数字金融发展能否促进工业企业创新质量提升——基于专利知识宽度的视角

Can Digital Finance Development Contribute to the Quality of Industrial Firm Innovation?--A Perspective Based on the Breadth of Patent Knowledge

数字金融作为数字科技在金融领域延伸发展的新模式、新业态,对提升中国工业企业创新质量意义重大。基于中国工业企业数据库和专利数据库的匹配数据,从企业专利知识宽度视角,实证检验了数字金融对创新质量的作用及其影响机制。研究发现:数字金融对创新质量有显著促进作用,且在经过一系列内生性问题处理、稳健性检验后,基本结论依然可靠。异质性分析表明,相较于大规模、低生产率、资本密集型、国有和北部地区企业而言,数字金融对小规模、高生产率、技术密集型、私营和南部地区企业创新质量的影响更大。机制检验发现,数字金融可以通过降低企业融资成本、推动企业拓展市场和促进行业竞争三种渠道提升企业创新质量。

Digital finance,as a new mode and new business format developed by the extension of digital tech⁃nology in the financial field,is of great significance for enhancing the quality of innovation of Chinese industrial firms.Based on the matched data of Chinese industrial firms database and patent database,we have empirically test⁃ed the impact of digital finance on the improvement of firms innovation quality and its mechanism of action from the perspective of firms patent knowledge width.It is found that digital finance development significantly contributes to the quality of firm innovation,and the basic conclusion remains reliable after a series of endogeneity tests and ro⁃bustness tests.The heterogeneity analysis shows that digital finance has a greater impact on the quality of innovation in small-scale,high-productivity,technology-intensive,private and southern-region firms compared to large scale,low-productivity,capital-intensive,state-owned and northern-region firms.The mechanism test finds that digital finance can enhance the quality of firms innovation through the three channels of reducing firms financing costs,promoting firms market expansion,and intensifying industry competition.