Regional Economic Resilience Enhancement Effect and Mechanism of Digital Financial Inclusion --Analysis Based on the Perspective of Entry and Exit of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Business Entities

Micro, small and medium-sized market business entities are more sensitive to shocks and are subject to more prominent financial constraints, and the development of digital inclusive finance can help micro, small and medium-sized business entities to obtain financial support to cope with various shocks, thus enhancing the resilience of the regional economy. Taking the panel data of 288 prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2020 as samples, based on the perspective of entry and exit of micro, small and medium-sized business entities, the mediation effect model is applied to test the effect of digital financial inclusion on regional economic resilience and its mechanism. It is found that: (i) The development of digital inclusive finance significantly contributes to the enhancement of regional economic resilience, and this conclusion still holds after endogeneity treatment and robustness test. (ii) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotion effect of digital inclusive finance on regional economic resilience decreases sequentially from eastern, central to western regions. Digital financial inclusion in smart cities and small and medium-sized cities contributes more to regional economic resilience than in non-smart and large cities. (iii) Mechanism analysis shows that digital inclusive finance enhances regional economic resilience by strengthening the entry and exit mechanisms for micro, small and medium-sized business entities. In order to better utilize the regional economic resilience effect of digital inclusive finance, the construction of digital inclusive financial facilities, the innovation of digital inclusive financial products and the strengthening of digital inclusive financial training should be improved.