Research on the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Corporate Financing Cost: Theoretical Mechanism and Empirical Test

Based on the data of A-share non-financial listed companies from 2011 to 2023, this paper matches the Peking University prefecture-level city digital inclusive finance index with corporate financial data, and empirically examines the impact of digital inclusive finance on corporate financing cost and its mechanism of action. Financing cost is measured by the financial expense ratio, and the industry and year fixed effects model is used for estimation. The study finds that the increase of the regional digital inclusive finance development level significantly reduces corporate financing cost; the mechanism analysis shows that digital inclusive finance plays its role by improving the external information environment of enterprises and raising analyst following and research report coverage. The heterogeneity analysis shows that this effect is more obvious in non-state-owned enterprises, the eastern region and larger-scale enterprises. The study provides an empirical basis for improving digital financial infrastructure, optimizing corporate credit information governance and differentiated credit pricing.