Digital finance is expected to provide high-quality services for economic and social development. The data processing technologies of digital finance based on the advantages of underlying digital financial technologies have enabled enterprises to realize the interaction of internal cognition and the external environment, enabling enterprises to strengthen potential absorption capabilities and transform external innovation resources into internal innovation capabilities. As an important subject in modernization in China, the manufacturing industry has long been stuck with the issue that the added value of manufacturing products is low in China and the development of manufacturing industry faces bottlenecks due to core-technology dependence. It is essential for China to cultivate core technology and improve the quality of innovation to achieve high-quality development. The high-quality development of manufacturing industry requires not only a good financial environment to solve the difficulty of high innovation investment but also precise product innovation through big data analysis and predictive models to improve the quality of innovation and development. Therefore, the mechanism of analyzing the improvement of the innovation quality of digital financial-driven manufacturing enterprises is of great significance for the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry.
This study uses data from A-share manufacturing listed companies from 2015 to 2021 as a sample to explore the impact of digital finance on the quality of corporate innovation output, as well as the intermediary role of potential absorptive capacity. By selecting the generalized least squares model and using Stata software, empirical research shows that digital finance promotes the improvement of the quality of innovation output of manufacturing enterprises, and potential absorptive capacity plays a mediating role in the relationship between digital finance and the quality of innovation output of enterprises. Further analysis shows that the effect of digital finance on the quality of corporate innovation output presents significant differences depending on the attributes of the company or the intensity of regional financial supervision. This relationship is more significant in scenarios where non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech enterprises, or financial regulatory intensity in the region where the enterprise is located is moderate. Through robustness testing using replacement variables, reduced samples, and the Heckman two-stage model, the above conclusions remain valid.
The results of this article have enriched the theoretical research on high-quality innovation in enterprises against the backdrop of digital finance and provided management inspiration for the high-quality innovation and development of enterprises, financial institutions and government supervision. It is suggested that, first of all, enterprises should actively use digital financial instruments and platforms to strengthen the construction of innovative teams, integrate resource advantages, absorb information from the market and customers, realize resource sharing and advantage complementarity, absorb and use technology and scientific and technological talents, improve the potential absorption capacity of the enterprise, enhance innovation capabilities, and produce better products and services. Second, financial institutions should use digital finance technology to obtain more data sources, use analysis tools to accurately evaluate enterprises' acceptance and application capabilities of external technology and innovation, and credit risks of the enterprise. Innovation capabilities and innovative output quality indicators could be included in the credit risk assessment system to ensure the security of capital flow and improve the value creation capabilities of financial institutions through precise services, helping enterprises realize innovation and improve the quality of innovation output. Third, government regulatory agencies should pay close attention to the development trend of digital finance, supervise the operation of the financial market in a timely manner, and actively guide and promote the in-depth integration of digital finance and manufacturing to provide new opportunities for manufacturing enterprises. There should be relevant financial regulatory policies, standards, and moderate supervision on the platform to prevent "anti-supervision science and technology" behavior, improve the regulatory mechanism, ensure that digital finance does not bring financial risks while promoting innovative output, and protect the stability and fairness of the market while promoting the stability and fairness of the market. Meanwhile , it should be stressed that open innovation will promote coordinated innovation between financial institutions and enterprises, and create a good financial ecological environment for the high-quality innovation and development of manufacturing enterprises.