Aiming at the financing difficulties faced by the development of the new rural collective economy, this study constructs an analytical framework to examine the impact of digital inclusive finance on the new rural collective economy. Based on the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China and the “Thousand Students, Hundred Villages” rural survey conducted by Renmin University of China, the impact and mechanism of digital inclusive finance on the development of the new rural collective economy were empirically tested using OLS regression and instrumental variable methods. The results show that: 1) Digital inclusive finance significantly promotes the development of new rural collective economy, with the results remaining robust after endogeneity and robustness checks; 2) The promoting effect of digital inclusive finance is more pronounced in central and western regions, areas with higher levels of fiscal support for agriculture, villages with higher collective economic income, and villages where the leading industry is agriculture; 3) The promotion of digital inclusive finance is achieved through fostering new agricultural business entities and the development of non-agricultural industries in villages. Based on the above conclusions, the following policy suggestions are put forward: Development of digital inclusive finance according to local conditions in rural areas, acceleration of the high-quality development of digital inclusive finance, improvement of the digital literacy and financial literacy of rural residents, and optimization of the supporting policies for digital inclusive finance.
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