Rural areas development and pro-environmental behavior in China: implications for rural development and planning

This research adds to the body of knowledge by examining the asymmetric link between rural development and pro-environmental behavior in rural China. Rural development is assessed via rural income and digital financial inclusion. We use linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models to assess short- and long-term effects. The linear analysis suggests that a rise in rural income and digital financial inclusion encourages long-term access to clean fuels and technologies (CFT) in rural areas, while they do not have any significant impact in the short run. On the other side, the nonlinear framework illustrates that a positive shock in rural income and digital financial inclusion encourages long-term access to CFT in rural areas. A negative shock in rural income reduces long-term access to CFT in rural areas, and a negative shock in digital financial inclusion does not significantly impact access to CFT. However, in the short run, only the estimates of rural income are significant, while the estimates attached to digital financial inclusion are insignificant, implying that a rise in rural income increases access to CFT and a fall in rural income reduces access to CFT. Thus, government should encourage collaboration between private sector and civil society organizations to promote sustainable rural development and pro-environmental behavior.