Can Mobile Payment Increase Household Income and Mitigate the Lower Income Condition Caused by Health Risks? Evidence from Rural China

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 18; p. 11739
• Main Authors: Qiu, Weisong, Wu, Tieqi, Xue, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.09.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: China - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; Cost control; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; Developing countries; Entrepreneurship; Family income; Health care expenditures; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Households; Humans; Income; Information technology; LDCs; Liquidity; Literature reviews; Loans; Low income groups; Medicine; Mobile commerce; Outdoor air quality; Pandemics; Payments; Physicians; Poverty; Public finance; Rural areas; Rural Population; Rural populations; Social factors; Social interaction; China; Kenya; household income; rural China; poverty alleviation; mobile payment; health risks
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191811739

China has moved into a new stage of its fight against poverty, where the further raising of rural household income is of great importance. Health risk is one of the biggest obstacles to the poverty reduction progress. Therefore, how to cope with the negative effects of health risks has attracted the attention of scholars, especially in the background of the global outbreak of COVID-19. In this paper, we try to explore whether mobile payment, a new form of payment, can improve the income of rural households and mitigate the lower income condition caused by health risks in China. Using data from the 2017 China Household Finance Survey, we found: (1) mobile payment can substantially increase rural household income; (2) health risks will lower the income of rural residents, but mobile payment can lessen this negative effect. Mechanism analysis indicates that mobile payment is likely to ease liquidity constraints, increase social interaction, and stimulate entrepreneurship for rural households. We advised the government to promote mobile payment adoption in rural areas and enhance its design. Additionally, better medical resources should also be made available to rural households.