How digital financial inclusion enhances agroecological efficiency: Impact effects and mechanism tests

Abstract

The article incorporates digital financial inclusion and agroecological efficiency into a unified analytical framework, and empirically examines the effects and mechanisms of digital financial inclusion on agroecological efficiency based on provincial panel data from 2011 to 2021. The study finds that (1) digital financial inclusion can significantly enhance agroecological efficiency, and the conclusion remains reliable after a series of robustness tests; (2) digital financial inclusion can significantly enhance agroecological efficiency by improving the level of agricultural socialized services, i.e., the agricultural socialized services play a mediating effect between the two; (3) there is heterogeneity in the impact of digital financial inclusion on agroecological efficiency in the central and western regions and the main grain producing areas, the impact effect is significant, and not significant in other regions. The findings of this paper provide an in-depth understanding of the environmental governance effect of digital inclusive finance in agriculture, and actively guide the application of digital finance in the field of agricultural green development.