Digital Finance, Platform Economy, and Residents’ Employment Quality

Using CFPS 2018–2022 data, this study examines the impact of digital finance on household employment quality in China, analyzing heterogeneity, moderating effects, dimension-specific impacts, and underlying mechanisms. The results indicate that digital finance significantly enhances employment quality. At the sub-dimension level, all three dimensions of digital finance—Depth, Digitization, and Breadth—positively affect employment quality, ranked by effect magnitude as Depth > Digitization > Breadth. The positive impact is stronger for objective employment quality than for subjective measures. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the effect of digital finance is more pronounced among female residents, residents in central cities, and those in eastern regions. Moderation tests show that platform economy development amplifies this effect. Mechanism analysis suggests that digital finance improves employment quality indirectly by alleviating financing constraints, fostering social interactions, and enhancing digital literacy. These findings provide empirically grounded insights for improving household employment outcomes and promoting the healthy development of financial markets.