Corporate Nature, Financial Technology, and Corporate Innovation in China

Abstract

Corporate innovation has become the main driving force for the long-term development of enterprises, but the characteristics of high risk, long cycle, and high capital demand of corporate innovation activities expose enterprises to high financial rejection. Financial technology, formed by combining digital technology with traditional financial services, is gradually changing the financial service model and providing new ideas for corporate investment and financing. In this study, using the data of non-financial and non-real estate listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, A-shares from 2015 to 2020, we examine the effect of financial technology on corporate innovation through a fixed-effects model and investigate the influence of corporate characteristics on the relationship between financial technology and innovation through a moderating-effects model. The results show that financial technology enhances the ability to serve real enterprises by reshaping financial services, which in turn effectively drives an increase in corporate innovation, and the mechanism is conditionally heterogeneous. In addition, the moderating effect of the firm’s nature is found to be more significant in non-state-owned firms, high-technology firms, and firms in the growth and maturity stages by life cycle. The policy implications of this study are to continuously promote theoretical research, to guide the development of fintech, and to improve the construction of financial technology infrastructure. Additionally, to deepen the integration of financial technology with real enterprises and establish differentiated financial technology support tools, so as to improve the precision of promoting enterprise innovation.