Supply Chain Finance and Industrial Efficiency: Evidence From ICT Industry

Abstract

This study explores the impact of supply chain finance on industrial efficiency and the internal mechanism. The super-efficiency model and quantitative analysis method were used based on the time series data of the ICT industry in Shenzhen from 2005 to 2020. In order to better investigate the impact of supply chain finance on industrial efficiency, this study categorized industrial efficiency into operational efficiency and innovation efficiency to reflect the durability and virtuousness of the industry development. Results indicate that supply chain finance has an inverted U-shaped nonlinear effect on industrial efficiency. Even though the long-term effect on operational efficiency is positive, the effect on innovation efficiency reveals an inverted U-shape, mainly due to the mediating effect of industrial concentration. Theoretically, this study sheds light on the intricate effects of supply chain finance at the industrial level, and also provides valuable insights into the potential inhibition mechanism, which enriches and deepens the related research on the supply chain finance from the nonlinear perspective, make the research findings more consistent with the fact of industrial development and avoid the linear stereotypes of the existing theory consensus. Practically, it is conductive to an objective understanding for managers and policymakers, so that supply chain finance can facilitate both operational and innovation efficiencies and realize the effective integration of supply chain finance and industrial development.