Innovation Output and Financial Performance ——The Double-edged Sword Effect of Credit Financing
Hai Benlu1, 2, Yang Junxiao1, Yin Ximing3, Li Jizhen4
1. Business School, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China; 2. Center for Innovation and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; 3. School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; 4. School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Abstract:This paper takes the firms in Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone as sample and studies the impact of credit financing on the relationship between innovation output and financial performance, aiming to uncover the “black box”that affects the innovation benefit from the perspective of credit financing.This study finds that innovation output has a significant positive U-shaped impact on financial performance, while credit financing shows a “double-edged sword”moderating effect on the relationship between them.On the one hand, the increase of credit financing shifts the turning point of the positive U-shaped relationship between innovation output and financial performance to the right which indicates the financing structure dominated by credit financing has capital mismatch problems in the process of promoting innovation-driven development, which may deepen the “innovation trap”of firms.On the other hand, credit financing can enhance the steepness and average marginal effect of the positive U-shaped relationship.This indicates that credit financing strengthens the impact of innovation output on financial performance and improves the overall level of business performance.Therefore, deepening the reform of the banking industry and promoting the deep integration of finance and the real economy is strategically essential for cultivating world-class firms and building an innovative country.