Fintech Pilot Programs and Digital Innovation: Evidence from Quasi-Natural Experiments in China

The current study examines whether government-led digital finance initiatives promote firm-level digital innovation by leveraging the staggered rollout of China’s Fintech pilot programs as quasi-natural experiments. Our dataset comprises 26,746 firm-year observations of A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2023. To measure innovation, we develop a text-based indicator derived from the frequency of digital-related keywords in the annual reports of the listed firms. Employing a multi-period difference-in-differences design, we find that designation as a pilot zone increases digital innovation intensity by 0.8225 per thousand report words. These results remain robust across parallel, propensity score matching, placebo, and robustness tests. Mediation analysis reveals that part of the effect is attributable to increased R&D intensity, with the program raising the average R&D-to-sales ratio by 0.24 percentage points. Moreover, the program effect is stronger among high-tech firms and those located in Central and Western China, regions characterized by relatively weaker financial and digital infrastructure.