摘要：专精特新“小巨人”企业作为国家创新的排头兵，研究其创新活动对于发展新质生产力、破解“卡脖子”难题意义重大。本研究从创新数量和创新质量两个维度测度企业创新绩效，采用中国2011—2022年666家“小巨人”A股上市公司样本系统考察了数字普惠金融对专精特新“小巨人”企业创新绩效的影响效应，并从“资本、人才、技术”三大关键创新要素出发探究其作用机制。研究结果表明：数字普惠金融对专精特新“小巨人”企业创新绩效具有明显的“增量提质”效应。进一步分析发现，融资约束缓解效应、人力资本升级效应和数字化转型深化效应是数字普惠金融提升专精特新“小巨人”企业创新绩效的具体机制。此外，数字普惠金融对“小巨人”企业创新绩效的影响在数字普惠金融不同子维度和企业不同生命周期阶段存在显著差异，且在邻市之间存在正向溢出效应。本研究为数字普惠金融服务科技创新、加快实体经济发展提供了重要启示。

Abstract: As the main force of national innovation, the study of innovation activities of SRDI “little giant” enterprises is of great significance to the development of new productivity and the cracking of the neck problem. This study measures the innovation performance of enterprises from the dimensions of innovation quantity and innovation quality, and systematically examines the impact of digital inclusive finance on the innovation performance of “Little giant” enterprises by using a sample of 666 “Little giant” A-share listed companies in China from 2011 to 2022. It also explores the mechanism from the three key innovation elements of capital, talent, and technology. The research results show that digital inclusive finance has an obvious effect of increasing quantity and improving quality on the innovation performance of “little giant” enterprises. Further analysis reveals that the financing constraint alleviation effect, human capital upgrading effect and digital transformation deepening effect are the specific mechanisms through which digital inclusive finance enhances the innovation performance of “little giant” enterprises. In addition, the impact of digital inclusive finance on the innovation performance of “little giant” enterprises varies across sub-dimensions of digital inclusive finance and across enterprise' life-cycle stages, and there is a positive spillover effect between neighbouring cities. This study provides important insights for digital inclusive financial services in technology innovation and accelerating the development of the real economy.