Digital Financial Inclusion to Corporation Value: The Mediating Effect of Ambidextrous Innovation

Corporate innovation can be subdivided, according to its approach and novelty, into exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation, i.e., ambidextrous innovation. Defined as actions to promote financial inclusion through digital financial services, digital financial inclusion brings new opportunities for the implementation of corporate innovation projects and the improvement of corporation value. Based on the annual reports (2012–2020) released by 1604 listed SMEs in China and the index of digital financial inclusion from Peking University, this paper explores the way that digital financial inclusion affects the corporation value of SMEs, with some moderating factors such as the financial flexibility, corporate social responsibility and product market competition in ambidextrous innovation. The study shows, in SMEs: (1) digital financial inclusion has a significant positive impact on exploitative innovation, but has less effect on exploratory innovation with a time lag; (2) ambidextrous innovation plays a partial intermediary role in the effect of digital financial inclusion on corporation value; (3) financial flexibility of the enterprise positively moderates the relationship between digital financial inclusion and corporate value. In the short term, corporate social responsibility negatively moderates the relationship between digital financial inclusion and corporate value; however, in the long term, it does contribute to the growth of corporate value. (4) Product market competition positively moderates the relationship between digital financial inclusion and exploitative innovation, but does not positively moderate the relationship between digital financial inclusion and exploratory innovation.