Does digital finance benefit the income of rural residents? A case study on China

Rural residents' income is one of the core issues of rural economic development, and digital financial inclusion is one of the important influencing factors of rural residents' income. Especially under the background of the implementation of digital financial technology, the relationship between the two has become more complex. Based on the panel data set of 1624 counties in Chinese mainland in the past 2014–2019 years, the paper uses panel regression models to study the impact of digital financial inclusion on rural residents' income. Further, by analyzing the industrial structure, education level and financial development level, the following conclusions are drawn. First, digital financial inclusion significantly promotes the increase of rural residents' income, but there are differences in regional level and different quantiles of rural residents' income. At the regional level, the promotion of control effect at the provincial level is stronger than that at the county level; in different quantiles of residents' income, with the increase of residents' income quantile, the promoting effect is gradually enhanced. Second, the heterogeneous impact of digital financial inclusion on rural residents' income is reflected in three aspects: regional development, education level and financial development level. Third, industrial structure, education level and financial development level will enhance the promotion effect of digital financial inclusion on rural residents' income, but there are significant differences in the intensity of the regulatory effect of the three variables.