The 26th Xi Xian Academic Luncheon, co-organised by IIDPF and the School of Public Finance and Taxation, was successfully held on 27 April 2023 in Conference Room 119, Wenqin Building.Dr. Zou Wei, a full-time researcher at IIDPF, was the keynote speaker for this academic luncheon and gave a talk on "Synergies between digital finance and infrastructure".The luncheon was hosted by IIDPF's full-time researcher, Dr Gao Sihan, and attended by more than 30 participants, including IIDPF's Executive Director, Professor Lu Yuanping,Dr Wan Xin and faculty and students.
The exploration of the synergistic development of the digital economy and end-of-pipe infrastructure can help further promote and improve policies related to the digital economy. This paper uses CSP data to examine the synergistic development of the digital economy on infrastructure. The empirical analysis shows that for every 10 percentage point increase in digital finance, the scale of infrastructure distribution increases by 3.16 percentage points. The estimates using the instrumental variables approach remain significant. The mechanism analysis shows that firstly, the use of digital finance enables the linkage of payment and logistics links, improving transport efficiency; secondly, digital inclusive finance expands the scale of consumption, generating greater consumption demand; and finally, digital inclusive finance expands financing channels, easing the financing constraints of start-up enterprises. This paper argues that in the construction of infrastructure, it is necessary to fully consider the development of the digital economy's own needs and play a market-led role to realize the organic interaction between the digital economy and infrastructure.
Dr Zou Wei gave a fascinating talk to the faculty and students in the audience while also stimulating in-depth thinking on the research topic. During the discussion session, faculty and students in the audience spoke enthusiastically and had extensive exchanges on the research questions, research design and endogeneity. Dr Zou Wei's paper is of great significance to the research on digital economy and infrastructure.