Modern Economics & Management Forum

Strong development of digital inclusive finance is an essential request to promoting the revitalization of the countryside. This study aims to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance on local economic development, selecting relevant indicators in the Peking University Digital Inclusive Finance Index (2011-2020) and provincial-level economic data from 2011 to 2020, and adopting a fixed-effect model to empirically test the impact of digital inclusive finance on local economic development. The findings show that digital inclusive finance can effectively promote regional economic growth and alleviate the urban-rural income disparity. Further analysis shows that the impact of digital inclusive finance on local economic development is regionally heterogeneous in terms of regional economic growth and urban-rural income disparity. In conclusion, digital inclusive finance has been effective in promoting regional economic development, and it can be recommended to continue to promote the development of digital inclusive finance, taking into account regional heterogeneity, and to implement policies tailored to local conditions, which can help to promote balanced economic growth and alleviate the urban-rural income disparity.