The Impact of Electronic Payment on Household Consumption

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of e-payment on consumer behavior at the household level in the context of COVID-19, which studies the influence of electronic payment on household consumption behavior. This paper empirically tests the impact of e-payment on household consumption based on the data of China household Finance survey in 2017-2020. The findings suggest that electronic payment boosts household consumption. The results of robustness checks show the robustness of significance between variables. Overall, the forecast model contain useful information to explain consumption per household member, which is proved by the tests of subsamples and additional control variables methods. The results remained significant either by substituting samples, using the robust check of sub-samples from Shandong and Anhui provinces, or by adding variables and controlling variables of household income and financial assets, which proved the significant impact of electronic payment on household consumption. Under the background of aging population structure, age has positive impact on household consumption. It is of practical significance to discuss the influence of electronic payment on household consumption. This study both fills in the gaps of previous household consumption research and adapts to the new change of Covid-19. According to the findings of this paper, it is of theoretical significance to provide suggestions for China's consumption and macroeconomic policies.