Configurational Pathways for Fintech-Empowered Sustainable Innovation in SRDIEs Under Financing Constraints
Fang Ji (),
Junlin Wu and
Yiran Li
Additional contact information
Fang Ji: School of Economics and Finance, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
Junlin Wu: School of Economics and Finance, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
Yiran Li: School of Economics and Finance, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-25
Abstract:
The high-quality development of specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises (SRDIEs) is essential for advancing an innovation-driven strategy. This paper investigates the impact of financial technology (Fintech) on sustainable innovation within SRDIEs that face financing challenges, analyzing it from supply-side, demand-side, and environmental perspectives. We utilize fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fSQCA) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) to explore the configurational paths and complex causal effects of Fintech in facilitating the innovation of SRDIEs amid financing challenges. By employing a combination of NCA and fsQCA, this study identifies several effective pathways through which Fintech enhances the innovation efficiency of SRDIEs. We develop an integrative model to enhance innovation inputs, outputs, and sustainability. The key findings include the following: (1) Fintech significantly enhances innovation output, supported by business efficiency and digital intelligence; (2) two distinct pathways for achieving high-innovation inputs are identified, driven by Fintech intensity and effective credit allocation, with specialization and financial mismatches serving as auxiliary factors; (3) the core conditions of Fintech intensity and the financing environment, along with competitive banking, promote innovation motivation and sustainability in highly specialized enterprises. The conclusions of this study provide both theoretical and practical insights for SRDIEs to tackle innovation challenges characterized by an “inability to innovate”, a “lack of willingness to innovate”, and “ineffectiveness in innovation”, enabling their transition from merely being “able to innovate” and “daring to innovate” to becoming “proficient in sustainable innovation”. These findings offer differentiated sustainable innovation solutions for enterprises through three avenues: capacity building on the demand side, channel optimization on the supply side, and ecological cultivation on the environmental side.
Keywords: Fintech; financing dilemma; SRDIEs; configuration pathways (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2397/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2397/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:6:p:2397-:d:1608479
Access Statistics for this article
Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu
More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().