Digital finance, corporate financialization and enterprise operating performance: an empirical research based on Chinese A-share non-financial enterprises

Based on the phenomenon of rapid development of China's digital finance and the increasingly “transform the economy from substantial to fictitious” in real enterprises, it may have a huge impact on the healthy development of the enterprise. Therefore, the paper selects the data of listed companies in the non-financial industry in the A-share market of Chinese Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2011 to 2018, and examines the relationship among the development of digital finance, the level of corporate financialization, and corporate operating performance. It found that digital finance can prompt the enterprises to reduce the level of financialization, thereby has a positive effect on the business performance of the company; Significant heterogeneity is found to exist in terms of company size, region and digital financial structure, the breadth of coverage and depth of use of large-scale enterprises and digital finance are more prominent. The mechanism test shows that the difference in the degree of development of digital finance and the nature of property rights has strengthened the negative impact of corporate financialization on corporate business performance.