A study of synergies between digital financial inclusion and environmental regulation for carbon emission reduction in agriculture

This study systematically analyses the impact mechanisms of digital financial inclusion and environmental regulation on agricultural carbon emissions based on panel data from 28 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020. The study applies a panel threshold model to examine the non-linear role between the breadth of coverage and depth of use of digital financial inclusion and agricultural carbon emissions, and uses a double-threshold regression model to further explore the interaction between the breadth of coverage of digital financial inclusion and environmental regulation in agricultural carbon emissions. The results show that environmental regulation has a significant direct inhibitory effect on reducing agricultural carbon emissions, and this inhibitory effect is significantly enhanced after the breadth of digital financial inclusion coverage crosses a certain threshold, presenting a double-threshold nonlinear characteristic. In addition, both the breadth of coverage and depth of use of digital inclusive finance indirectly promote agricultural emission reduction by enhancing the effectiveness of environmental regulation. This paper provides theoretical insights into achieving low-carbon development in agriculture and offers policy implications for policymakers to optimise the synergistic governance of financial inclusion and environmental regulation.