城市规模、数字普惠金融发展与零工经济

City Size, Development of Digital Financial Inclusion,and Gig Economy

在当前产业转型和稳定就业的形势下,零工经济作为一种新的经济现象引起广泛关注,但对零工经济形成机制及其影响的研究并不多见。文章基于2014年和2016年中国劳动力动态调查数据(CLDS)及北京大学数字普惠金融指数,实证分析了城市规模、数字普惠金融发展与零工经济之间的关系。研究发现:(1)城市规模是零工经济产生的基础,即大城市的人口集聚和供需匹配效率更有利于促使零工经济的出现和发展;(2)数字普惠金融的发展为零工经济提供了重要保障,金融服务的可得性及覆盖范围的扩大,推动了零工经济的活跃和发展。文章还进一步证实了零工经济不仅有利于城市传统经济模式的不断创新,还可助推城市的多样性发展。因此,为促进城市零工经济的健康发展,政府应在充分发挥人口集聚效应的同时,把握好互联网平台等技术创新带来的机遇,并注重城市的金融基础设施服务建设。

Under the situation of industrial transformation and stable employment,gig economy has gradually become a new economic phenomenon and attracted widespread attention,but there are few studies on the formation mechanism of gig economy and its influence.Based on the Data of China Labor-force Dynamic Survey(CLDS)in 2014 and 2016 and the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index,this paper empirically analyzes the relationship between city size,development of digital financial inclusion,and gig economy.The results show that:(1)City size is the physical basis of gig economy,that is,population agglomeration and supply-demand matching efficiency in big cities are more conducive to the emergence and development of gig economy.(2)The development of digital financial inclusion provides an important guarantee for gig economy,and the expansion of the availability and coverage of financial services promotes the further development of gig economy.In addition,the rise of gig economy will bring positive externalities to cities and become the new driving force of urban development.Similar to the sharing economy,urban agglomeration economy provides the growth environment and possibility for the emergence of gig economy,while digital financial inclusion provides technical support and diffusion foundation for the development of gig economy.Under the impact of COVID-19 epidemic,the employment of the real economy is generally affected,and gig economy,characterized by flexible employment forms,abundant employment channels and low employment threshold,has become an important channel to stabilize the employment situation and maintain steady economic growth.In this context,it is of certain theoretical and practical significance to study the generation and development of gig economy from the perspective of city size and digital financial inclusion.Therefore,in order to promote the healthy development of urban gig economy,this paper proposes the following policies:On the one hand,based on the positive impact of city size on gig economy,we should pay attention to the positive influence brought by urban population agglomeration when promoting the development of new economy,new industry and new format;on the other hand,considering that gig economy has a large space for development,the government should actively encourage this emerging economic form,grasp the opportunities brought by technological innovation such as the internet platform,and pay attention to the construction of financial infrastructure services in cities to provide necessary guarantees for the development of gig economy.