Digital Finance and Green Finance in Sustainable Economic Growth: A Systematic Review of the DF–GF Nexus and Research Agenda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53905/Gimer.v2i03.13Keywords:
digital finance, green finance, sustainable economic growth, financial inclusion, green innovation, renewable energyAbstract
Purpose of the study: The convergence of digital finance (DF) and green finance (GF) has attracted increasing scholarly attention as a potential pathway toward sustainable economic growth (SEG). However, the evidence remains fragmented across financial mechanisms, geographical settings, outcomes, and methodological approaches. This systematic review synthesises evidence on the individual and joint relationships among DF, GF, and SEG, with particular attention to mechanisms, moderators, and the emerging DF–GF complementarity proposition.
Materials for Analysis: Following PRISMA 2020 and PRISMA-S principles, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, and ScienceDirect were searched for peer-reviewed English-language publications from January 2015 to 20 June 2025. Citation tracking and supplementary identification procedures were also applied. After deduplication and independent two-stage screening, 73 publications were included, comprising 61 primary empirical studies and 12 previous reviews. Methodological quality was assessed using MMAT 2018 and AMSTAR 2, and evidence was synthesised using descriptive, thematic, and framework synthesis.
Results: Digital finance was generally associated with financial inclusion, resource allocation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable or high-quality growth. Green finance was generally associated with renewable energy, energy efficiency, green innovation, and low-carbon transition. Innovation and financing-constraint reduction were recurrent mechanisms. However, findings were heterogeneous, nonlinear, and context dependent. Evidence on the joint DF–GF relationship remained limited and geographically concentrated, particularly in China.
Conclusions: The literature supports substantial individual associations of DF and GF with sustainability-related economic outcomes, while evidence for DF–GF complementarity remains preliminary. Future research should prioritise causal identification, cross-country evidence, measurement harmonisation, explicit interaction testing, and distributional outcomes.
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