移动支付对相对贫困的影响

The Impact of Mobile Payment on Relative Poverty

2020年消除绝对贫困后,中国将减贫事业的重心转向“相对贫困”。数字经济背景下,移动支付将互联网、终端设备、金融机构有效地联合起来。基于2017—2019年中国家庭金融调查(CHFS)数据研究移动支付对相对贫困的影响及其作用机制,选取社区内除自身以外使用移动支付家庭的比重作为工具变量进行估计。研究发现,移动支付能够显著缓解相对贫困,使用移动支付的家庭相对贫困概率下降约15.2%。机制分析显示,移动支付通过提高金融可及性和缓解流动性约束帮助家庭摆脱相对贫困,使用移动支付有助于灵活就业和自雇佣就业进而帮助建立解决相对贫困长效机制。异质性分析表明,移动支付对经济发展水平较低地区家庭、低教育水平家庭的相对贫困产生更大的缓解作用。据此提出,应该提升地区数字化水平,提高家庭金融可及性,降低金融排斥,使得弱势群体也能够享受数字经济福利,以此缓解相对贫困问题,促进共同富裕。

China’s momentous resolution of absolute poverty in 2020 marked a significant milestone;however,the challenge of relative poverty persists.Getting rid of poverty is not the end,but the new goal of consolidating the achievements of getting rid of poverty and solving the problem of relative poverty.In the post-well-off era,we will face a relatively poor fight against poverty,which is more difficult,longer in governance cycle and more complicated in governance means.The rise of the digital economy has seen mobile payment effectively integrate the Internet,terminal devices,and financial institutions.At present,few literatures explore the impact of digital economy technology on relative poverty from the perspective of family micro-data.This paper uses family micro-data to test the impact of mobile payment on relative poverty of families,enrich relevant literature research,and provide reference for relevant policy making.This study investigates the influence of mobile payment on relative poverty and its underlying mechanisms,drawing on data from the China Household Finance Survey spanning from 2017 to 2019.To address potential endogeneity concerns,we employ the proportion of households using mobile payment in the community other than itself as an instrumental variable for estimation.Empirical findings reveal that mobile payment significantly alleviates relative poverty,leading to a substantial reduction in the relative poverty probability by 15.2%.Our mechanism analysis demonstrates that mobile payment enhances financial accessibility and mitigates liquidity constraints,facilitating flexible employment and self-employment opportunities,thereby establishing a long-term approach to tackling relative poverty.Furthermore,heterogeneity analysis reveals that mobile payment has a more pronounced alleviating effect on relative poverty for households in areas with low economic and educational development.This study contributes to the literature in three key ways:First,it sheds light on relative poverty from the perspective of mobile payment.Although some scholars have studied the impact of inclusive finance on relative poverty,the inclusive finance index is limited to the provincial,municipal and county levels,and failed to explore it from the micro-level of families.This paper uses the micro-data of families to test the impact of mobile payment on relative poverty of families,enriching existing literature in this domain.Second,it delves into the micro mechanisms through which mobile payment reduces relative poverty by examining financial accessibility,liquidity constraints,and employment implications,so as to find more realistic paths to solve the problem of relative poverty.Finally,considering that mobile payment may be inclusive,it explores the impact of mobile payment on relative poverty across different groups from two dimensions of economic development level and education,providing valuable insights for policymakers in formulating relevant policies.By effectively integrating the Internet,terminal equipment,and financial institutions,mobile payment serves as a universal solution that empowers the economically disadvantaged,fosters financial inclusion,and promotes fair social development.With the rapid development of mobile payment,the scale of mobile payment users in China has gradually expanded,and the popularity of mobile payment has had a great impact on public life.It helps people with weak ability to get employment,people with low assets to finance,people with low education to obtain high-quality resources,people with low health to enjoy medical treatment in other places,promotes fair social development,alleviates relative poverty,and achieves common prosperity.As such,this study offers valuable policy implications for consolidating poverty alleviation efforts,addressing relative poverty,and fostering inclusive growth in the digital economy era.