| In recent years,the rapid development and widespread application of new-generation digital economy technologies,such as mobile internet,big data,and blockchain,across various industries,have ushered major global economies into the era of digital economy.As a result,digital inclusive finance has emerged as a new trend in the development of inclusive finance,expanding the depth and breadth of financial services coverage and usage.Meanwhile,China,as the world’s largest consumer and emitter of primary energy,has proposed to adopt more effective policies and measures to achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and strive for carbon neutrality before 2060.Promoting low-carbon transformation and achieving green urban development are inherent requirements to ensure energy security and sustainable development.In today’s flourishing new technologies,industries and formats,can the development of digital inclusive finance leverage the dual advantages of digital technology and inclusive finance to empower green urban development and achieve a "win-win" goal of economic construction and environmental protection? Specifically,this paper mainly focuses on the following three questions: Firstly,Can digital inclusive finance promote green urban development? Secondly,If digital inclusive finance can influence green urban development,what is the influencing mechanism,including its impact,transmission paths,and regional heterogeneity? Thirdly,What measures should China take to leverage the role of digital inclusive finance in promoting green urban development?This study first analyzes the logical relationship between digital inclusive finance and urban green development in theory.Based on this,it uses data from 283 prefecture-level cities from2011 to 2019 to construct benchmark regression models,mediation effect models,threshold effect models,and spatial econometric models to verify the theoretical hypotheses.The research findings are as follows: Firstly,Digital inclusive finance can promote urban green development.It not only promotes the improvement of urban green total factor productivity,but also reduces urban carbon emission intensity.This conclusion still holds after using instrumental variables and a series of robustness tests.Secondly,Digital inclusive finance can promote urban green development by increasing the quantity and quality of green innovation in cities.The impact of digital inclusive finance on urban green development has threshold features and regional heterogeneity.Thirdly,The development of inclusive finance has spatial spillover effects on urban green development.While reducing local carbon emissions intensity,the development of inclusive finance has also to some extent driven the increase in green total-factor productivity in surrounding cities,thereby promoting urban green development overall.Based on the research findings,this study proposes policy recommendations for the development of inclusive digital finance and green urban development,including: improving digital infrastructure construction;better leveraging the inclusive nature of digital finance to promote green innovation development in cities;and paying attention to the objective fact that the level of development of digital inclusive finance varies across different regions,and implementing differentiated and dynamic development strategies. |
