An empirical study is conducted of the impact and mechanism of the development level of digital inclusive finance on corporate financing constraints of China's A-share listed small and medium enterprises(SMEs)from 2015 to 2022,using SA index as measure of financing constraints and a fixed effect model.The study finds that digital inclusive finance significantly alleviates the financing constraints of SMEs,and can be the intermediary effect of enterprise ESG.The intermediary effect is more significant in the moderately urbanized regions and non state-owned enterprises(SOEs).It is therefore suggested that SMEs create a financing environment with enterprise ESG performance as an important reference value through digital inclusive finance,and guide non SOEs to a digital financing risk sharing mechanism through ESG criterion-referenced assessment.Financial institutions and government departments should focus on moderately urbanized regions,promote the redistribution of funds,integrate the key capital elements in the regions,introduce sustainable ESG disclosure guidelines tailored to local conditions,improve the transparency of SMEs'ESG disclosure,enhance the stability of the capital market,and reduce SMEs'financing risks.
digital inclusive financefinancing constraintsenterprise ESG performanceintermediary effect
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