A Study On The Impact Of Digital Finance On Total Factor Carbon Productivity In Chinese Cities

In recent years,the rapid development of information technology has promoted the integration of digital finance with traditional finance,providing a new path for high-quality economic development.Compared with traditional finance,digital finance has played a new utility,improving the accuracy of financial resource rationing,reducing related transaction and operation costs,and improving allocation efficiency.At the same time,for a long time in the past,the crude economic development mode driven by factor inputs such as capital,labor and energy was no longer suitable for the current requirements of sustainable economic development,and such development mode consumed a large amount of energy and produced high carbon emissions.In order to achieve the national carbon peak and carbon neutral goals,we need to transition to low emissions,low energy consumption and low pollution.The concept of total factor carbon productivity analyzes the efficiency of carbon emissions from various aspects such as energy consumption,capital and labor input,so it is of strong theoretical and practical significance to explore the enhancement effect of digital finance on total factor carbon productivity and its inner mechanism.Firstly,this paper compares the relevant literature on digital finance and total factor carbon productivity to provide the theoretical basis and research hypotheses,followed by measuring the total factor carbon productivity of 277 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011-2019 through DEA-SMB and GML models,and then using the empirical analysis method of benchmark regression and mediation test to explore the effect and action path of the impact of digital finance on total factor carbon productivity in conjunction with the Digital Inclusive Finance Index published by the Digital Finance Center of Peking University,and conducting a threshold test to analyze its heterogeneity characteristics in terms of region and city size.The empirical results surface:First,digital finance can significantly improve urban total factor carbon productivity,and the depth of digital finance usage can also significantly improve urban total factor carbon productivity from the sub-dimensional results.Second,digital finance can improve total factor carbon productivity by optimizing industrial structure and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship,in which green innovation has a more significant effect on the improvement of total factor carbon productivity.Third,digital finance has a certain threshold effect in the process of enhancing total factor carbon productivity,and the higher the level of development of digital finance,the more significant the effect on enhancing total factor carbon productivity.Fourth,digital finance has the most significant effect on enhancing total factor carbon productivity in the eastern region,followed by the central region,and the western and northeastern regions do not have a significant effect.Fifth,Digital finance has the most significant effect on improving total factor carbon productivity in urban areas with a population size between 1 and 3 million,followed by small and medium-sized cities with less than 1 million,while larger cities with more than 3 million play a limited role.Through further analysis,the effect of digital finance on total factor carbon productivity enhancement is greater for the location factor than for the city size factor.Finally,according to the research findings,in order to improve total factor carbon productivity,this paper puts forward the following suggestions:First,we should continue to vigorously develop digital finance,taking into account the coordinated development of regional cities.Digital finance has become an important path to promote high-quality economic development,and it is necessary to further increase the development of digital finance in the future,and at the same time,it is also necessary to take into account the coordinated development of regional cities to narrow the digital divide.Second,we need to give full play to the effect of innovation and entrepreneurship and optimize and upgrade the industrial structure.Innovation and entrepreneurship is an important force to promote economic development,and it is necessary to further strengthen the support for innovation and entrepreneurship,encourage entrepreneurs to innovate and start businesses,promote the upgrading of traditional industries and the development of new industries,and accelerate the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure.Third,strengthen the concept of low carbon and improve the green development system.Achieving the double carbon goal requires the whole society together,and efforts should be made to promote the transformation of the whole society to a low-carbon,environmentally friendly lifestyle.