The Impact Of Digital Finance On Total Factor Productivity Of Enterprises

At present,China’s economy has shifted from the stage of rapid growth to the stage of high-quality development.As the basic output unit of an economy,the improvement of its total factor productivity is of great significance for achieving the goal of high-quality development.At the same time,with the rapid development of science and technology in recent years,digital finance,which integrates Internet technology and finance,has been born,bringing new vitality to the traditional financial model.The development of digital finance can effectively alleviate the problems of information asymmetry and financing difficulties in China’s market,enhance the possibility of financial institutions lending to enterprises,and meet the capital needs of enterprises.In the era of digital economy,how can the country make digital finance better serve the entity and how can enterprises achieve the improvement of total factor productivity through the benefits of the rapid development of digital finance.Given the above background,this article first reviews relevant literature both domestically and internationally from the fields of total factor productivity and digital finance,comprehensively grasping the latest research progress.Afterwards,based on the long tail theory,information asymmetry theory,and principal-agent theory,research hypotheses were proposed from the perspective of corporate financing-financing costs and corporate investment-risk taking and investment efficiency.Once more,this paper calculates the total factor productivity of enterprises based on the data of A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020,and studies the relationship between digital finance and total factor productivity of enterprises by matching the digital financial indexes at the provincial and county levels,and through the two-way fixed effect model.On the basis of the benchmark regression,we further carried out the robustness test and endogenous test,and found that the conclusion is reliable.The development of digital finance can improve the total factor productivity level of enterprises.Then,through the mechanism analysis,it was found that digital finance can improve total factor productivity of enterprises through three channels:reducing financing costs,enhancing enterprise risk bearing capacity,and correcting inefficient investment.Through the analysis of the regulatory effect model,it is found that digital finance has more obvious promotion effect on total factor productivity for enterprises with higher degree of digital transformation and when the uncertainty of external economic policies is low.Finally,through the analysis of heterogeneity,it is found that the effect of digital finance on the total factor productivity of enterprises is heterogeneous between enterprises and regions.For small and medium-sized enterprises,enterprises with high level of financing constraints,low level of information disclosure and enterprises in areas with high level of traditional financial development,the effect of digital finance is more obvious.This article believes that it is necessary to further exert the unique advantages of digital finance,alleviate the problem of information asymmetry in the market with the help of digital technology,and enable digital finance to promote the improvement of enterprise total factor productivity by reducing enterprise financing costs,improving enterprise risk bearing capacity,and correcting inefficient investment,thus better serving entities.In the context of the national strategy of vigorously developing the digital economy,enterprises should actively carry out digital transformation to enhance their competitiveness.At the same time,the development of digital finance depends on the development level of traditional finance.It is necessary to accelerate and improve the construction of finance and digital infrastructure to provide a good external environment for the in-depth development and effectiveness of digital finance.Finally,in the current context of large economic fluctuations,efforts should be made to ensure the stability and scientificity of economic policies,so that digital finance can better help enterprises develop.