2025/07/27 by Wen Yang, Rui Yang, Chenxiao Zhang +1
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Business, Management and Accounting · Engineering · #Microfinance and Financial Inclusion #FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance #ICT Impact and Policies
paper · doi:10.1080/00036846.2025.2534733
This study examines the effectiveness of Digital Financial Inclusion (DFI) in alleviating the vulnerability of expected poverty (VEP) among rural households in China by utilizing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2012 to 2020. The results demonstrate a mechanism that DFI significantly reduces VEP among rural households by stimulating entrepreneurial activities. However, this mechanism exhibits a distinct ‘digital divide’ where households below the poverty line of 1.90 per day fail to utilize DFI to mitigate their VEP status, due to insufficient digital literacy, lower risk tolerance, and higher risk aversion. By analysing the marginal effects of control variables such as the head of household’s occupation, family size, and healthcare, this study provides valuable conclusions and additional empirical evidence to eliminate rural vulnerability. This study carries significant implications for extending the benefits of deepened DFI reforms to greater numbers of impoverished households.