IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v79y2025ics1544612325005483.html

Heterogeneous institutional investor behaviour and corporate digital technology innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Shiguo
  • Zhou, Lianjie
  • He, Mengwei

Abstract

Continuous digital innovation is essential for firms to attain sustained growth in the highly competitive digital age. Based on A-share listed firms spanning 2013 to 2022, this study adopts a heterogeneous perspective to examine institutional investors' influence on corporate digital technology innovation. The findings indicate that stable institutional investors can effectively stimulate corporate digital technology innovation, mainly symbolic innovation. Further, this stimulating effect is brought by alleviating financing constraints, enhancing enterprises` internal control capability, and improving ESG performance. This paper provides valuable insight for executives to stimulate digital technology innovation in the digital era.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Shiguo & Zhou, Lianjie & He, Mengwei, 2025. "Heterogeneous institutional investor behaviour and corporate digital technology innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:79:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325005483
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107285
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325005483
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107285?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. Huang, Wenli & Zhu, Yuanhao & Li, Shi & Xu, Yueling, 2024. "Institutional investor heterogeneity and systemic financial risk: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Liu, Mengxi & Ding, Lili & Yang, Ying & Li, Hui, 2024. "Guidance or supervision: the impact of network relationship of institutional investors on corporate financialization," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Yue Cao & Yizhe Dong & Yu Lu & Diandian Ma, 2020. "Does Institutional Ownership Improve Firm Investment Efficiency?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2772-2792, September.
    4. Huang, Jun & Han, Feifei & Li, Yun, 2025. "The impact of institutional investors’ ESG concerns on corporate ESG disclosure: Evidence from site visits," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Du, Jiayu & Zhu, Rui & Ye, Qiang, 2025. "Managers' overconfidence, institutional investors' shareholding, and corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Aluchna, Maria & Roszkowska-Menkes, Maria & Kamiński, Bogumił & Bosek-Rak, Dominika, 2022. "Do institutional investors encourage firm to social disclosure? The stakeholder salience perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 674-682.
    7. Wang, Haoyu & Zhang, Yan, 2024. "Social trust, audit quality and institutional investor herd behaviour," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    8. Tang, Xinhui & Du, Shujun & Deng, Wenwen, 2025. "Business innovation in digital startups: A case study of an AI startup," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Garel, Alexandre & Martin-Flores, Jose M. & Petit-Romec, Arthur & Scott, Ayesha, 2021. "Institutional investor distraction and earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Du, Weijian & Li, Mengjie, 2025. "Corporations’ digital attitude and digital technology innovation: Are the heart and mouth in agreement or not?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Lai, Xiaobing & Quan, Lei & Guo, Chong & Gao, Xing, 2025. "Exploring the digital era: Has digital technology innovation reshaped investment efficiency in Chinese enterprises?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Cheng, Xin & (Helen) Wang, He & Wang, Xianjue, 2022. "Common institutional ownership and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    13. Ghaly, Mohamed & Dang, Viet Anh & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2020. "Institutional investors' horizons and corporate employment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    14. Wang, Xin & Gan, Yufei & Zhou, Shiqi & Wang, Xinqiao, 2024. "Digital technology adoption, absorptive capacity, CEO green experience and the quality of green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    15. Yue Cao & Yizhe Dong & Yu Lu & Diandian Ma, 2020. "Does Institutional Ownership Improve Firm Investment Efficiency?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2772-2792, September.
    16. Wu, Qiwei & Wu, Zheng & Pang, Jing, 2025. "Integration of technology and finance with breakthroughs in enterprise digital technology," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    17. Zhen Yang & Dongwei Su & Shulin Xu & Xu Han, 2024. "Institutional investors and corporate green innovation: Evidence from China," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 230-266, May.
    18. Alexandre Garel & Jose Martin-Flores & Arthur Petit-Romec & Ayesha Scott, 2021. "Institutional investor distraction and earnings management," Post-Print hal-03096196, HAL.
    19. Zhe Li & Ping Wang & Tianlong Wu, 2021. "Do foreign institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? Evidence from listed firms in China," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 338-373, January.
    20. Peng, Wei & Xin, Baogui & Tan, Hui & Kwon, Jiwon, 2025. "The co-effects of technology innovation and digital infrastructure on central bank digital currency: A DSGE analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    21. Liu, Yang & Jin, Xiao Meng & Ly, Kim Cuong & Mai, Yong, 2024. "The relationship between heterogeneous institutional investors’ shareholdings and corporate ESG performance: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    22. Ai, Mingye & Zhang, Wei & Du, Shurong & Yu, Xiaohan & Bu, Yan, 2024. "The impact of digitalization on the green transformation of China's industrial sectors: The mediating role of green technology innovation and technological transformation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    23. Liu, Hao & Tang, Xue & Fu, Jyun-Ying, 2025. "Do foreign institutional investors curb carbon emissions? Evidence from an emerging economy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    24. Jiang, Li & Bai, Yu, 2022. "Strategic or substantive innovation? -The impact of institutional investors' site visits on green innovation evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    25. Shi, Xuanyi & Lin, Yongjia & Wang, Yizhi, 2024. "Institutional investor heterogeneity and green innovation in China: Does digital transformation matter?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 994-1014.
    26. Xu, Chao & Bai, Tianlei & Zhou, Cai & Huang, Shuai, 2025. "Digital tax administration and enterprise innovation: Evidence from the Golden Tax Project III in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PA).
    27. Luo, Qingfeng & Wang, Jingyuan, 2024. "Digital finance and green technology innovation: A dual path test based on market and government," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    28. Yunyun Jiang & Haitao Zheng & Ran Wang, 2021. "The effect of institutional ownership on listed companies’ tax avoidance strategies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(8), pages 880-896, February.
    29. Ding, Yibing & Li, Jing & Song, Yang & Sahut, Jean-Michel, 2024. "How does the cross-border M&A network affect digital innovation? Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    30. Cella, Cristina, 2020. "Institutional investors and corporate investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    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. Liu, Wen & Miao, Zhenlong, 2025. "Can digital product innovation enhance corporate market competitiveness?," 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. Zhang, Ping & Ma, Binbin & Chi, Chuenyu, 2025. "Institutional investors and ESG performance: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1159-1181.
    2. Ren, Xingzi & Dong, Yizhe & Guo, Jie Michael & Liu, Yaodong, 2023. "Institutional ownership and corporate greenhouse gas emissions: The evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Rayed Obaid Hammoud Alobaid & Ameen Qasem & Adel Ali Al-Qadasi, 2024. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Ownership Structure, and Firm Investment Efficiency: Evidence from the Saudi Stock Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-25, August.
    4. Fu, Chuanrui & Zou, Jingjing & Li, Li & Wang, Yanhui, 2025. "Institutional investors' site visits and ESG disclosure: The mediating role of environmental legitimacy pressure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Sabahat Riaz & Mohamed Hisham Hanifa & Fauzi Zainir, 2021. "Does Foreign Institutional Equity Participation Instigate Sustainable Corporate Investment Efficiency? Evidence from Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Fu, Huilian & Cai, Jingyi & Xia, Sinan & Zhou, Lianjie, 2025. "Investor network attention, information disclosure quality, and stock liquidity in enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Yin, Wenjing & Wang, Gaomiao & Yu, Yumiao, 2025. "Watchdogs of greenwashing: The role of long-term institutional cross-ownership," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Ding Ning & Irfan-Ullah & Muhammad Ansar Majeed & Aurang Zeb, 2022. "Board diversity and financial statement comparability: evidence from China," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(4), pages 743-801, December.
    9. Zhihao Wang & Kezhi Liao & Sisi Wang, 2024. "Institutional investor horizons, ownership structure and investment efficiency in China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 739-782, March.
    10. Ghazali, Ahmad & Khaw, Karren Lee-Hwei & Zainir, Fauzi Bin, 2022. "Development vs. political views of government ownership: How does it affect investment efficiency?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    11. Hossain, Ashrafee & Masum, Abdullah-Al & Benkraiem, Ramzi, 2024. "Long-term institutional investors and climate change news Beta," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Shenyuan Zhang & Rufei Ma, 2025. "Managerial Climate Awareness, Institutional Investors, and Firms’ Sustainability Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-26, February.
    13. Chen, Wenrui & Chen, Zhiwu & Qin, Ling & Shan, Yaowen & Xu, Weihang, 2024. "Strategic alliance, agency problems, and labor investment efficiency," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    14. Bei Liu & Jinmin Wang & Xinle Tong & Zhihua Zhou & Zhaoxuan Qiu, 2024. "Institutional investor shareholding and the quality of corporate innovation: Moderating effects based on internal and external environment," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(1), pages 326-338, January.
    15. Xiao, Shengpeng & Wu, Kedong & Xiao, Xiao & Lin, Changqing, 2025. "How do data assets affect firm investment?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    16. He Xiao, 2023. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate investment efficiency," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 359-392, June.
    17. Amin, Qazi Awais & Cumming, Douglas, 2021. "Blockholders and real earnings management-the emerging markets context," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    18. Wang, Ziqi & Li, Rongrong & Kong, Qunxi, 2024. "Shanghai oil futures prices and firms' investment decisions: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    19. Khoo, Joye & Cheung, Adrian (Wai Kong), 2025. "Subordinate executives’ confidence and labor investment efficiency," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    20. Li, Ruiqian & Huang, Tong & Ramanathan, Ramakrishnan, 2026. "Turning perception into impact: ESG risk perception and ESG controversies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:79:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325005483. 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.