Research on the Influence of digital finance on the financialization of energy enterprises

Jia Kaiwei; Li Xintian; Jin Yutong

Abstract：With the vigorous development of digital finance,energy enterprises also show the phenomenon of excessive financialization to varying degrees when enjoying the convenience brought by digital finance.Based on the data of A-share energy listed companies from 2011 to 2021,this paper collects the keywords of"digital finance"in the relevant policy documents with the help of web crawler technology,innovatively portrays the digital finance index,and empirically examines the impact of digital finance on the financialization of energy enterprises and the internal mechanism.The study finds that digital finance has increased the financialization of energy companies.The heterogeneity tests show that the positive effect of digital finance on their financialization is more significant in new energy firms,non-state-owned enterprises,eastern regions,and energy enterprises with CEO financial backgrounds.Further research shows that financing constraints play an intermediary role in the process of digital finance affecting the financialization of energy enterprises and corporate social responsibility plays a negative moderating role in the impact of digital finance on the financialization of energy enterprises.To this end,government departments,the banking sector,and energy companies need to work together to enjoy the financial services and products offered by digital finance while preventing excessive financialization.