Research on the impact of technology finance on the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta region

A comprehensive evaluation index system for the integrated advancement of finance in science and technology, alongside the manufacturing sector, has been established. Furthermore, the entropy weight approach has been employed to assess both the development indicators of technology-driven finance and the integration metrics of the manufacturing industry across the three provinces and one municipality within the Yangtze River Delta region from 2012 to 2021. This study employs the fixed effects model to analyze the influence of science and technology financing on the integrated development of the manufacturing industry in this region, and it further examines the role of production costs and innovation capabilities in the relationship between technology financing and manufacturing integration. Research has shown that science and technology finance significantly enhances the integrated development of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta, with production costs and innovation capabilities acting as intermediary factors. However, in the high-level areas of manufacturing integration development, the mediating effect of production cost and innovation ability is not significant.