School of Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics; Shanghai Exchange Group Co., LTD. (Shanghai Public Resources Trading Center); College of Finance, Nanjing Agricultural University
Summary:
As an important driving force of China's economic growth, the digital economy is profoundly reshaping the financial behavior of residents, which will trigger changes in the income level and income structure of households. Whether the digital economy can promote common prosperity depends on whether its ability to increase the opportunities for disadvantaged areas or groups to escape from poverty and alleviate the consolidation of classes. In this context, it is of great significance to clarify the evolution of Chinese households' income mobility and explore the impact of digital economy development on households' income mobility and its potential mechanisms. Based on this, this paper uses the multi-dimensional digital economy development index and the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data from 2013 to 2019, to analyze the evolution characteristics of Chinese households' income mobility, and investigates the impact of digital economy development on households' income mobility from a micro-level perspective. Descriptive analysis that from 2013 to 2019, the income mobility of Chinese households declined first and then increased, and the middle-income group was the main driving force for the increase of the income mobility of Chinese households. Empirical analysis shows that the development of digital economy can significantly promote the improvement of household income mobility. However, the enhancement effect of digital economy development on households' income mobility is more significant among households residing in urban areas, those with higher human capital and higher income. This indicates that the gap in income mobility of households with different characteristics in China may be further widened, and the inclusive benefits of the digital economy development on the improvement of income mobility has not yet been reflected. The mechanism analysis shows that promoting employment participation and financial asset investment are key channels through which digital economic development promotes the improvement of. Moreover, the employment promotion effect is more pronounced in better educated households, which deserves further investigation. The possible contributions of this study are mainly reflected in the following three aspects. Firstly, this paper empirically examines the influence of digital economic development on the income mobility of households. It not only provides a new research perspective for the study of households' income mobility, but also helps deepen the understanding of the impact of digital economic development on income distribution. Secondly, this paper investigates the heterogeneous impact of digital economic development in improving households' income mobility from multiple aspects. This will be conducive to answering the theoretical controversy over whether digital economic development is conducive to promoting inclusive growth and achieving the goal of common prosperity. Thirdly, this article analyzes the characteristics of the income mobility in China from both the aspects of the magnitude and quality of income mobility, and conducts a comparative analysis of the income mobility of urban and rural households to display the evolution of the characteristics of households' income mobility in China in recent years in more detailed depiction. The findings of this paper carry important policy implications. First of all, we should vigorously develop the digital economy, continuously optimize its development model, and identify the weaknesses in its development, so as to more effectively play the role of digital economy development in boosting households' income growth. Secondly, we should strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure, the training of digital professionals and the development of digital economy in underdeveloped areas such as rural areas, so as to break the inhibiting effect of the digital divide in underdeveloped areas on the dividends of digital economy. This paper finds that the development of digital economy has no significant effect on the income mobility of households in rural areas. Therefore, underdeveloped areas such as rural areas should introduce the development experience of advanced areas, rationally plan and build communication and network infrastructure, and pay attention to the cultivation and introduction of corresponding technologies and talents, so as to effectively improve the enjoyment level of digital economy dividend. Finally, actively popularize and promote digital technology-related education to comprehensively improve households' digital literacy. Government departments in less developed regions are encouraged to collaborate with communication and infrastructure departments to enhance the digital skills of vulnerable groups and their usage of digital products and services, ensuring that the development of digital economy can truly benefit the people. This study has some limitations. For example, the empirical analysis in this paper fails to clearly clarify the impact of digital economy on income mobility within urban households, income mobility within rural households, and the income mobility between urban and rural households. This remains an important issue worthy of further investigation.
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