Studyonthe Synergistic Effectof Digital Financeand Rural E-Commerceon Farmers’ Income Increase

Promoting farmers’ income is an important path to reduce the income gap between urban and rural areas and promote common prosperity,as well as a key link to realize the rural revitalization strategy.The 20 th Party Congress Report and the 14 th Five-Year Plan clearly require that digital development should be accelerated and the construction of digital countryside should be promoted,the application of digital technology in the field of inclusive finance should be increased,the digital upgrading of rural industrial structure should be promoted,farmers’ income should be increased,people’s livelihood should be safeguarded and common prosperity should be promoted.Under the promotion of the priority action of "digital inclusive financial services",the comprehensive demonstration project of ecommerce into rural areas and the action of "digital business to promote agriculture",digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce have become two important means to promote farmers’ income growth.On the one hand,digital inclusive finance provides funds for rural residents and other disadvantaged groups,supports the development of new industries,and provides a new way to promote the growth of farmers’ income;on the other hand,rural ecommerce has greatly changed the production and sales structure of agricultural products,promoting the rapid development of logistics,e-commerce talents,entrepreneurial awareness and other economic factors,and driving the rapid growth of farmers’ income.However,although a variety of measures have been introduced to support farmers to increase their income,the growth rate of disposable income of residents in rural areas still shows a downward trend,with the growth rate of per capita disposable income in rural areas in China falling from 9.2% to 3.8% from 2014 to 2020,a 58.7% decrease in growth rate.The income-generating effect obtained by relying solely on digital inclusive finance or rural ecommerce development in rural areas is being gradually compressed,and new growth points need to be sought to increase the growth rate of residents’ income in rural areas.As the income level of rural households is inevitably affected by both digital inclusive finance and ecommerce,and in this process,rural e-commerce and digital inclusive finance are closely linked.Digital inclusive finance mostly provides effective credit support for e-commerce operators,while rural e-commerce development provides digital footprints for the development of digital inclusive finance by providing credit information for good farmers.It is important to study whether there is a synergistic effect of digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce on farmers’ income between the two systems to stimulate China’s rural development potential,improve farmers’ income and realize rural revitalization.Based on the above background,this paper conducts a theoretical and empirical study on the synergistic income-generating effect of digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce in China.Firstly,this paper elaborates the theoretical basis of the synergistic development of digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce,and analyzes the mechanism of their joint promotion of farmers’ income.Secondly,we compile the panel data of 97 cities in 23 provinces from 2014 to 2020,construct a two-way fixed-effects model to empirically test whether digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce can promote farmers’ income increase in China,test whether there is a synergistic income increase effect between digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce in China,and further break down the income structure of farmers to test the effects of digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce on farmers’ wage income,business income,and net property income respectively.We further subdivided the income structure of rural households,and examined whether there is a synergistic effect of digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce on farmers’ wage income,business income,net property income and net transfer income.Then,by constructing a threshold model,we test the possible non-linear relationship between digital inclusive finance and rural ecommerce development on the income-generating effect.Finally,robustness is tested by replacing rural e-commerce data and replacing provincial panel data,and regional heterogeneity analysis is conducted to propose relevant policy recommendations based on the research findings.This paper draws the following research conclusions: first,the development of digital inclusive finance in China significantly promotes the income growth of rural residents.Second,there is a significant positive relationship between the development of rural ecommerce and the income of rural residents in China.Third,there is a significant synergistic effect between digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce in the process of promoting the income growth of rural households.A breakdown of the income structure of rural households reveals that digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce have a synergistic income increasing effect on the wage income and net property income of rural households,while the effect on the net transfer income and business income of rural households is not significant.Fourth,the income-increasing effect of e-commerce development on farm households is affected by the development of digital inclusive finance,which is manifested as a doublethreshold effect.When digital inclusive finance is less than the first threshold,the effect of rural e-commerce development on farm household income is not significant;when digital inclusive finance exceeds the first threshold,the effect of e-commerce development on promoting farm household income increases;when the second threshold is exceeded,the income increasing effect of e-commerce development is further enhanced.Fifth,compared with the eastern region,digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce development have a stronger synergistic income-generating effect on farm households in the central and western rural areas.Based on this,this paper argues that the government should accelerate the construction of digital infrastructure,increase digital skills training for farmers,and improve the infrastructure supporting rural e-commerce development.Through education and training,it should guide farmers who are willing to start e-commerce businesses to learn relevant skills,and increase financial support for rural areas in central and western China to improve the basic elements needed for digital inclusive financial development and e-commerce development.Through policies to guide the digital transformation and upgrade of rural industrial structures,promote the linkage and synergy between digital inclusive finance and rural e-commerce,and empower traditional agriculture with new economic forms so as to achieve sustainable growth in farmers’ income.