Can Digital Inclusive Finance Promote Food Security? Evidence from China

Qiaohua Lin, Xinyi Dai, Qiuwang Cheng and Wenhe Lin ()
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Qiaohua Lin: College of Economic and Management, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Xinyi Dai: College of Economic and Management, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Qiuwang Cheng: Postdoctoral Research Center of Business Administration, School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Wenhe Lin: College of Economic and Management, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-18

Abstract: Eliminating hunger and ensuring food security is one of the specific goals of sustainable development of the United Nations in 2030, and food production is of great significance to food availability. Based on this, this paper investigates the impact of digital inclusive finance on food security by constructing a fixed effects model using panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. The results found that: (1) Digital inclusive finance significantly and positively affects food security, and the results remain robust after robustness tests and endogeneity tests. (2) The scale of farmland operations plays a positive mediating role in the effect of digital inclusive finance on food security, and the level of agricultural machinery positively moderates the effect of digital inclusive finance on food security. (3) Heterogeneity tests show that there is a positive effect of digital inclusive finance on food security in eastern China, and a non-significant effect of digital inclusive finance on food security in central and western regions;. There is a significant positive effect of digital inclusive finance on food security in China’s main grain marketing areas and balanced production and marketing areas, and a non-significant effect of digital inclusive finance on food security in the main grain producing areas.

Keywords: food security; digital inclusive finance; fixed effects model; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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