Research On The Impact Of Digital Financial Inclusion On SMEs’ Innovation

At present,innovation has become an important driving force in the process of high-quality development of China’s economy.As the main body of technological innovation,enterprises are the driving force of innovation in China,and how to promote innovation in SMEs is crucial to high-quality economic development.However,technological innovation requires continuous and stable capital investment,and since SME innovation is characterized by large capital investment,long cycle and high risk,it is easily plagued by capital shortage,which hinders the development of innovative activities.Compared with traditional finance,digital inclusive finance uses digital technology to improve the Pareto allocation of capital in the financial market,tilting more financial resources to "long-tail" customers,improving the efficiency of financial resource allocation,and providing more support to promote SME innovation.Based on the above background,this thesis,on the basis of reviewing relevant literature at home and abroad and summarising the current situation of digital inclusive finance and SME innovation,analyses the impact mechanism of digital inclusive finance on SME innovation by combining long tail theory,information asymmetry theory,financial development theory and optimal order financing theory,and puts forward the research hypothesis of this thesis.Using the data of NSSB enterprises from2013 to 2020 as a sample,the impact of digital inclusive finance on SME innovation is empirically analysed using a fixed effects model;then using a mediating effects model,the mediating mechanism of financing constraints and credit resource allocation between digital inclusive finance and SME innovation is examined;then the impact of digital inclusive finance on SME innovation under different enterprise ownership and different regions is examined.The heterogeneous impact of digital inclusive finance on SME innovation under different firm ownership and different regions is then examined.The study shows that(1)digital inclusive finance is conducive to improving SMEs’ innovation capability,i.e.,digital inclusive finance has a significant positive effect on SMEs’ innovation input,innovation output and innovation efficiency;by dimension,the depth of digital inclusive finance use has the greatest impact on SMEs’ innovation,followed by the breadth of coverage and digitalization;(2)financing constraints have a mediating effect in the process of digital inclusive finance promoting SMEs’ innovation;(3)credit resource allocation has a mediating effect in the process of digital inclusive finance promoting SMEs’ innovation;(4)digital inclusive finance is more effective in promoting private SMEs’ innovation than state-owned SMEs.(3)credit resource allocation has a mediating effect in the process of digital inclusive finance for SME innovation;(4)compared with state-owned SMEs,digital inclusive finance is more likely to promote private SMEs to improve their innovation capability;(5)compared with SMEs in central and western regions,digital inclusive finance has a more obvious role in promoting SME innovation in eastern regions.Therefore,it is necessary to continuously improve the infrastructure and actively promote the high-quality development of digital inclusive finance;optimize the allocation of credit resources and strive to alleviate and eliminate the financing constraints under the traditional financial model;and formulate differentiated incentive policies to effectively play the role of digital inclusive finance in promoting the innovation of SMEs.