Research on the Path of Empowering the Green Development of the Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt by Digital Inclusive Finance under the Carbon Neutrality Target

Xin Zhao; Youtong Wang

doi:10.63313/Economics.8007

Authors

Xin Zhao School of Statistics and Applied Mathematics, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, Anhui Province, China Author
Youtong Wang School of Statistics and Applied Mathematics, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, Anhui Province, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63313/Economics.8007

Keywords:

Carbon neutral, Digital Inclusive Finance, Green development, Promotion pathway, Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt

Abstract

In the context of global climate warming and China's proactive efforts to achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, The Huai River Basin, as a strategically important area in the central and eastern regions, is currently facing challenges such as high energy consumption and severe environ-mental pollution. This article suggests that digital inclusive finance may promote green development through green innovation and industrial structure adjustment. Panel data of 27 prefecture-level cities in the Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt from 2011 to 2022 were selected, and a two-way fixed effects model was used for empirical testing to investigate the impact of digital inclusive finance on green development. The benchmark regression results indicate that digital inclusive finance is positively correlated with the green development index and has passed the robustness test. Through mechanism verification, it was found that digital inclusive finance indirectly drives green development through two paths: green technological innovation and rationalization of the industrial structure. Based on this, it is suggested to promote regional sustainable development from aspects such as deepening the green empowerment effect of digital inclusive finance and improving the mechanism for industrial structure upgrading. This research provides a new theoretical perspective for the green transformation of the Huai River Ecological Economic Belt.

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