Abstract: Using the data of China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) in 2015, 2017 and 2019, this paper empirically evaluates the impact of DIF on household consumption behavior. Results show that DIF significantly promotes the household consumption level. After considering endogeneity and other issues, the benchmark results remain robust. On the one hand, DIF can improve household consumption by increasing the per capita consumption of low-level households and increasing household expenditure on food, household equipment, transportation and other aspects; On the other hand, it can also improve household consumption by alleviating liquidity constraints, improving financial literacy and improving payment convenience, and these three mechanisms explain about 68.9% of the benchmark effect. In addition, the main beneficiaries of the positive consumption effect of DIF are households with middle-aged or young householders, high school or above household heads, form rural, central or western areas. Further analysis show that the development of DIF is a double-edged sword, because it improves the probability of excessive consumption of young people.

Key words: digital inclusive finance, financial literacy, household consumption, excessive consumption