Social network of digital inclusive finance and urban-rural income gap

A wealth of literature has explored the diverse impacts of digital inclusive financial development, yet it has largely ignored the social network of digital inclusive finance (SNDIF) and its implications for the economic system. To bridge this gap, this study employs social network analysis and panel data from Chinese cities to construct SNDIFs for the period 2011-2022. It further investigates how the various centralities of nodes within these networks affect the urban-rural income gap. The empirical results reveal that increases in in-degree centrality, inward closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality effectively reduce the urban-rural income gap. These effects are facilitated by enhancing rural employment opportunities, nurturing rural entrepreneurship, and promoting the deepening of agricultural capital. Conversely, increases in out-degree centrality and outward closeness centrality tend to widen the urban-rural income gap.