PurposeThis paper aims to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on regional economic growth and innovation-driven development.Design/methodology/approachBased on the panel data of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper explores the impact of DIF on economic growth and innovative development.Findings(1) DIF has a direct positive effect on economic growth and innovative development; (2) there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of DIF on economic growth and innovative development. (3) DIF can indirectly affect economic growth and innovative development by increasing residents’ personal disposable income, increasing fiscal expenditure and improving educational level.Social implicationsExploring the relationship between them and digital inclusive financial development can provide a reference for national productivity construction and development.Originality/valueEconomic growth and innovation-driven development have been one of the main concerns of China’s policymakers. Exploring the relationship between them, digital inclusive financial development can provide a reference for national productivity construction and development.

The rapid development of information and communication technologies has brought the concept of digital economy into the limelight. Data elements have played a more important role in economic production. As an environmentally friendly economic model, the data factor-driven economy, compared to the traditional one, has low energy consumption and less pollution emissions. Hence, the effect of digital economy development on ecological performance is worth exploring. We measured the digital economy index and the ecological performance index for 30 provinces in China. Furthermore, the relationship between the two was analyzed with the help of a dynamic spatial Durbin model. The results showed the following: 1) closely related to the regional economic foundation, the development level of the digital economy showed obvious spatial characteristics that were high in the eastern region and low in the western region in China. 2) Over time, the pattern of ecological performance in China has changed markedly, showing a high level in the south and a low level in the north. 3) The digital economy showed a significant promoting effect on ecological performance, with a strong externality in space that could have a spillover effect on the surrounding areas. 4) The effect of the digital economy on ecological performance had a significant positive effect, although it lagged behind over time. In addition, the effect has regional heterogeneity and was more obvious in developed regions. Based on these findings, we recommend that the role of ICT in economic activity be strengthened in some developed regions. However, in some developing regions, a balance needs to be struck between digitalization and environmental benefits. At the same time, developed regions should be encouraged to realize economic collaboration with developing regions, with the help of data elements in an effort to narrow the regional gap.

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As global urbanization continues to accelerate, so does the amount of harm to the natural ecological environment caused by excessive resource extraction. In several Chinese cities, haze and excessive greenhouse gas emissions have become crucial to the development of an ecological society. To break the previous energy-intensive development model, the data element has emerged as a key driver of the new cycle of high-quality development. Therefore, additional investigation into the synergistic influence of the digital economy as a new factor on air pollution and CO2 emissions is warranted. This study examines the effects, spatial effects, and transmission mechanisms of the digital economy on the synergistic control of carbon and haze using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2019. The study concludes that the digital economy has an overall significant inhibiting effect on carbon dioxide emissions and haze pollution levels (the regression coefficients are -1.090 and -0.714 respectively), a significant driving effect on the efficiency of synergistic carbon and haze management, a spatial spillover effect, and a positive effect on neighboring regions (the regression coefficient is more than 0.239). By region, the digital economy in the eastern region has a greater impact on the effectiveness of carbon and haze management, whereas the digital economy in the western region has a greater impact on CO2 emission reduction, and the digital economy in the central region has an effect that is more consistent with the overall situation. Moreover, the digital economy may successfully encourage technical innovation, which in turn supports synergistic carbon and haze governance, and technological innovation plays a very important mediating role in this transmission mechanism, a finding that is resilient to geographical interaction effects. Consequently, relevant policy recommendations are presented.