged children and adolescents in China have increased in height and BMI, with less disparity between urban and rural locations. Investments are needed to improve the affordability of healthy foods to help children and adolescents in rural areas reach their potential maximum height. Meanwhile, these changes in BMI necessitate tailored strategies according to urban-rural settings to contain the increase in overweight and obesity and promote optimal growth for children and adolescents. Capital's Funds for Health Improvement and Research, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The heterogeneous effects of China's hierarchical medical system reforms on health service utilisation and health outcomes among elderly populations: a longitudinal quasi-experimental study

BackgroundSystem-wide, comprehensive, primary health care (PHC)-oriented health reforms are infrequently introduced in low-income and middle-income countries and often poorly studied. China initiated a large-scale reform in 2015 that included multiple policies: partial gatekeeping, a family physician scheme, and increased system integration. These policies aimed to build a PHC-oriented health system and improve primary care utilisation. This study assessed the heterogeneous effects of the reforms on health service utilisation and health outcomes across regions and over time. MethodsIn this longitudinal quasi-experimental study, we used longitudinal data (2011–18) from a national survey on elderly populations and governmental yearbooks. This study exploits the staggered rollout of the reforms at the city level identified using web-scrapping. We employed an event study design to assess reform effects on (1) visits to PHC facilities, (2) admissions to hospital, (3) out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPEs), and (4) self-reported health. Models were adjusted for city and time fixed effects, along with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics at individual and provincial levels. Analysis was separated into rural and urban populations. Findings18 988 Chinese individuals aged 45 and older (mean age 60·4 years [SD 10·3], 9990 [52·6%] women, 8998 [47·4%] men) were included in the analysis. The reform was associated with increasing odds of visiting PHC facilities among rural populations, which became stronger in the 2 years after the reform (adjusted odd ratio [aOR] 1·35, 95% CI 1·02–1·84, p=0·0374; absolute effect sizes [probability] 3%) before it faded. Meanwhile, urban populations were unaffected (from aOR 1·22, 0·82–1·81 to 0·89, 0·50–1·57). The reform did not have a significant effect on admission to hospital (rural: from 0·97, 0·72–1·31 to 1·47, 0·85–2·55; urban: from 1·00, 0·69–1·43 to 1·59, 0·76–3·30) or OOPEs (rural: from 260·32 Chinese Yuan, 95% CI –6·34 to 526·97, to 693·07 Chinese Yuan, –102·96 to 1489·09; urban: from 235·37 Chinese Yuan, –405·10 to 875·83, to 859·93 Chinese Yuan, –199·02 to 1918·88). Urban populations reported higher self-reported health after the reforms than the year before the reforms (1·50, 1·12–2·01, p=0·0002; 5%). InterpretationSystem-wide PHC-oriented reforms might contribute to short-term increases in primary care utilisation in elderly populations with implications for urban–rural inequalities. Effects on financial protection and health inequality were limited. Efforts in improving the accessibility and quality of primary care in deprived areas are indispensable to addressing the persistent inverse care law and to achieving Universal Health Coverage for all countries. FundingNone.

School feeding program and urban–rural inequality of child health: Evidence from China

AbstractSchool feeding programs have served as go‐to policies for addressing child malnutrition in both developed and developing countries. While an increasing number of studies have investigated the health consequences of school feeding programs, empirical evidence regarding their effects on children's health inequality remains limited. This study examines the impact of China's Nutrition Improvement Program (NIP)—A program that provides free meals for rural students at the compulsory education stage—on rural children's health status and urban–rural health status differentials. The analysis uses data from the 2004–2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Leveraging county‐by‐county rollouts of the program, we employ difference‐in‐differences approaches as our identification strategy. The results show that the NIP significantly improves children's height‐for‐age z‐scores by 0.136 standard deviations. Moreover, we find that the NIP alleviates the inequality of opportunity in health between urban and rural children by 21.6% in pilot counties. These findings are robust to a series of validity checks. The effect is more pronounced among students who have a younger age, and live in low social status families. Our findings suggest that school feeding programs are effective in decreasing child malnutrition levels and reducing urban‐rural inequality in the long run. [EconLit citations: I10, I18, D63].

Mediating and Moderating Effects of Internet Use on Urban-Rural Disparities in Health Among Older Adults: Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Survey in China.

The urban-rural disparities in health outcomes in China are remarkable. The internet has shown the potential to reduce the likelihood of contracting a disease by increasing disease knowledge. However, little is known about the effects of internet use in alleviating health inequities between urban and rural areas. This study aimed to examine the mediation and moderation of health disparities between urban and rural older adults through internet use. A total of 8223 respondents were selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2018 data set. Basic activities of daily living, a brief Community Screening Instrument for Dementia, and the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were used to measure functional disability, cognitive function, and depressive symptoms, respectively. Logistic regressions testing "internet use×urban-rural status" interactions for moderation and Karlson-Holm-Breen decomposition for mediation were performed. Internet use moderated the urban-rural disparities in cognitive function (odds ratio 7.327, 95% CI 3.011-17.832) and depressive symptoms (odds ratio 1.070, 95% CI 1.037-1.787), but the moderating effects were significant only for those using the internet daily. Karlson-Holm-Breen results showed the suppression effects of using the internet daily (β=.012, 95% CI .002-.021) on the association between urban-rural status and cognitive function. The urban-rural inequality in depressive symptoms was partially attributed to the disparity in internet use (β=-.027, 95% CI -.043 to -.009). The urban-rural inequalities in mental health are partially attributable to disparities in the prevalence of internet use between the 2 groups. However, using the internet is more beneficial for the psychological health of rural users, thereby alleviating the urban-rural disparities in health. Providing convenient channels for rural older adults to use the internet, improving the ability of rural users to effectively use the internet, and promoting internet popularity in rural areas are effective approaches to reducing urban-rural health inequalities.

How the Covid-19 Pandemic Magnifies Existing Urban-Rural Educational Inequality in China

Through analyzing past essays on educational inequality, our group finds that such inequality is established very early and deep in Chinese society. The most crucial cause of urban-rural inequality is the family background an extreme intergenerational inequality based on parents' educational level and family wealth. Other causes include technological differences and employment patterns. After identifying the causes, our group examines the influence of the pandemic on rural-urban inequality, and the result points out that covid elongates the gap. Furthermore, the financial capability of rural families is worsened under the covid since lots of small businesses owned by rural families shut down because the lockdown depleted their cash flows. Additionally, technology, which is very rare in rural areas compared to cities, has become vitally crucial under the context of Covid.

Decomposition and Analysis of Household Electricity Consumption Inequality in China

Achieving equal electricity distribution among households is crucial to equal access to socioeconomic opportunities and hence shared prosperity in China. This paper studies the inequalities in household electricity consumption with the Theil index. It overcomes the drawbacks of using the Gini and Atkinsons indexes in previous studies in this area. It provides insight into the inter- and intra-regional and urban-rural inequalities with inequalities decomposed with Theils method. Comparisons are made between the results for electricity and private consumption inequality, with possible explanations for the findings. The findings can substantiate several arguments. First, high income and personal consumption inequalities may not accompany substantial electricity consumption disparities. The latter is not solely reliant on economic well-being as the regions development and modernization may help universalize electrification when enlarging private consumption inequality. Second, inter-regional inequality is less significant for the overall disparity in electricity consumption than personal consumption inequality. The expansion and reform of the power industry in recent decades may explain the difference. Third, the climate also impacts electricity consumption and inequality. In cold regions, electricity expenditures can be rendered more unequal by the different choices of heating mode and appliance. Finally, industrialization, urbanization, and local development may explain the urban-rural electrical and private consumption disparity. Due to its natural and agricultural resources and early railway construction, the Northeast avoided growth in inequity after urbanization, in contrast to the East, Central, and West.

Revealing the heterogeneous effects of new urbanization on urban-rural inequality using geographically weighted quantile regression

China's new urbanization (NU) plan prioritizes reducing urban-rural inequality (URI) and promoting urban-rural integration. Although previous studies have examined the impact of NU on URI, the heterogeneity of this impact has not been extensively considered. This paper establishes an analytical framework to explore the impacts of NU on URI while accounting for spatial and response heterogeneities. By using data collected from 286 Chinese cities, we assessed the performances of NU first, and measure the degree of URI second, and accordingly estimated the heterogenous impacts of NU on URI using geographically weighted quantile regression (GWQR) model. We found that URI and NU are spatially uneven and both show skewed distributions. The benchmark regression model shows that NU tends to reduce URI, while the GWQR model confirms that the impacts of NU on URI are spatially heterogeneous and change with the degree of inequality. Specifically, the narrowing impacts of NU on URI are more profound in western China than in eastern China and such impacts become stronger as URI increases. These findings suggest that the implementation of NU should be tailored to the local geographical and socioeconomic conditions.

Quantifying Urban-Rural Inequality in Access to Telemedicine: Descriptive Analysis of Telemedicine Uses and Providers in Japan Under COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 has reportedly resulted in disparities in the use of telemedicine due to several socioeconomic factors. While telemedicine was developed to overcome geographical distance, under COVID-19 telemedicine conversely might have deepened the urban-rural telemedicine divide. Especially in Japan, the authority has virtually regulated distant telemedicine use, which favored telemedicine providers who are located in close proximity to patients. This study aimed to quantify the urban-rural disparity in access to telemedicine and investigate heterogeneity between devices (phone and video visits). Methods: We used two nationally comprehensive data sources in Japan. One was a municipality-level telemedicine provider database. Municipality-provider-level analysis intended to measure the uneven distribution of telemedicine providers compared to usual health care providers as well as the difference among clinical departments. The second source was prefecture-level telemedicine utilization data. Prefecture-utilization-level analysis aimed to quantify how the use of telemedicine converged in urban areas. We investigated the heterogeneity between types of devices and time periods. To measure inequality, this study used the Lorenz Curve and Gini coefficients. Ethical review was not required. Results: The data included 16,927 providers (14,111 clinics and 2,816 hospitals) and 88,952 first visits throughout Japan. The main findings were the geographically converged distribution of telemedicine providers compared with overall providers who were not limited to telemedicine and, possibly as a result of it, the geographically unequal utilization of telemedicine compared with in-person visits. Furthermore, video visits were more unequally utilized than phone visits, let alone in-person visits. The disparity was not resolved over time, which implied a systematic cause. Conclusion: Using comprehensive nationwide data, this study revealed geographical inequality relating to access to telemedicine under the COVID-19 special deregulation in Japan. While telemedicine initially aimed to provide access to care for people in rural areas, several factors, including the digital divide, COVID-19, and the Japanese policy, paradoxically could have caused this disparity.

A step toward inclusive green growth: can digital finance be the main engine?

Inclusive green growth (IGG) has become a worldwide consensus to achieve the target of sustainable development goals. Although the prominent role of digital finance (DF) against the pandemic has drawn considerable attention from policymakers, its plausible effect on IGG and underlying mechanisms have not been distinctly explored in academia. The aim of the study is to explore the causal effect of DF on IGG based on prefecture city-level data from 2011 to 2019 in China. To this end, we employed the non-radial direction distance function approach within the global production technology to evaluate the aggregate IGG performance and its three sub-dimensions. The empirical results demonstrate that DF exerts a significant promotional effect on urban IGG. This finding continues to survive in an extensive set of robustness checks using an alternative dependent variable, model specifications, instrumental variable, and difference-in-difference approaches to address the endogeneity concerns. Meanwhile, sub-dimensional regressions show that this positive effect is driven predominantly by the scale economy of DF, while the depth of usage and digitalization playing a minor role. Moreover, we uncover that DF enhances IGG by leveraging greater marginal product of labor rather than capital, improving environmental externalities, increasing fuller employment, and reducing rural-urban income inequality. However, we also reveal the dark side of DF on imbalanced regional development. The promotional effect of DF on IGG is only prominent for cities with better inherent comparative advantages, and we are thus likely to see a widening digital divide resulting from the "Matthew effect" on regional disparity without timely policy interventions.

Recycling scheme of carbon pricing for inclusive decarbonization and energy transition: A recursive computable general equilibrium analysis in China

Revenue recycling is crucial for carbon pricing to achieve inclusive decarbonization and energy transition. Several studies have documented carbon pricing recycling, but few focused on mixed recycling schemes that allocate revenues across multiple institutions. To fill this knowledge gap, we employ a newly developed recursive computable general equilibrium model to explore the socioeconomic consequences of various recycling schemes in the context of China. We find that: (1) Although carbon pricing promotes renewable energy, it adversely affects social welfare and urban–rural equality. When executing the recycling scheme, this negative effect is alleviated. (2) All single recycling scenarios fail to yield a double dividend. They remain detrimental to social welfare and urban–rural equality. (3) Despite small welfare loss, a moderate-share renewables-based mixed recycling scheme reduces urban–rural inequality while favoring decarbonization and energy transition. Our study calls for incorporating mixed recycling options into the policy toolbox in advancing carbon pricing.