Digital finance and corporate financialization: from the perspective of bank competition and economic policy uncertainty

The paper explores the roles of bank competition and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in the relationship between digital finance and corporate financialization. We find that digital finance dampens corporate financialization by intensifying competition in the banking industry. However, when EPU increases, the ability of digital finance to suppress corporate financialization weakens. We also find a substitution effect between digital finance and EPU.