Research on the moderate range of enterprise financialization and R&D innovation from a nonlinear perspective

The impact of financialization on R&D innovation in enterprises exhibits typical nonlinear dynamic characteristics. Based on this, in this study we constructed a threshold regression model to test the moderate range that can maintain the positive relationship between financialization and R&D innovation of enterprises, and also analyzed the nonlinear influencing mechanism by setting the interaction term. Considering the differences in factor intensity of various industries, in this research we also tested the heterogeneity in the moderate range among different industries. Using annual data of Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2019, the following empirical findings were obtained: First, the impact of enterprise financialization on R&D innovation presents a nonlinear feature, i.e., a typical threshold feature. The level of enterprise financialization first positively affects the R&D innovation of enterprises, and after it reaches a certain turning point, the financialization behavior negatively affects the R&D innovation of enterprises. Second, the nonlinear feature of the mechanism by which enterprise financialization affects R&D innovation is reflected in the substitute effect, and there are disparities among different financialization levels. Third, industries with varying levels of factor intensity not only demonstrate differences in moderate intervals, but also exhibit significant disparities in the degree of impact exerted by financialization on innovation.