Can bank regulatory technology alleviate financial mismatch? Causal evidence from double-debiased machine learning on bank-firm matched data

IF 3.9 3区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

North American Journal of Economics and Finance Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-20 DOI:10.1016/j.najef.2026.102604

Yawen Li , Yufei Xia , Huiyi Shi , Lingyun He , Yinguo Li

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Financial mismatch (FM) remains a major challenge for firms, especially amid information asymmetry. The emergence of bank regulatory technology (RegTech) is reshaping regulation and risk management in banking. Utilizing a panel dataset of bank-firm matched loan-level data from 2014 to 2023, we employ double-debiased machine learning to provide empirical evidence that bank RegTech significantly reduces firms’ FM: one-standard-deviation increase in bank RegTech corresponds to at least a 2.29% reduction in the FM. This effect operates through three main channels: improved information transparency, eased financing constraints, and reduced managerial performance pressure. Investor attention amplifies the mitigating impact of bank RegTech on FM. The effects are heterogeneous, with more pronounced impacts observed among non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech firms, firms in less competitive industries, and firms with established bank-firm relationships. Results hold after rigorous robustness validation. Finally, we further demonstrate that reduced FM leads to lower operational risk and a decline in corporate financialization.

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银行监管技术能否缓解金融错配？双去偏机器学习对银行-公司匹配数据的因果证据

财务错配（FM）仍然是企业面临的主要挑战，特别是在信息不对称的情况下。银行监管技术（RegTech）的出现正在重塑银行业的监管和风险管理。利用2014年至2023年银行-公司匹配贷款水平数据的面板数据集，我们采用双去偏机器学习提供经验证据，证明银行监管科技显著降低了公司的FM：银行监管科技的一个标准差增加至少对应于FM降低2.29%。这种效果通过三个主要渠道发挥作用：提高信息透明度、缓解融资限制和减少管理业绩压力。投资者的关注放大了银行监管科技对金融监管的缓解作用。这种影响是异质性的，在非国有企业、高科技企业、竞争力较弱行业的企业和建立了银企关系的企业中观察到的影响更为明显。经过严格的稳健性验证后，结果成立。最后，我们进一步证明，降低财务管理导致更低的经营风险和企业金融化程度的下降。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

North American Journal of Economics and Finance Multiple-

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

8.30%

发文量

168

期刊介绍： The focus of the North-American Journal of Economics and Finance is on the economics of integration of goods, services, financial markets, at both regional and global levels with the role of economic policy in that process playing an important role. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. Empirical and policy-related papers that rely on data and the experiences of countries outside North America are also welcome. Papers should offer concrete lessons about the ongoing process of globalization, or policy implications about how governments, domestic or international institutions, can improve the coordination of their activities. Empirical analysis should be capable of replication. Authors of accepted papers will be encouraged to supply data and computer programs.