Mitigating Rural Multidimensional Poverty Through Digital Inclusive Finance: Real Improvement and Psychological Empowerment

Qiong Liu, Mingwei Wang, Qian Wang and Dawei Wei ()
Additional contact information
Qiong Liu: School of Social Development, Hunan Women’s University, Changsha 410004, China
Mingwei Wang: College of Humanity & Law, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Qian Wang: Law School, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
Dawei Wei: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Digital inclusive finance (DIF) is regarded as a key instrument in poverty alleviation efforts. However, existing research reveals significant gaps in understanding its poverty-reduction impact: the debate on its inclusivity remains unresolved, its mechanisms of action are unclear, and the psychological empowerment dimension has been largely overlooked. Using micro-level data from seven waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2010 to 2022, this study employs fixed-effect models, quantile regression models, and mechanism analysis to explore the differentiated impact of digital inclusive finance on rural multidimensional relative poverty and the mechanisms at play. The empirical findings reveal that DIF significantly mitigates multidimensional relative poverty, with more pronounced marginal effects among the poorest households, confirming its pro-poor characteristics. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that, at the regional level, DIF has greater impacts in western regions and remote rural areas farther from county centers; at the individual level, it is particularly effective for women, those with lower education, and individuals with limited digital literacy. Mechanism analysis shows that DIF operates through three channels: promoting employment, encouraging entrepreneurship, and enhancing financial accessibility. Moreover, extended analysis demonstrates that DIF also fosters the endogenous motivation of rural households to escape poverty, as reflected in heightened confidence about the future, increased belief in social mobility and returns of work, and reduced perceived barriers to employment. These findings provide new micro-level evidence to unpack the poverty-alleviation potential of DIF.

Keywords: digital inclusive finance; multidimensional relative poverty; subjective motivation for poverty alleviation; online arbitration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/9/954/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/9/954/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:9:p:954-:d:1644306

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().