The impact of FinTech on corporate green innovation: The case of Chinese listed enterprises

Financial technology (FinTech) has emerged as an increasingly prominent force in driving industrial structural transformation and fostering green economic development. This study takes Chinese listed enterprises from 2011 to 2023 as the research sample, employing a word frequency statistics method to measure FinTech development levels and examine its impact on corporate green innovation. The findings are as follows: First, FinTech significantly enhances corporate green innovation capabilities, with a stronger promotion effect on strategic innovation compared to substantive innovation. These conclusions remain robust after a series of sensitivity tests. Second, heterogeneity analysis reveals that FinTech's role in driving green innovation is more pronounced among high managers' cognitive endowments enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises, and non-heavily polluting enterprises. Furthermore, mechanism tests indicate that FinTech facilitates corporate green innovation through channels such as improving management capabilities and alleviating corporate financing constraints. Third, financial regulation suppresses FinTech's promotion of corporate green innovation, particularly exerting negative effects on FinTech's impact on substantive green innovation. Finally, this paper proposes corresponding policy implications based on the research findings, aiming to further enhance FinTech's empowerment capabilities and promote sustained corporate green innovation.