ABSTRACT To address the common challenges of “low quality” and “rigid boundaries” in Chinese enterprise innovation and comprehensively enhance their innovative capacity, this study utilizes data from Chinese A‐share listed enterprises spanning 2011–2019. It empirically examines the impact and underlying mechanisms of digital inclusive finance on innovation quantity, innovation quality, and innovation boundaries through the application of fixed‐effects and moderating‐effects models. Findings indicate that digital inclusive finance effectively promotes both the quantity and quality of enterprise innovation while facilitating the expansion of innovation boundaries. This effect operates through three potential mechanisms: alleviating financing constraints, increasing enterprises' research and development (R&D) willingness, and reducing management costs. Moreover, the influence of digital inclusive finance on innovation quantity, innovation quality, and innovation boundaries varies across regions, enterprise types, and ownership structures. The findings of this study assist enterprises in leveraging digital financial services to foster innovation while also offering valuable insights for policymakers in designing relevant policies and fostering government‐enterprise collaboration.
Kai et al. (Thu,) studied this question.