An Empirical Study On The Impact Of Digital Inclusive Finance On The Investment Efficiency Of Chinese Enterprises

As the basic unit of economic development,the improvement of the investment efficiency of real enterprises plays an important role in the growth of enterprises themselves and the overall development of the economy.At present,under the background of high-quality economic development,benefiting from the support of macro-policies,the investment efficiency of Chinese enterprises has already improved obviously.However,due to the existence of information asymmetry and principal-agent problem and other factors,inefficient investment still exists widely.While traditional finance lacks the kinetic energy to restrain enterprises’ inefficiency,digital inclusive finance,relying on digital technology,is expected to break through the limitations of traditional finance and improve the quality and efficiency of enterprise investment.Therefore,it is of practical significance to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance on enterprise investment efficiency.In this paper,A-share enterprises from 2012 to 2021 are selected as research samples.The Richardson model is used to measure the level of inefficient investment of enterprises,and Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China is used to measure the development level of digital inclusion finance in different regions of China.And then this paper explores whether digital inclusive finance will help restrain the inefficient investment of enterprises and improve the efficiency of investment.On this basis,the paper further verifies the mediating effect of financing constraints and firm innovation and the moderating effect of the second type of equity agency cost.In terms of heterogeneity test,the paper differentiates enterprises according to the financial regulatory environment,firm value and firm financial flexibility,and tests in groups.Finally,the robustness test was carried out by variable hysteresis method,changing the measurement model of explained variables and eliminating samples of municipalities directly under the central government.The results show that:(1)Digital financial inclusion can restrain the inefficient investment of enterprises,mainly by alleviating under-investment.(2)The intermediate effect test results show that easing financing constraints and improving enterprise innovation are effective ways for digital inclusive finance to improve investment efficiency of enterprises.(3)The adjustment effect test results show that the second type of equity agency cost negatively moderates the impact of digital inclusive finance on the investment efficiency of enterprises.(4)From the heterogeneity test results,strengthening financial regulation will help improve the effect of digital inclusive finance on inhibiting inefficient investment of enterprises.Meanwhile,the digital inclusive finance is more conducive to improving the investment efficiency of low-value enterprises and low-financial flexibility enterprises.Based on the above conclusions,this paper mainly puts forward the following suggestions:(1)Enterprises should actively use digital technology to carry out investment and financing activities.In order to improve investment efficiency,enterprises should strengthen internal governance,pay attention to enterprise innovation,and constantly reduce financing constraints and agency costs.(2)The government should attach importance to the technical support of digital inclusive finance,increase support for the construction of digital investment and financing platforms,and guide the rational allocation of financial resources.(3)Financial institutions should use digital technology to delve information,expand service scope,reduce service cost and maximize financial service efficiency.(4)Regulators should improve risk prevention and control systems,promote information sharing,improve internal governance,and strengthen the protection of financial market participants.