Electronic payment, natural environment and household consumption: Evidence from China household finance survey
利用2011-2017年中国家庭金融调查数据，发现电子支付显著增加家庭非必需消费，尤其在恶劣天气下效果更强，但对医疗等必需消费无影响，且对城市、高学历和年轻家庭影响更大。
In this paper, whether and how electronic payment affects households' consumption decisions are discussed. Data of China Household Finance Survey from 2011 to 2017 are adopted to carry out empirical tests. It is found that electronic payment would significantly induce households to consume more in discretionary goods. The potential mechanism lies in that the electronic payment cuts down transaction costs of venturing out or carrying banknotes that may hinder consumption. Using the weather conditions near the household location, this paper finds that the electronic payment would increase a household's discretionary consumption more significantly when the rain is heavy or the sunshine is weak. But necessary consumption like medical care is unaffected. It is found that electronic payment increases consumption more significantly in urban, well-educated and young households.