Can digital financial inclusion promote the nighttime economy? - New evidence from Chinese counties’ nighttime lighting data and threshold model
Abstract
In the post-pandemic era, the relative weakness of the economy is reflected not only in the macro data but also in the nighttime economy. Based on the threshold model and unbalanced panel data of 1772 county-level administrative units in China from 2014 to 2020, this paper deeply explores the relationship between digital inclusive finance and night economy and draws the following conclusions. (1) When digital financial inclusion exceeds certain thresholds, its beneficial influence on promoting the nighttime economy increases from 8.13% to 26.59% and 87.71%. (2) Digital financial inclusion promotes the nighttime economy by increasing employment in the secondary industry and promoting technological innovation. However, digital financial inclusion hinders the nighttime economy by reducing entrepreneurial activity in the accommodation and catering sectors. (3) Coverage breadth first inhibits, then promotes, and inhibits the nighttime economy in different intervals; the effect of usage depth and digital level on the nighttime economy in intervals shows an increasing trend. (4) In the Yangtze River Economic Belt region, digital financial inclusion initially inhibits the nighttime economy but turns into promotion as it develops; after the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy in 2017, digital financial inclusion can more positively and significantly promote the nighttime economy.
Keyword : nighttime economy, digital financial inclusion, threshold model, nighttime lighting, county level
How to Cite
Chen, L., Du, T., Wu, D., & Lai, C. (2024). Can digital financial inclusion promote the nighttime economy? - New evidence from Chinese counties’ nighttime lighting data and threshold model. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 30(6), 1553–1571. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2024.22245
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Shaw, R. (2014). Beyond night-time economy: Affective atmospheres of the urban night. Geoforum, 51, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.10.005
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Zhang, W., Ming, Q., & LIu, H. (2023). The impact of night economy policy on regional tourism economic growth: An empirical analysis based on multi-time difference-in-differences model. Social Sciences in Guangxi, 6, 110–119. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1004-6917.2023.06.014
Zhao, M., Zhou, Y., Li, X., Cao, W., He, C., Yu, B., Li, X., Elvidge, D. C., Cheng, W., & Zhou, C. (2019). Applications of satellite remote sensing of nighttime light observations: Advances, challenges, and perspectives. Remote Sensing, 11(17), Article 1971. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11171971
Zou, J., & Deng, X. (2022). To inhibit or to promote: How does the digital economy affect urban migrant integration in China? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 179, Article 121647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121647
Aziz, A., & Naima, U. (2021). Rethinking digital financial inclusion: Evidence from Bangladesh. Technology in Society, 64, Article 101509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101509
Bharti, N., Tatem, A. J., Ferrari, M. J., Grais, R. F., Djibo, A., & Grenfell, B. T. (2011). Explaining seasonal fluctuations of measles in Niger using nighttime lights imagery. Science, 334(6061), 1424–1427. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1210554
Briggs, D. J., Gulliver, J., Fecht, D., & Vienneau, D. M. (2007). Dasymetric modelling of small-area population distribution using land cover and light emissions data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 108(4), 451–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2006.11.020
Cao, C., Shao, X., & Uprety, S. (2013). Detecting light outages after severe storms using the S-NPP/VIIRS day/night band radiances. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 10(6), 1582–1586. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2013.2262258
Chen, L., Liu, C., Li, Z., & Wu, D. (2024). The impact of clean energy demonstration province policies on carbon intensity in Chinese counties based on the multi-phase PSM-DID method. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31799-5
Chen, Y., Yang, S., & Li, Q. (2022). How does the development of digital financial inclusion affect the total factor productivity of listed companies? Evidence from China. Finance Research Letters, 47, Article 102956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.102956
Daud, S. N. M., & Ahmad, A. H. (2023). Financial inclusion, economic growth and the role of digital technology. Finance Research Letters, 53, Article 103602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.103602
Ding, R., Shi, F., & Hao, S. (2022). Digital inclusive finance, environmental regulation, and regional economic growth: An empirical study based on spatial spillover effect and panel threshold effect. Sustainability, 14(7), Article 4340. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074340
Du, Y., Wang, Q., & Zhou, J. (2023). How does digital inclusive finance affect economic resilience: Evidence from 285 cities in China. International Review of Financial Analysis, 88, Article 102709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102709
Fang, D., & Zhang, X. (2021). The protective effect of digital financial inclusion on agricultural supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from China. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(7), 3202–3217. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer16070174
Feng, S., Liu, J., & Xu, D. (2023). Digital financial development and indirect household carbon emissions: Empirical evidence from China. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26, 23401–23435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03603-4
Gopalan, S., & Rajan, R. S. (2022). Does digital financial inclusion moderate or exacerbate output volatility? Applied Economics Letters, 29(19), 1804–1809. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.1963400
Jiang, T. (2022). Mediating effects and moderating effects in causal inference. China Industrial Economics, 5, 100–120. https://doi.org/10.19581/j.cnki.ciejournal.2022.05.005
Jie, L., Yu, W., & Jing, J. (2020). The impact of digital finance on household consumption: Evidence from China. Economic Modelling, 86, 317–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.09.027
Khera, P., Ng, S., Ogawa, S., & Sahay, R. (2022). Measuring digital financial inclusion in emerging market and developing economies: A new index. Asian Economic Policy Review, 17(2), 213–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12377
Lai, J. T., Yan, I. K. M., Yi, X., & Zhang, H. (2020). Digital financial inclusion and consumption smoothing in China. China & World Economy, 28(1), 64–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12312
Lee, C.-C., Lou, R., & Wang, F. (2023). Digital financial inclusion and poverty alleviation: Evidence from the sustainable development of China. Economic Analysis and Policy, 77, 418–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2022.12.004
Li, G., Zhang, R., Feng, S., & Wang, Y. (2022). Digital finance and sustainable development: Evidence from environmental inequality in China. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(7), 3574–3594. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3105
Liu, C., Chen, L., Li, Z., & Wu, D. (2023). The impact of digital financial inclusion and urbanization on agricultural mechanization: Evidence from counties of China. PLoS ONE, 18(11), Article e0293910. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293910
Liu, Y., Luan, L., Wu, W., Zhang, Z., & Hsu, Y. (2021). Can digital financial inclusion promote China’s economic growth? International Review of Financial Analysis, 78, Article 101889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101889
Mu, W., Liu, K., Tao, Y., & Ye, Y. (2023). Digital finance and corporate ESG. Finance Research Letters, 51, Article 103426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.103426
Oliveira, T., Thomas, M., Baptista, G., & Campos, F. (2016). Mobile payment: Understanding the determinants of customer adoption and intention to recommend the technology. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 404–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.030
Palmie, M., Miehe, L., Oghazi, P., Parida, V., & Wincent, J. (2022). The evolution of the digital service ecosystem and digital business model innovation in retail: The emergence of meta-ecosystems and the value of physical interactions. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 177, Article 121496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121496
Pan, Y., Ma, L., & Wang, Y. (2022). How and what kind of cities benefit from the development of digital inclusive finance? Evidence from the upgrading of export in Chinese cities. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 35(1), 3979–4007. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.2007414
Peng, P., & Mao, H. (2023). The effect of digital financial inclusion on relative poverty among urban households: A case study on China. Social Indicators Research, 165(2), 377–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-03019-z
Qi, Z., Wang, W., & Zhang, W. (2022, September). Promoting high-quality development of nighttime economy. People’s Daily, 019. https://doi.org/10.28655/n.cnki.nrmrb.2022.011011
Ramos de Luna, I., Liebana-Cabanillas, F., Sanchez-Fernandez, J., & Munoz-Leiva, F. (2019). Mobile payment is not all the same: The adoption of mobile payment systems depending on the technology applied. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146, 931–944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.09.018
Shaw, R. (2014). Beyond night-time economy: Affective atmospheres of the urban night. Geoforum, 51, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.10.005
Sun, Y., Jin, K., Wang, D., Wu, Q., & Li, Z. (2023). Revisiting the natural resources-financial development nexus in China: The importance of economic policy uncertainty. Resources Policy, 86, Article 104182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104182
Wang, K.-H., Su, C.-W., Umar, M., & Lobont, O.-R. (2023). Oil price shocks, economic policy uncertainty, and green finance: A case of China. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 29(2), 500–517. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2022.17999
Wang, X., & Wang, Q. (2021). Research on the impact of green finance on the upgrading of China’s regional industrial structure from the perspective of sustainable development. Resources Policy, 74, Article 102436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102436
Xi, W., & Wang, Y. (2023). Digital financial inclusion and quality of economic growth. Heliyon, 9(9), Article e19731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19731
Xiang, W., Qi, Q., & Gan, L. (2023). Non-linear effects of green finance on air quality in China: New evidence from a panel threshold model. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, Article 1162137. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1162137
Xiong, S., Wang, H., Liao, Z., & Hashim, R. (2024). Exploring the factors and spatial patterns of national night cultural tourism consumption agglomeration zones in China. Heliyon, 10(2), Article e24132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24132
Xiong, W., Xiao, W., Ren, R., & Wen, F. (2022). Can digital financial inclusion affect CO2 emissions of China at the prefecture level? Evidence from a spatial econometric approach. Energy Economics, 109, Article 105966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.105966
Xu, D., Chen, Y., Wang, J., & Huang, X. (2023). Legal environmental regulation and green technology innovation of energy enterprises: Based on panel threshold regression. Frontiers in Energy Research, 11, Article 1198706. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1198706
Zhang, M., & Liu, Y. (2022). Influence of digital finance and green technology innovation on China’s carbon emission efficiency: Empirical analysis based on spatial metrology. Science of The Total Environment, 838, Article 156463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156463
Zhang, W., Ming, Q., & LIu, H. (2023). The impact of night economy policy on regional tourism economic growth: An empirical analysis based on multi-time difference-in-differences model. Social Sciences in Guangxi, 6, 110–119. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1004-6917.2023.06.014
Zhao, M., Zhou, Y., Li, X., Cao, W., He, C., Yu, B., Li, X., Elvidge, D. C., Cheng, W., & Zhou, C. (2019). Applications of satellite remote sensing of nighttime light observations: Advances, challenges, and perspectives. Remote Sensing, 11(17), Article 1971. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11171971
Zou, J., & Deng, X. (2022). To inhibit or to promote: How does the digital economy affect urban migrant integration in China? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 179, Article 121647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121647