Abstract:

The development of digital finance can help to improve the financial availability and universality, benefit a large number of rural residents who are excluded by traditional finance, promote their entrepreneurship, investment, operation and employment activities, and then boost the growth of the family income. Based on the data of China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) in 2017, this paper studies the effect of digital finance on the growth of the rural household income from the perspective of digital finance demanders and its influence mechanism.
The research on the effect of income increase shows that digital finance promotes the growth of the household income. Based on OLS, the instrumental variable method and the propensity score matching method (PSM), it is found that compared with households that do not use digital finance, the use of digital finance reduces the agricultural income, increases the non-agricultural income, and then promotes the increase of the household income and changes the income structure. Further analysis shows that the level of communal digital finance has a significant positive spillover effect on the increase of the household income. A higher level of communal digital finance helps to improve the non-agricultural income of households, inhibit the agricultural income, and then promote the increase of the household income. Analysis on heterogeneity shows that the use of digital finance and the level of communal digital finance have different effects on the income increase of heterogeneous households, and they have the characteristics of inclusiveness and Matthew effect at the same time.
The analysis of mechanism shows that digital finance is conducive to the growth of the household income by promoting family entrepreneurship and non-agricultural employment. The analysis of entrepreneurial activities indicates that the use of digital finance and the level of communal digital finance improve the probability of non-agricultural entrepreneurship of rural households, and the impact of digital finance on opportunity entrepreneurship is more prominent than survival entrepreneurship. The analysis of entrepreneurial intention shows that the use of digital finance improves the entrepreneurial intention of non-entrepreneurial farmers, and the level of communal digital finance has no significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. The analysis of entrepreneurial performance reveals that the use of digital finance and the level of communal digital finance improve the entrepreneurial performance of rural households. The analysis of non-agricultural employment shows that the use of digital finance and the level of communal digital finance promote the level of non-agricultural employment of rural households. Compared with entrepreneurial families, the impact of digital Finance on non-agricultural employment of non-entrepreneurial families is more prominent.
Therefore, we should accelerate the construction of digital countryside, narrow the digital gap, and improve the effective popularization of digital finance in rural areas, especially in the central and western rural areas; strengthen the support and guidance for the entrepreneurial activities of rurual households, promote the transformation of the entrepreneurial intention to entrepreneurial activities, and improve the performance of entrepreneurial projects;strengthen education and training for disadvantaged rural residents with poor and low education level, improve their skills in using Internet and digital finance, and enhance their entrepreneurial ability and non-agricultural employment. These measures are of great significance to improve the universality of digital finance, promote the sustainable growth of the income of vulnerable households, and narrow the income gap of rural residents.

Key words: Digital Finance, Family Entrepreneurship, Non-agricultural Employment, Spillover Effect, Growth of Rural Household Income

摘要：

利用2017年中国家庭金融调查数据,从数字金融需求方的视角研究数字金融对农户家庭增收的影响及传导机制。研究发现,数字金融使用显著促进了农户家庭增收,并改变其收入结构。进一步研究发现,社区数字金融水平对农户家庭增收具有显著的正向溢出效应。异质性分析表明,数字金融使用、社区数字金融水平对异质性农户的家庭增收效应存在差异。机制分析表明,数字金融使用、社区数字金融水平通过促进家庭创业和非农就业进而促进农户家庭增收。

关键词: 数字金融, 家庭创业, 非农就业, 溢出效应, 农户家庭增收