IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v76y2025ics1544612325002557.html

Credit availability, overinvestment, and corporate innovation capability

Author

Listed:
  • Zhu, Fengzhan
  • Chen, Liang

Abstract

This paper uses panel data from A-share listed companies in China for the period 2011–2022 to explore the impact of credit availability on corporate innovation capability and its underlying mechanisms. The empirical results indicate that ample credit resources significantly enhance corporate innovation capability, with this effect being more pronounced among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and high-tech enterprises. However, further analysis reveals that overinvestment diminishes the positive impact of credit availability on innovation capability to some extent, suggesting that inefficient allocation of resources may offset the positive effects of credit funding on innovative activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhu, Fengzhan & Chen, Liang, 2025. "Credit availability, overinvestment, and corporate innovation capability," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325002557
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.106991
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325002557
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106991?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Pei, 2014. "To what extent do financing constraints affect Chinese firms' innovation activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 223-240.
    2. Danso, Albert & Lartey, Theophilus & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Adomako, Samuel & Lu, Qinye & Uddin, Moshfique, 2019. "Market sentiment and firm investment decision-making," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. He, Feng & Ding, Cong & Yue, Wei & Liu, Guanchun, 2023. "ESG performance and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Zhai, Shaoxuan & Liu, Zhenpeng, 2023. "Artificial intelligence technology innovation and firm productivity: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    5. Naeem, Kashif & Li, Matthew C., 2019. "Corporate investment efficiency: The role of financial development in firms with financing constraints and agency issues in OECD non-financial firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 53-68.
    6. Zhi Yu & Yali Cao & Baoyin Qiu, 2025. "Can emission right mortgage loan promote corporate innovation?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(4), pages 441-447, January.
    7. Wang, Hainan & Liu, Fengshuo, 2024. "Digital finance and enterprise innovation efficiency: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    8. Fernandez, Viviana, 2017. "The finance of innovation in Latin America," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 37-47.
    9. Liu, Xiaohua & Zhao, Qiuhan, 2024. "Banking competition, credit financing and the efficiency of corporate technology innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    10. Wu, Mengyun & Zhang, Xuge & Lu, Jie & Chen, Yanxia, 2024. "De-familiarization governance and family firm investment efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    11. Kwon, Sewon & Ahn, Jae Hwan & Kim, Gi H., 2021. "The impact of shareholder intervention on overinvestment of free cash flow by overconfident CEOs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Huang, Wei & Goodell, John W. & Xia, Qing & Yuan, Shuai, 2024. "Trade credit provision and innovation: A strategic trade-off," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Shi, Min, 2019. "Overinvestment and corporate governance in energy listed companies: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 436-445.
    14. Li, Na & Wu, Di, 2024. "Cross-shareholding, financing constraints and firm innovation efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    15. Cai, Peilin & Kim, Suk-Joong & Wu, Eliza, 2019. "Foreign direct investments from emerging markets: The push-pull effects of sovereign credit ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 110-125.
    16. Lihua Zuo & Hongchang Li, 2024. "An Empirical Study on the Impact of Digital Finance on the Systematic Risk of Commercial Banks," Lecture Notes in Operations Research, in: Daqing Gong & Yixuan Ma & Xiaowen Fu & Juliang Zhang & Xiaopu Shang (ed.), Liss 2023, pages 178-202, Springer.
    17. Ma, Baolin & Li, Ke & Xu, Haiwen & An, Jin & Wang, Yihan & Zhang, Yu, 2024. "Research on heterogeneous financial support mechanisms for innovation in different types of technology enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    18. Meng, Yijun & Wang, Xun & Zhang, Guoguo & Zheng, Shilin, 2021. "Trust and corporate R&D investment: Cross-country evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    19. Cuong, Ly Kim & Hau, Hoang Tran, 2021. "Does innovation promote access to informal loans? Evidence from a transitional economy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    20. Song, Yan & Xiu, Yifan & Zhao, Mengyang & Tian, Ye & Wang, Jingyuan, 2024. "Intellectual property protection and enterprise innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    21. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Habib, Ahsan, 2019. "Social capital and trade credit," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 158-174.
    22. He, Feng & Chen, Longxuan & Wu, Haomin, 2024. "Competitive imitation and corporate innovation in private enterprises," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    23. Im, Hyun Joong & Chong, Byung-Uk, 2022. "Access to public capital markets and the extension of trade credit: An empirical analysis of Korean public and private firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    24. Lin, Baoguo & Dong, Xueqin, 2024. "Empirical Study on the Impact of Digital Finance on Commercial Credit Allocation in SMEs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    25. Zhang, Yin & Peng, Hongxing & Liu, Tingli & Xie, Kehuang, 2024. "Corporate innovation and analysts’ estimates of the cost of equity: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 83-101.
    26. Zhang, Lei & Zhou, Junhu, 2024. "The impact of imperfect financial markets and stock holdings on corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    27. Zhao, Lei & Li, Na & Wu, Yanjun, 2023. "Institutional investors' site visits, information asymmetry, and investment efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    28. Akbar, Saeed & Rehman, Shafiq ur & Ormrod, Phillip, 2013. "The impact of recent financial shocks on the financing and investment policies of UK private firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 59-70.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fan, Congying & Peng, Ke, 2025. "How does supply chain finance drive corporate green transition? The role of credit resource availability," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    2. Liu, Xian & Han, Yirui, 2025. "The Impact of state-owned capital intervention on the innovation capability of private high-tech enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Tongbin & Gao, Juan, 2025. "Social security contributions, labor income share, and corporate innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Cao, Peng & Huang, Rong, 2025. "How does media attention affect corporate credit asset allocation efficiency?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Yan, Luqing & Lou, Yanchun & Wang, Xiaoqing, 2025. "Business model innovation, intellectual property protection, and firm growth," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Liang, Yixin & Wei, Ran & Duan, Dingkang, 2025. "Digital financial development and commercial bank stability," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Wu, Zihang & Zeng, Ning & Song, Jiansong, 2025. "Tax incentives and corporate technological innovation performance: An analysis from the perspective of R&D investment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Tu, Ruide & Zeng, Yitang & Zhang, Su & Zhou, Yifu, 2025. "Dawn in enterprises' financial difficulties: The significance of digital financial awareness in mitigating hardship," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    7. Guo, Jing & Yu, Jiaqi & Tian, Ziqing, 2025. "Financial technology, population aging, and corporate innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Yang, Ranran & Tu, Yongqian & Shen, Yunqiao, 2025. "Can the degree of party membership among management enhance corporate innovation performance? The moderating role of technology finance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. Lartey, Theophilus & Danso, Albert & Owusu-Agyei, Samuel, 2020. "CEOs' market sentiment and corporate innovation: The role of financial uncertainty, competition and capital intensity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Ke, Deng-Yao & Hsueh, Cheng (Eugune), 2025. "Data monopoly, financial support, and the diffusion of green technology: The dual effects of platform enterprises' technological openness strategies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PC).
    11. Li, Liuqing & Kang, Jiani, 2025. "Does the participation of female directors enhance corporate social responsibility and risk taking?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Shi, Dinghao & Tan, Haoyu & Ling, Yixin & Liu, Yunuo & Liu, Bo & Tu, Yongqian, 2025. "Impact of environmental information uncertainty and market competition on corporate ESG performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Yanmin Shi, 2024. "Digital finance and corporate breakthrough innovation: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(7), pages 1-38, July.
    14. Liu, Duan & Li, Zhiyuan & He, Hongbo & Hou, Wenxuan, 2021. "The determinants of R&D smoothing with asset sales: Evidence from R&D-intensive firms in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 76-93.
    15. Pun, Ngou Teng & Hooy, Chee-Wooi & He, Zhongda & Lin, Lin, 2024. "Overinvestment is ambitious or reckless? The answer from employees," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    16. Zhang, Xiaoping & Zheng, Peng & Fu, Yuhan, 2025. "The new Securities Law, information disclosure quality and corporate innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    17. Fu, Haoliang & Li, Mao & Guo, Wenwei & Huang, Jinbo, 2025. "Digital transformation and carbon reduction: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    18. Che, Jiayi & Chen, Jinsong, 2024. "Empirical study on marketing investment and business innovation—A case analysis based on small and medium enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    19. Li, Zengfu & Yu, Zhijun & Yang, Zhihao & Ding, Zijia, 2025. "Specialization in Bank Lending and short-term debt for long-term use: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Sun, Xiaohan & Lu, Yongyu & Tian, Shan, 2025. "The effect of employee stock ownership plans on enhancing corporate innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325002557. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.