Digital industrial agglomeration, financial technology, and high-quality innovation

This study examines whether digital industrial agglomeration promotes high-quality innovation at the city level and whether fintech strengthens this effect. Using panel data for Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2023, we find that digital industrial agglomeration significantly enhances high-quality innovation. Moreover, fintech positively moderates this relationship, suggesting that financial digitalization improves the conversion of agglomeration advantages into substantive technological upgrading. Mechanism analyses show that credit deepening and digital talent accumulation are two important channels through which digital industrial agglomeration fosters high-quality innovation. Heterogeneity analyses further indicate that the positive effect is more pronounced in cities with lower population net inflow and weaker insurance development. This study highlights the complementary roles of digital clustering and fintech development in promoting urban innovation upgrading and provides policy implications for innovation-driven growth in the digital economy.