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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Relationships Among Digital Inclusive Finance,
Environmental Pollution, and Economic Growth:
Evidence from 285 Prefecture-Level Cities
in China
1
Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam; Amsterdam, 1018WB, Netherlands
2
School of Economics, Utrecht University; Utrecht, 3584 EC, Netherlands
Submission date: 2024-03-12
Final revision date: 2024-05-16
Acceptance date: 2024-05-24
Online publication date: 2025-02-18
Publication date: 2025-04-04
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(4):3875-3892
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Balancing economic development and environmental pollution is particularly important for the country
to achieve sustainable development. The emergence of digital inclusive finance has brought new ideas to
solve problems. Based on spatial econometric models and simultaneous equations, this article uses panel
data from 285 cities in China from 2011 to 2021 to study the interactive relationships and spatial lag effects
of digital inclusive finance, environmental pollution, and economic development. The findings indicated
that digital inclusive finance significantly impacts economic growth and acts as a deterrent to environmental
pollution. However, environmental pollution can hinder the development of digital inclusive finance. The
relationship between environmental pollution and economic development aligns with the inverted U-shape
of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. This research offers new insights for policymakers on how to use
digital financial tools to promote sustainable national and regional development.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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