Multi-province comparisons of digital financial inclusion performance in China: A group ranking method with preference analysis

The Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China (PKU-DFIIC) measures the digital financial inclusion (DFI) performance in China from three dimensions: breadth of coverage, depth of use and level of digitalization. This paper extends the PKU-DFIIC to measure and compare the provincial DFI performance in terms of proposing a group ranking method with preference analysis. Specifically, we identify a panel of experts by comprehensively considering all possible importance orders of three dimensions, and formulate a preliminary group decision matrix. Then the preference analysis is carried out with respect to preferential difference and preferential priority. A revised group decision matrix is derived with the expert-specific ranking as the inputs. Finally, a group ranking method is given based on the half-quadratic theory, in conjunction with the consensus index and trust level denoting the level of agreement and reliability of the group ranking. An empirical study using the PKU-DFIIC data from 2016 to 2020 is conducted to demonstrate our method, along with the spatial-temporal analysis of the results and a set of policy implications to promote the DFI development in China.