Impact of digital finance on agricultural output: From the perspective of digital development of agriculture

The rapid development of digital technology has brought new opportunities for agricultural development. Using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2011-2021, this paper examines the relationship between the impact of digital finance on agricultural output, and constructs comprehensive digital agriculture indicators to examine the mediating effects. The study finds that digital finance has contributed significantly to agricultural output. The mediation effect verifies that digital finance can further contribute to agricultural output by increasing the digitization of agriculture. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that digital finance plays a more important role in financial support in the Middle Region.