Digital Inclusive Finance, Rural E-Commerce, and Urban-Rural Income Gap
Vol. 3 (2025): 2025 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers of Social Sciences, Education, and the Development of Humanities Arts（EDHA 2025）
Received: 2026-05-16
Accepted: 2026-05-16
Published: 2026-05-16
Abstract
This study explores the impact of digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce on the income disparity between urban and rural areas in China. Using county-level panel data from 2014 to 2022, a fixed-effects model is employed to assess how these two factors contribute to reducing income inequality. The findings show that digital inclusive finance plays a vital role in narrowing the urban-rural income gap, with rural e-commerce acting as an intermediary. Specifically, digital inclusive finance promotes economic growth in rural areas, boosting residents' income through accessible and inclusive financial services. Rural e-commerce, by breaking down geographical barriers and connecting rural markets with domestic markets, enables rural residents to utilize local resources for entrepreneurship and increases their income levels. Therefore, the research emphasizes the importance of developing a standardized wealth growth system, optimizing the income distribution structure, and ensuring fair distribution processes to effectively reduce the income gap and promote social harmony and balanced development.
Keywords
References
[1] Y. Li, M. Wang, G. Liao, and J. Wang, “Spatial spillover effect and threshold effect of digital financial inclusion on farmers’ income growth — Based on provincial data of China,” Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 3, p. 1838, 2022, doi: 10.3390/su14031838.
[2] Z. Xu, H. Niu, Y. Wei, Y. Wu, and Y. Yu, “Impact and mechanisms of digital inclusive finance in relation to farmland transfer: Evidence from China,” Sustainability, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 408, 2024, doi: 10.3390/su16010408.
[3] M. Xiong, W. Li, B. S. X. Teo, and J. Othman, “Can China’s digital inclusive finance alleviate rural poverty? An empirical analysis from the perspective of regional economic development and an income gap,” Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 24, p. 16984, 2022, doi: 10.3390/su142416984.
[4] G. Gómez-Bengoechea and J. Jung, “The Matthew effect: Evidence on firms’ digitalization distributional effects,” Technol. Soc., vol. 76, p. 102423, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102423.
[5] M. Liu et al., “The adoption and impact of E-commerce in rural China: Application of an endogenous switching regression model,” J. Rural Stud., vol. 83, pp. 106–116, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.02.021.
[6] Y. Lin and C. Li, “Does rural e-commerce agglomeration help expand family farms’ size? Evidence from Taobao villages in China’s Yangtze River Delta,” Electron. Commer. Res., vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 1731–1752, 2023, doi: 10.1007/s10660-023-09735-z.
[7] Z. Liu, S. Jia, Z. Wang, C. Guo, and Y. Niu, “A measurement model and empirical analysis of the coordinated development of rural e-commerce logistics and agricultural modernization,” Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 21, p. 13758, 2022, doi: 10.3390/su142113758.
[8] X.-L. Song, Y.-G. Jing, and K. Akeba'erjiang, “Spatial econometric analysis of digital financial inclusion in China,” Int. J. Dev. Issues, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 210–225, 2021, doi: 10.1108/IJDI-05-2020-0086.
[9] X. Wei et al., “Rural e-commerce, digital finance, and urban–rural common prosperity: A quasi-natural experiment based on China’s comprehensive demonstration of e-commerce entering rural areas policy,” Financ. Res. Lett., vol. 69, p. 106237, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106237.
Copyright and License
Published in2026-05-16 17:11:49
DOI 10.70088/7hvzt370.
Creative Commons
Copyright: © 2025 by the authors.
Submitted for possible open access
publication under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license
(https://creativecommons.org/license
s/by/4.0/).
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by EDHA 2025
Journal Information
- Vol. 3 (2025): 2025 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers of Social Sciences, Education, and the Development of Humanities Arts（EDHA 2025）
- 2026-05-16
- ISSN: (Print) 3078-770X/ (Online) 3078-7718
- Journal Homepage