Study on the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Farmers' Income Increase in Border Areas of Ruili City

Achieving sustained and steady growth in farmers' income is paramount in work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. This study takes farmers in the border areas of Ruili City as the research subjects, conducting surveys and field interviews. It analyzes the development status of digital inclusive finance in Ruili City across three dimensions, the usage of digital inclusive finance by farmers in these border areas, and their current income situation based on statistical data. The significance of this study lies in facilitating local government departments to formulate policies tailored to local conditions, supporting the innovative development of digital inclusive finance in Yunnan Province, and promoting farmers' income growth. Digital inclusive finance overturns the "80-20 rule" of traditional finance, compensates for the financial exclusion inherent in traditional inclusive finance, accelerates the resolution of "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers" issues, helps realize the long-tail effect in financial markets, promotes the overall economic development of Yunnan, and improves the lagging development status of digital inclusive finance in the province. This study adopted a random sampling method, conducting in-depth field investigations in four border towns/townships (communities) of Ruili City: Jiexiang Town, Mengmao Subdistrict, Nongdao Town, and Mengxiu Township. This involved four different administrative villages in border areas: Dengzha Village, Dengxiu Village, Yinjing Village, and Jiedong Village. A total of 538 valid questionnaires were collected. After testing the reliability and validity of the questionnaire data, a least squares regression model and a mediation effect model were established. The empirical results indicate a significant correlation between digital inclusive finance and farmers' income increase in the border areas of Ruili City. The results show that digital inclusive finance significantly promotes income growth for farmers in the border areas of Ruili City, Dehong Prefecture. Furthermore, farmers' satisfaction with border subsidy policies in Ruili's border areas positively influences their perception of income increase, with a strong impact intensity. Based on the results of empirical and situational analysis, this paper proposes countermeasures: strengthening the publicity of digital inclusive finance in border areas to stimulate its role in boosting farmers' income; and enhancing rural digitalization by improving rural digital infrastructure construction.