Financing Constraints and High-Quality Development of Chinese Listed Firms: Mechanisms of Investment Efficiency and Contingent Factors

Against the backdrop of tightened credit conditions, external financing constraints have increasingly become an important factor affecting enterprises’ high-quality development. This study focuses on the impact of financing constraints on the high-quality development of Chinese listed firms and constructs an analytical framework involving investment efficiency as a mediator and contextual factors such as managerial effectiveness and internal control quality as moderators. Using a longitudinal dataset of China’s A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2021, multivariate regression and mediation effect tests are conducted. The observational findings reveal a statistically meaningful U-shaped association between financial constraints and the high-quality development of enterprises. Further analysis confirms that investment efficiency partially mediates the relationship between financing constraints and high-quality development, while managerial effectiveness and internal control quality play significant moderating roles in this relationship. Additionally, the study reveals heterogeneous impacts of financing constraints on high-quality development across different regions. These findings provide insights into how enterprises can mitigate the adverse effects of financing constraints and promote high-quality development.