A Study on the Impact of New Quality Productive Forces on Silver-Haired Consumption

Abstract

Silver-haired consumption has become an important growth driver for expanding and upgrading China's consumer market. It plays a key role in unlocking domestic demand potential and optimizing consumption structure. This paper employs five-wave panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), covering the survey years 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020, to systematically investigate the effect of new-quality productivity on silver-haired consumption, alongside its underlying mechanisms. Empirical findings indicate that new-quality productive forces exert a significantly positive influence on silver-haired consumption. This conclusion still holds after implementing multiple robustness checks and mitigating potential endogeneity issues. Mechanism estimations suggest that the favorable effect is transmitted via three primary pathways: broadening digital application scenarios, advancing inclusive finance, and elevating the development quality of the silver economy. Furthermore, heterogeneity tests demonstrate that such promotional influence is stronger in central China and features inclusivity, functioning effectively in areas with disparate economic development levels. This research offers empirical support and policy implications for uncovering the inherent correlation between new-quality productive forces and silver-haired consumption, stimulating the silver consumer market, and facilitating the development of elderly-oriented finance.