Mechanism and Realization Path of High-Quality Development of Digital Finance Enabling Enterprises

Abstract

Digital finance represents a novel financial service leveraging advanced technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence. These technologies significantly impact the enhancement of financial services for the real economy and the attainment of high-quality economic development. Despite extensive macro-level studies, there remains a dearth of specific investigations into how micro-level digital finance influences the high-quality development of enterprises. Additionally, the role of financial regulation in the evolution of digital finance and its impact on the high-quality development of enterprises warrant further exploration.

This study empirically examines the mechanisms and pathways through which regional digital financial development facilitates the high-quality development of entities, utilizing annual data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed entities spanning 2013 to 2021. Employing a fixed effect model alongside the construction of high-quality enterprise development and digital financial development indices, the research demonstrates a significant positive correlation between digital finance development and the high-quality development of physical enterprises. This conclusion remains robust after addressing endogeneity concerns and conducting various robustness tests.

For mechanism analysis, regional digital finance development mitigates information asymmetry between enterprises and capital suppliers, alleviates financing constraints, and fosters technological innovation among enterprises, thereby promoting high-quality development. Heterogeneity analysis reveals differential effects across industries and regions, with pronounced impacts observed in the secondary industry, the tertiary industry, and in sectors undergoing rapid technological evolution, as well as the first-tier cities of the digital economy and the eastern and central regions where digital technology is more concentrated. Furthermore, the study identifies three primary pathways through which digital finance drives high-quality enterprise development: enterprise innovation and development, shared development, and coordinated development. While green and open development are recognized as crucial, their full potential remains unrealized, highlighting opportunities for optimization. Moreover, employing a threshold effect model, the study underscores the indispensable role of effective financial supervision in realizing the high-quality development potential of digital finance-enabled enterprises.

This paper contributes to the existing literature in three areas: first, by introducing the urban digital financial development index and the enterprise high-quality development index; second, by exploring the mechanisms of digital finance’s impact on high-quality enterprise development from both external constraints and internal optimization perspectives; and third, by conducting a comprehensive examination of the effectiveness, impact, and regulatory framework supporting the implementation pathways of digital finance in promoting high-quality enterprise development.

Ultimately, this research illuminates the relationship between the virtual economy and the real economy, informing targeted digital financial promotion and financial supervision policies. Such insights enable government and regulatory bodies to provide tailored policy support to enterprises across different regions and industries, facilitating their pursuit of high-quality development and enhancing the symbiotic relationship between digital finance and the real economy.