An optimal banking structure from the perspective of enterprise technological innovation ------- empirical evidence from Chinese industrial enterprises

This paper applies the incomplete contracts model to study an optimal banking structure corresponding to different levels of technological development from the perspective of technological innovation. The findings indicate that, with the development of technology, there exists an optimal banking structure that matches the real economy and has a dynamic evolution in different stages of economic development. At the same time, an optimal banking structure depends on the level of technological development, which seems to render invalid the argument that one structure is absolutely better than the other. Finally, the paper empirically analyzes the impact of banking structure on technological innovation using the data of China’s industrial enterprises from 2005 to 2009 . The empirical results show firstly that, with economic development and technological progress, an optimal banking structure that promotes technological innovation is biased towards a monopoly structure. Secondly, from the perspective of the sub-regional level of technological progress, a competitive banking structure is more conductive to technological innovation in low-tech areas but, in medium- and high-tech areas, a monopolistic banking structure will further promote technological innovation.