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| FinTech, Digital Transformation, and Corporate Radical Innovation —Based on an Analysis of the Complex Network of Global Patent Citations |
| XU Zhaoyi, GONG Bing, CHEN Yanming, CHENG Cheng
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School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University;
School of International Political Economy, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences;
School of Finance and Statistics, Hunan University |
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Abstract Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has achieved prominent success in technology and industrialization, but future innovation challenges in China have also increased, particularly in the context of increasing global technology restrictions. The need to enhance the independent development of core technologies and radical innovations is critical for China's technological progress during the period of its 14th Five-Year Plan. Concurrently, with emerging digital technologies such as big data, blockchain, cloud computing, the IoT, and AI becoming prevalent in finance, China's fintech sector has experienced rapid growth. Exploring whether fintech facilitates radical innovations and how it can drive them is crucial for leveraging innovation to drive high-quality economic development and enhance financial services for the real economy.
This paper constructs a complex network of 1.4 billion global patent citations to calculate a radical innovation index for all patents worldwide, and assesses the level of radical innovation in China's A-share listed companies for the period from 2007 to 2020 to empirically test the impact of fintech on corporate radical innovation. The results show that fintech considerably increases the level of corporate radical innovation. Financing optimization, knowledge accumulation, and digital transformation are effective channels through which fintech boosts innovation. Further analysis reveals that the primary effect of fintech is achieved through cross-border impacts, guiding non-digital firms in digital patent innovations. Finally, this study finds that fintech empowers resource-scarce and relatively weak enterprises to achieve rapid technological advancements in innovation.
This paper makes the following potential contributions. First, we precisely measure radical innovations in China's listed companies, providing a data-based foundation for empirical analysis of the impact of fintech on digital innovation, and offering insights for future research on radical innovation. Second, this paper explores the impact of fintech on innovation through its ability to ease financing constraints and foster knowledge accumulation and digital transformation. Thus, we expand the understanding of factors that influence corporate innovation and demonstrate the enabling effect of digital transformation, which can inform evidence-based government policies. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, this study examines the differential impacts of deepening and cross-border effects on innovation from the perspective of historical international patent classification categories and the digital industry. The results show that the main roles of fintech are to support cross-industry R&D and enhance digital innovation in non-digital firms.
This study's findings provide valuable insights for continuing financial supply-side reforms and optimizing innovation incentive policies to achieve pathways to radical innovation. In the new technological revolution, the Chinese government should strengthen financial regulation and infrastructure, encourage banks to use fintech to improve loan processes, alleviate information asymmetry between banks and enterprises, and improve support for small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve radical innovation. In addition, the government should establish a diverse research and innovation support system that emphasizes innovation quality over the number of patent applications, thereby enhancing government support for scientific and technological innovation. Furthermore, businesses should consider fintech as a key technology for driving radical innovations and actively promote digital transformation, integrating their resources digitally to enhance their core competitiveness. Finally, the pronounced effect of fintech in supporting innovation in resource-scarce, weak, and less economically developed regions suggests the need for government attention to regional imbalances in fintech development. This includes increased policy and resource support for the less developed regions, improving markets, cooperation, and mutual aid mechanisms, and fostering a new pattern of mutual promotion and complementary development of radical innovation across eastern, central, and western regions.
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Received: 30 January 2023
Published: 16 July 2024
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