Coupling Coordination between Fintech and Digital Villages: Mechanism, Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors—An Empirical Study Based on China

Abstract

Based on Chinese provincial data from 2013 to 2020, this research constructed a fintech index and a digital index and analyzed the temporal and spatial coupling coordination status and driving factors of the two using a coupled coordination model. The results of the study were as follows. (1) In general, the comprehensive index of fintech and digital villages increased year by year in the time sequence and fell into fintech-dominated coupling. The divergence in space was significant, showing an overall decreasing trend from the eastern coastal areas to the central areas and western areas. (2) In terms of sequential characteristics, the coupling coordination between fintech and digital villages shifted into the stage of primary coordination, which was phased and rising and continued to grow during the examination period. (3) In terms of spatial characteristics, the degree of coupling coordination between fintech and digital villages was different and agglomerative, with a trend of “strong in the east, mediocre in the middle and poor in the west”; seven provinces and cities entered the intermediate coordination stage. (4) In terms of drivers, the levels of economic development, regional industrial structure, regional population density, and digital infrastructure had a positive influence on coupling coordination. (5) Conditional convergence existed in eastern, central and western China from the convergence test; also, the speed was faster than absolute convergence.