Divide or dividend: How digital finance impacts educational equality

Based on panel data from 31 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2021, this paper empirically investigates whether and how digital finance affects educational equity. The results show that the impact of digital finance on educational equity is dynamic, showing that it initially exacerbates educational inequality and later reduces it. The impact of digital finance on educational equity shows a marginal decreasing pattern. Digital finance promotes educational equity by alleviating the credit constraints of rural residents and narrowing the urban-rural income gap. This paper adds new empirical evidence to the long-term debate on the digital divide and educational equity.