Supply chain digitalization and corporate investment-financing maturity mismatch

Supply chain digitalization has profoundly reshaped the structure and operational model of supply chains. It also provides technical support for ensuring the orderly operation of supply chains and enhancing supply chain resilience. To further release the effectiveness of digital supply chains, it is crucial to identify potential obstacles and risks that limit their performance. This can help promote their orderly development. This paper examines the potential risks of supply chain digitalization from the perspective of investment-financing maturity matching. The research findings are as follows: (1) Supply chain digitalization aggravates corporate investment-financing maturity mismatch. (2) Mechanism tests show two channels for supply chain digitalization to intensify short-term borrowing for long-term investment. One is that supply chain digitalization creates long-term investment demand for enterprises. The other is that new financing relies on a short-term credit-dominated financing structure. (3) Tests on mitigation measures indicate that changes in the banking market structure brought about by intensified banking competition, as well as banks' digital transformation through financial technology, can restrict and reverse the corporate investment-financing maturity mismatch caused by supply chain digitalization. Optimizing corporate internal governance can mitigate this mismatch as well, but its effect is weaker than that of reforms and technological applications in the banking sector. Additionally, no evidence has been found that patient capital, as a direct financing tool, can alleviate the investment-financing maturity mismatch effect.