Empowering migrant worker households

Digital finance for inclusive growth

Bibliographic Data

ID22430765
AuthorsTao Luo (0000-0001-9959-2453, Guizhou University), Qilin Deng (Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives), Zilin Cheng (0009-0000-9573-3968, American College of Sports Medicine)
Year2026
Volume0
Issue0
Pages1-29
Publication date2026-06-05
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTechnological and Economic Development of Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2029-4913 • E-ISSN: 2029-4921
PublisherVilnius Gediminas Technical University (PUBLISHER • LT)
DOI10.3846/tede.2026.25796
OpenAlexW7163653694
LanguageEN
References cited24

This study establishes a Digital Buffer Enhancement framework based on the buffer-stock model to investigate how digital finance affects consumption levels of migrant worker households, with implications for inclusive growth and sustainable development. Utilizing microdata from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) and applying Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR), Instrumental Variable (IV) approach, and quantile regression analysis, the research reveals three key findings. First, digital finance adopters exhibit 13.74% higher consumption levels, while non-adopters could increase consumption by 5.62% via adoption. Intriguingly, the Digital Buffer Enhancement framework identifies three complementary mechanisms: transaction convenience leapfrogging, liquidity constraint mitigation, and income uncertainty reduction, which together reduce precautionary savings thresholds. Second, enhanced marginal effects emerge among elderly households, eastern regions, and low-consumption quantile groups. Third, analysis of consumption structure heterogeneity indicates that developmental consumption elasticity substantially exceeds hedonic and subsistence consumption, with credit functions demonstrating the strongest impact among digital finance types, followed by payment and wealth management services. These findings advance theoretical understanding of technology-driven consumption transformation and provide practical guidance for developing inclusive digital finance policies in emerging economies. First published online 5 June 2026

Access to Finance · Database transaction · Digital transformation · Instrumental variable · Payment · Per capita · Quantile regression · Subsistence agriculture · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion

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Open DOIOpen Access