Probe - Accounting, Auditing and Taxation

Statistical measurement of digital finance development and regional archite-ctural disparities

Lihong Shi

Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology

Huashan Zhang

Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/paat.v7i3.11216

Keywords: digital finance; regional development disparities; TOPSIS-entropy weight method; PCA robustness; green and digital transformation in construction

---

Abstract

To identify the impact of digital finance development on regional development disparities while incorporating the construction sector dimension, this study constructs a "Regional Development Gap Index (UUDI)" based on panel data from 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province from 2013 to 2023. The TOPSIS-entropy weighting method is employed for multi-indicator comprehensive measurement, with principal component analysis (PCA) conducted for robustness testing. The indicator system incorporates construction-related metrics across economic, social, and environmental dimensions (e.g., construction value-added share, prefabricated building proportion, green building floor area ratio, energy consumption and carbon emission intensity per unit floor area), reflecting the sector's role in regional development quality, green transition, and public service accessibility. The study's primary contributions are: providing a regional disparity measurement framework that combines methodological transparency and reproducibility; systematically embedding green and digital transformation elements of the construction industry into traditional comprehensive evaluations; and establishing a unified measurement and data foundation for subsequent quantitative identification of digital finance's impact on the coupled development of "construction-city" systems. The methodology and data sources are detailed in the 'Methodology' and "Data" sections of this paper.

---

References

[1] Wu J ,Zhang X, He Z , et al. The effect of digital inclusive finance on the development of the green economy in china: A panel data analysis[J]. Environment, Development and Sustainability,2025,(prepublish):1-29.

[2] Wang F, Rani T .Unlocking economic growth in South Asia: how energy shortages, digital trade, and financial development interact[J].Economic Change and Restructuring,2025,58(5):75-75.

[3] Hu Q. Digital Economy, Government Intervention, and High-Quality Financial Development[J].Scientific Journal of Economics and Management Research,2025,7(7):108-115.

[4] Li S. The Impact of Digital Finance on High-quality Development of Urban Economies in China[J].Modern Economics & Management Forum,2025,6(3):