E-commerce adoption, financing constraints, and innovation persistence of firms

E-commerce adoption, financing constraints, and innovation persistence of firms | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article E-commerce adoption, financing constraints, and innovation persistence of firms Qian Li, Xiaoling Song This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6903341/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Chinese economy has a strong focus on improving quality and efficiency. However, it faces a challenge known as the ‘technological innovation fatigue’. Overcoming this obstacle requires persistent innovation by enterprises. Using data from 168 Chinese manufacturing enterprises from 2015 to 2022, this study constructs a panel regression model to investigate the relationships between e-commerce adoption, financing constraints, and corporate innovation persistence. Our findings indicate the following: (1) E-commerce adoption directly contributes to enhancing innovation persistence in manufacturing enterprises and at the same time indirectly facilitates innovation by easing financing constraints; (2) Industry-specific, regional, and size-based heterogeneity exist in the impact of e-commerce adoption on corporate innovation persistence. Consequently, this study emphasizes the need to cultivate in-depth collaboration between internet platforms and enterprises, improve financing conditions and relevant policies. We also show the need to implement cohesive development strategies tailored to the specific circumstances of enterprises of different types and regions. Business and commerce/Business and management Business and commerce/Finance Business and commerce/Information systems and information technology Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6903341","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":500363746,"identity":"ed63dd8f-581b-457a-acf0-5fbb336d3ec9","order_by":0,"name":"Qian Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgYGCYYCCQY2BgbGBwkVNcRqMQBrYTZ4cOYYcRYBtYBpNsmHLcyElcu38x68zWNgIdvHfvZYRWIDGwN/e3cCXi0Gh/mSrXkMJIzbePLSbiTukGGQOHN2A34tzDxm0kAtiW0MOWY3Es+wAf2Vi1+LfDNMC/8bs4LENmbCWhgOw7RI5JgxEKXF4DCPseUckF8k3hhLJJw5xkPQL/L9ZwxvvKmok53fn2P48UdFjRx/ey8BhwEBEw8w5hugHB6CykGA8QeSllEwCkbBKBgFGAAAS+Y+71uHUIIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Business School, Beijing Language and Culture University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qian","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":500363747,"identity":"8d1e6df9-fdfd-494d-b57b-81647d32981b","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaoling Song","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Business School, Beijing Language and Culture University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaoling","middleName":"","lastName":"Song","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-16 08:38:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6903341/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6903341/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96911832,"identity":"a63627fc-fab0-4904-8f20-67d10e80f95d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-27 13:23:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":490504,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6903341/v1_covered_bfb4accd-de6b-4763-afe7-c511189eb156.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"E-commerce adoption, financing constraints, and innovation persistence of firms","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6903341/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6903341/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe Chinese economy has a strong focus on improving quality and efficiency. 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