Research On The Influence Of Digital Finance On Commercial Banks’ Risk-taking

At the present stage,digital finance is booming,giving birth to a large number of fintech companies,crowding out the deposit and loan markets of commercial banks,intensifying inter-bank competition,and raising the cost of using funds of commercial banks.Indirect financing dominated by commercial banks is still the main form of financing in China.The stability of commercial banks is not only related to the success or failure of their own operation,but also affects the stability of social economy.In this context,it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study the influence of the development of digital finance on the risk-taking of commercial banks.Based on the financial data of 181 Chinese commercial banks from 2011 to 2020 and the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index,this paper uses the fixed panel effect model to make an empirical analysis of the relationship between digital finance and commercial banks’ risk-taking.The results are as follows:First,the development of digital finance intensifies the risk taking of commercial banks.The coverage breadth and usage depth of the second-level dimension of digital finance aggravate the risk taking of commercial banks,while the digitalization level only has a significant impact on some of the risk taking indicators of commercial banks.Second,the impact of digital finance on the risk-taking of commercial banks is heterogeneous in terms of ownership,capital scale,liquidity and profitability.In terms of ownership,the development of digital finance has no significant impact on the risk taking of state-owned banks,but it promotes the risk taking of some types of joint-stock banks and intensifies the risk taking of urban commercial banks.In terms of capital scale,compared with commercial banks with smaller capital scale,commercial banks with larger capital scale are less affected by digital finance on their risk-taking.In terms of liquidity,the sample is divided into three groups according to the bank liquidity level,and it is found that commercial banks with moderate liquidity level are least affected by digital finance to increase their risk taking.In terms of profitability,compared with commercial banks with poor profitability,commercial banks with high profitability are less affected by digital finance aggravating their risk-taking.Third,digital finance affects the risk taking of commercial banks through the adjustment of loan structure and the intensification of inter-bank competition.Specifically,the bank loan structure can be divided into three categories according to the term,object and guarantee.With the development of digital finance,the increase of personal loan will increase the risk taking of commercial banks,while the increase of short-term loan will reduce the risk taking of commercial banks.The reduction of banking competition will ease the role of digital finance in enhancing the risk-taking of commercial banks.This study examines in detail the influence mechanism of digital finance on the risk taking of commercial banks,enriched the literature related to digital finance and the risk taking of commercial banks,and provided certain enlightenment for the risk management and regulatory policy making of banks.