Mechanisms and Optimization Pathways for Sci-tech Finance to Support the “Go Global” of SRDI Enterprises

【Authors】

QIAN Yilei, ZHANG Yun, LIU Wen & CHEN Xiaojing

【WorkUnit】

QIAN Yilei, ZHANG Yun & CHEN Xiaojing (Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, 201620)；LIU Wen (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 200433)

【Abstract】

Sci-tech finance has emerged as a pivotal mechanism driving technological innovation and the high-quality development of the real economy. Specialized, Refined, Differential, and Innovative (SRDI) enterprises represent a vital segment of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, for which overseas expansion constitutes a critical growth strategy. However, their dual identity as both technology-intensive and small-scale entities exposes them to acute information asymmetries, financing frictions, and shortages of specialized services during their overseas expansion. While sci-tech finance—a financial paradigm tailored to the specific needs of tech-based firms—offers a potential solution, the existing literature has not systematically examined how specialized financial intermediaries influence the global expansion of these SRDI enterprises. To bridge this gap, this paper investigates how sci-tech branch banks facilitate local SRDI enterprises’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), utilizing manually compiled data on 413 prefecture-level sci-tech branches and over 284300 SRDI enterprises.
Our findings are as follows. An increase in the number of prefecture-level sci-tech branch banks significantly raises the OFDI scale of local SRDI enterprises, particularly among privately owned and lower-tier certified SRDI enterprises. Mechanism tests reveal that these branches facilitate their overseas expansion by mitigating information asymmetry, alleviating financing constraints via tools like patent pledging, and optimizing cross-border financial services. Concurrently, sci-tech finance carries latent risks: because tech-based firms operate in highly uncertain environments characterized by rapid technological iterations and intense competition, tilting credit resources toward these high-risk assets exacerbates commercial banks’ non-performing loan ratio. Further analysis reveals that constructing a diversified sci-tech financial service ecosystem—featuring multi-agent collaboration among banking, securities, insurance, venture capital, and financing guarantee institutions—can form a risk-sharing and functionally complementary structure.
The marginal contributions of this paper are threefold. First, it expands the theoretical framework of financial support for high-standard opening-up by systematically revealing the intrinsic mechanisms—across information, financing, and service dimensions—through which sci-tech finance facilitates SRDI enterprises’ overseas expansion. Second, this paper provides a balanced assessment of the “double-edged sword” effect of sci-tech financial development, identifying the financial risks it may trigger while boosting technology-based firms, and proposes a diversified, multi-agent ecosystem as a practical policy pathway for risk mitigation. Third, this study provides new empirical evidence for understanding how financial supply-side structural reform empowers the high-quality development of the real economy and supports the strategic goal of boosting China’s strength in manufacturing.

JEL: G21, G34, O16

【KeyWords】

Sci-tech Finance, Sci-tech Sub-branch, SRDI Enterprises, Outward Foreign Direct Investment