The Contribution of Digital Inclusive Finance to Common Prosperity: Theoretical Foundations and Pathways for Implementation

The development of digital inclusive finance offers a powerful means to promote common prosperity and advance China’s unique modernization path. Using panel data from 30 provinces (2011−2023), this paper first constructs a comprehensive common-prosperity index based on its conceptual dimensions. It then applies a two-way fixed-effects model to assess how digital inclusive finance influences common prosperity. The research findings indicate that digital inclusive finance significantly accelerates progress toward common prosperity—a result that holds after addressing endogeneity and conducting robustness checks. Regional heterogeneity tests show that this positive impact is strongest in the eastern provinces, while the central and western regions benefit to a lesser extent. Further analysis reveals that digital inclusive finance optimizes resource allocation via big data and cloud-computing platforms, fosters intelligent enterprise transformation and deeper industrial-chain integration, and thereby drives industrial upgrading—providing sustained momentum for shared prosperity. These insights underscore the importance of vigorously expanding digital inclusive finance nationwide, while tailoring policies to regional conditions to ensure all areas can fully leverage its benefits for common prosperity.