Effects of Digital Finance on Green Innovation considering Information Asymmetry: An Empirical Study Based on Chinese Listed Firms

Large capital investment, extended R&D cycle, and high uncertainties characterize green innovations. Consequently, financial risks easily emerge during firms' green innovation process. This study utilizes data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2019 to examine the effects of digital finance on firms' green innovation. The findings reveal that digital finance exerts significant and positive influence on green innovation. Digital finance institutions alleviate information asymmetry in the green innovation market through digital technologies such as big data analysis of firm behavior to directly promote firms' innovation behavior. The internal mechanism analysis reveals that digital finance indirectly promotes green innovation by improving the quality of firms' environmental information disclosure and reducing financial constraints. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that the promotional effect of digital finance on green innovation is more prominent in larger and state-owned enterprises.