Digital Finance Development and the Digital Transformation of Enterprises: Based on the Perspective of Financing Constraint and Innovation Drive

In the context of the digital economy, the digital transformation of enterprises, as an important accelerator of new economic and social development, cannot be separated from the support of financial resources. Based on the data of China’s A‐share listed companies from 2011 to 2020, this paper studies the influence of digital finance development on the digital transformation of enterprises and its mechanism of action. The empirical results demonstrate that digital finance development plays a significant role in promoting the digital transformation of enterprises, and the promotion effect is stronger for nonstate‐owned enterprises, but the promotion effect of digital finance development on the digital transformation of enterprises is weaker in western regions and peripheral cities than that in eastern and central regions and central cities. Digital finance development can alleviate the financing constraint of enterprises, thus facilitating the digital transformation of enterprises. Digital finance development can drive enterprise innovation, thus promoting the digital transformation of enterprises. Therefore, this paper suggests that the government should steadily advance digital finance development. Meanwhile, financial institutions should speed up the construction of digital platforms and strengthen their support for innovative projects. In addition, enterprises should actively seize the opportunities brought by digital finance development and accelerate the construction of digital transformation.