IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ijfiec/v31y2026i2p2012-2026.html

Digital Financial Inclusion and Rural Household Debt Risks

Author

Listed:
  • Yunhui Wang
  • Yihua Chen

Abstract

Technology is a double‐edged sword. Departing from extant literature that centres on urban households, this study is the first to document the long‐run dynamic effects of digital inclusive finance on rural household debt risk in China. Using four waves (2016–2020) of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we identify both the impact and underlying mechanisms. Results indicate that digital inclusive finance (DFI) significantly raises rural households' leverage by fueling material aspirations and reducing income uncertainty. The effect is most pronounced in the central and western regions, among purely agricultural households, and among those owning two dwellings. This study contributes new empirical evidence on the relationship between DFI and debt risks among rural households, thus offering valuable insights for policymakers in developing countries striving to foster the development of DFI in rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunhui Wang & Yihua Chen, 2026. "Digital Financial Inclusion and Rural Household Debt Risks," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 2012-2026, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:31:y:2026:i:2:p:2012-2026
    DOI: 10.1002/ijfe.70028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.70028
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ijfe.70028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:31:y:2026:i:2:p:2012-2026. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1076-9307/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.