How digital inclusive finance promotes social entrepreneurship: Evidence from 282 cities in China.

ABSTRACT

Social entrepreneurship (SE) plays a positive role in addressing a range of social issues, and thus it is essential to study how to promote SE. Using panel data from 282 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2021, this study explores the mechanism through which digital inclusive finance affects SE. The results indicate that digital inclusive finance has a positive impact on SE, which still holds after considering endogeneity and undergoing a series of robustness tests. In addition, mechanism analysis shows that digital inclusive finance affects SE by alleviating financing constraints and promoting common prosperity. Furthermore, the effect of digital inclusive finance is stronger in cities with a strong Buddhist culture and more judicially civilized. Policy recommendations are also proposed.