Digital inclusive finance and new quality productivity: Knowledge and multi-dimensional productivity factors

Clarifying the causal effect of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on new quality productivity (NQP) holds profound theoretical and practical significance for advancing high-quality digital-driven economic development. Distinct from extant literature, this study systematically investigates the transmission mechanism of DIF’s impact on NQP through three mediating channels: technological advancement (TA), ecological modernization (EM), and digital transformation (DT). It employs interdisciplinary methodologies to strengthen causal identification and reduce endogeneity concerns. Based on a 2014-2023 panel dataset of 305 Chinese prefecture-level cities, we find that DIF exerts a statistically robust and economically meaningful positive effect on NQP. Key contributions include: reconstructing DIF into two complementary dimensions green digital inclusion (GDI) and tech digital inclusion (TDI); verifying TA, EM, and DT as a unified second-order “multi-dimensional productivity (MDP)” factor; and identifying NQP policy attention, measured via text and sentiment analysis of local policy documents, as a critical moderator. We also observed a structural break in 2018, significant spatial spillovers, and notable pathway synergies. This study provides theoretical and policy insights for leveraging DIF to enhance productivity in developing economies.