Abstract: The impact of digital inclusive finance on high-quality regional economic development through benchmark regression, robustness testing, spatial econometrics, and mediation effects models is studied based on panel data from the western region from 2011 to 2023. The following results are achieved: (1) Digital inclusive finance has a significant promoting effect on high-quality regional economic development, but there is regional heterogeneity. The marginal contribution of digital inclusive finance to high-quality economic development is more significant in low-level areas; (2) Digital inclusive finance has a positive spatial spillover effect on the high-quality development of the western economy; and (3) Technological innovation plays a mediating role in promoting high-quality economic development through digital inclusive finance. The countermeasures and suggestions to improve the development level of digital inclusive finance in the western region and promote high-quality economic development are proposed based on the empirical results.

Key words: digital inclusive finance, high quality economic development, spillover effect, mediating effect