How Digital Inclusive Finance Facilitates Corporate Targeted Poverty Alleviation

Digital inclusive finance serves as a pivotal financial mechanism for mobilizing corporate participation in targeted poverty alleviation. Utilizing panel data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2016 to 2023, this study examines whether digital inclusive finance promotes corporate investment in targeted poverty alleviation. The results show that digital inclusive finance significantly increases firms’ poverty alleviation investment. Among its dimensions, usage depth and digitization show stronger effects, whereas coverage breadth has no significant impact. Mechanism tests indicate that digital inclusive finance alleviates financing constraints by increasing firms’ cash holdings and expanding access to long-term debt. These channels improve firms’ financial capacity to undertake social responsibility activities. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that the effect is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, firms in the growth or maturity stages, and enterprises located in China’s central or eastern regions. Overall, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of digital inclusive finance in shaping corporate social responsibility in the context of poverty alleviation.