Can Supply Chain Finance Contribute to Supply Chain Innovation Collaboration

This study investigates whether supply chain finance (SCF) can function as a market-based mechanism that stimulates supply chain innovation collaboration (SCIC). While existing research emphasizes policy-driven coordination and administrative mobilization, the role of financial mechanisms in enabling collaborative innovation within supply chains remains insufficiently explored. This study constructs a year–upstream–core–downstream supply chain network measures SCIC. Drawing on a comprehensive dataset of Chinese A-share listed firms, using industry-fixed and year-fixed effects regressions, instrumental variable estimation, and multiple robustness checks, the findings demonstrate that SCF significantly promotes SCIC. Mechanism analyses further show that SCF enhances supply chain stability by improving information transparency and external governance, and optimizes supply chain cost allocation through more accurate demand recognition and reduced coordination frictions. These results remain consistent across heterogeneity tests involving industry competition and the diversity of SCF activities. Overall, this study enriches the theoretical understanding of how financial mechanisms facilitate collaborative innovation and offers new evidence that market-oriented SCF can strengthen supply chain resilience and support long-term innovation dynamics.